^J3STpH585^ 


BX  8217  .F5  1833  v. 4 
Fletcher,  John,  1729-1785 
Works  of  the  Reverend  John 
Fletcher 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/worksofreveren04flet 


THE   WOMS 


REVEREND  JOHN  FLETCHER, 


LATE   VICAR   OF   MAfrELEY. 


IN     FOUR    VOLUMES. 
VOLUME    IV. 


PUBLISHED  BY  CARLTON  &    PORTER, 


200   MULBERRY-STREET. 


\ 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  IV. 


On  Evangelical  Mysticism,          ...'....          Page  7 

Grace  and  Nature,       .                  ,         ,         .  13 

Eulogy  on  Christian  Philosophers, 14 

Defence  of  Experimental  Religion, 21 

Natural  Aversion  of  the  Human  Mind  to  that  which  is  Good,    ...  39 

On  the  Trinity, 42 

On  the  Crucifixion, 46 

Conversion  of  Mr.  Fletcher,        .........  48 

A  Dreadful  Phenomenon  Described  and  Improved,     .....  55 

V  sermon  preached  on  the  occasion,  from  Numbers  xvi,  30-34,  ...  67 


DISCOURSE  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

Introduction,      .         .         .  .         .         ^       .         .         .         .         .97 

Part  I.  To  whom  and  how  our  Saviour  preached  regeneration,          .         .  98 

II.  What  is  meant  by  being  born  again,  or  regenerated,     ....  102 

III.  Why  no  man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God  unless  he  be  born  again,    .  104 

IV.  The  danger  of  taking  the  regularity  of  our  manners  for  regeneration,  .  107 
V    Conclusion. — By  what  means  a  soul  may  be  born  again,        .         .         .  112 


NINE  ADDITIONAL  SERMONS. 

The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are 
foolishness  to  him :  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spi- 
ritually discerned,  1  Cor.  ii,  14, 118 

Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  Eph.  v,  14,        .......     126 

If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature,  1  Cor.  v,  17,        .         .         .     133 
Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God, 

John  hi,  3, 139 

And  thou  shalt  speak  my  words  unto  them,  whether  they  will  hear,  or  whe- 
ther they  will  forbear,  for  they  are  most  rebellious,  Ezek.  ii,  7,     .         .     147 
O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood^  this,  that  they  would  consider 

their  latter  end,  Deut.  xxxii,  29,  ........     155 

From  that  time  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with 
him :  then  said  Jesus  unto  the  twelve,  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?    Then 
Simon  Peter  answered  him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?    Thou  hast 
the  words  of  eternal  life,  John  vi,  66-68,       .         .         .         .         .         .     162 

Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life,  John  v,  40,  .  .  .  172 
O  Son  of  man,  I  have  set  thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  there- 
fore thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  warn  them  from  me. 
When  I  say  unto  the  wicked,  O  wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die;  if 
thou  dost  not  speak  to  warn  the  wicked  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man 
shall  die  in  his  iniquity  ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thy  hand.  Ne- 
vertheless, if  thou  warn  the  wicked  of  his  way,  to  turn  from  it;  if  he 
do  not  turn  from  his  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  thou  hast 
delivered  thy  soul,  Ezek.  xxxiii,  7-9, 181 


4  CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  IV. 

BRIEF  OUTLINES  OF  THIRTY  SERMONS,    .        .        .  Page     191 


General  Observations  on  the  Redemption  of  Mankind  by  Jesus  Christ,  222 

The  Three  Principles, 230 

Thoughts  on  Fanaticism, ,  233 

Letter  on  the  Prophecies .    •     .  238 


FRAGMENTS. 

On  Seriousness, 250 

On  Pleasure,        .  250 

On  Hypocrisy, .  251 

On  Lukewarmness, 256 

On  staying  the  mind  on  God, ,  257 

On  Shadrach,  &c,  refusing  to  worship  the  golden  image 259 

On  the  agony  of  Christ, 260 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  taken  by  violence, 261 

Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee,      ....  263 
The  Test  of  a  New  Creature :  or,  Heads  of  Examination  for  adult  Chris. 

tians 267 


POSTHUMOUS  PIECES. 

Preface  by  the  editor, 273 

Six  Letters  on  the  Spiritual  Manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God,    .         .         .  275 

Pastoral  and  Familiar  Letters, 309 


A  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER  AND  ONE  OF  HIS 
PARISHIONERS. 

Preface  by  the  editor, 411 

Part  I.  Containing  an  account  of  the  doctrine  to  be  examined,  .         .     413 

II.  Wherein  the  apostasy  and  misery  of  man  are  proved  from  Scripture,    .     414 

III.  In  which  the  apostasy  and  misery  of  man  are  proved  from  reason,      .     425 


A  VINDICATION  OF  THE  REV.  MR.  WESLEY'S  CALM  ADDRESS 
TO  OUR  AMERICAN  COLONIES. 

Notice  by  the  American  editor, 438 

Preface, 439 

Letter  I.  The  doctrine  of  taxation  maintained  in  the  Calm  Address,  is 

rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitutional,        ......     441 

II.  The  doctrine  of  Americanus  is  highly  unconstitutional,         .         .         .     448 

III.  Observations  on  the  origin  of  power,  on  the  high  republican  spirit,  and 
its  effects  in  the  time  of  Cromwell — on  tyranny  and  slavery,  and  on 
the  peculiar  liberty  of  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain — The  author's 
wishes  respecting  a  reconciliation  with  the  colonists,  .         .  .461 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM  FARTHER  CONFRONTED  WITH  REASOJN, 
SCRIPTURE,  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Preface, 481 

Letter  I.  Mr.  Evans'  arguments  are  contrary  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  the 

British  constitution, 483 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  IV. 


as  those  of  Mr.  Evans, 


5 


Letter  II.  Mr.  Evans'  mistake  concerning  the  absoluteness  of  our  pro- 
perty, the  nature  of  slavery,  the  origin  of  power,  and  the  proper  cause 
of  the  war  with  America, .Page     ' 

III.  Dr.  Price's  politics  are  as  irrational,  unscriptural,  and  unconstitutional, 


508 


IV.  Observations  on  Dr.  Price's  awful  argument,  taken  from  our  immorality,     536 

V.  A  Scriptural  plea  for  the  revolted  colonies,  with  some  hints  concerning 

a  Christian  method  of  reconciliation  between  them  and  the  mother 
country, 


544 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SWORD. 

The  king's  proclamation  for  a  general  fast,         .         .         .         '.".,"     ^ 
Fasting,  prayer,  and  drawing  the  sword  of  justice,  perfectly  consistent  with 

Scripture, 553 


CC1 

Alphabetical  Index, £"£ 

Index  to  Texts, 5tw 


ON   EVANGELICAL  MYSTICISM, 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE    FRENCH   OF    THE    REV.  J.   FLETCHER. 

BT  THE  LATE  REV.  MILES  MARTINDALE. 


Some  persons  think  all  mysticism  contrary  to  reason  ;  and  a  work  is 
deemed  mystical  if  it  contain  truths  a  little  more  profound,  or  thoughts 
more  sublime  than  what  they  are  already  acquainted  with.  A  few 
remarks  on  this  dangerous  prejudice  may  not  be  unworthy  of  the  serious 
reader's  attention. 

The  rational  mysticism,  found  in  many  excellent  works,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  is  a  thin  veil  covering  the  naked  truth,  to  improve  her 
beauty,  to  quicken  the  attention  of  sincere  seekers,  to  augment  the  plea- 
sure of  discovery,  and  to  conceal  her  charms  from  the  prying  eyes  of 
her  enemies. 

Poems,  in  general,  and  the  sacred  oracles  in  particular,  abound  with 
this  mysticism,  which  consists  in  figures,  allusions,  comparisons,  meta- 
phors, types,  allegories,  apologues,  and  parables.  David,  for  instance, 
simply  tells  us,  God  is  attentive  to  the  prayers  of  sincere  seekers. 
Homer  presents  the  same  truth  veiled  in  a  prosopopoeia,  when  he  says, 
"  Prayers  are  the  daughters  of  Jupiter  ;"  and  consequently  of  celestial 
origin,  and  their  influence  Divine. 

To  this  mysticism,  which  personifies  virtues,  vices,  and  the  passions  ; 
dignifies  animals  with  reason,  and  imparts  life  and  speech  to  inanimate 
beings,  our  poets  are  "indebted  for  the  most  sublime  beauties  of  their 
works  :  had  this  imagery  been  wholly  banished  from  my  performance, 
I  could  not,  with  any  propriety,  have  given  it  the  name  of  a  poem. 

When  a  wise  mysticism  veils  disagreeable  truths,  it  may  be  compared 
to  leaves  of  gold  which  bitter  pills  are  sometimes  covered  with.  Thus 
the  Prophet  Nathan,  by  concealing  a  terrible  rebuke  under  a  well-chosen 
apologue,  brought  King  David  to  pass  a  just  sentence  upon  the  seducer 
of  Uriah's  wife.  Thus  Fenelon,  under  the  character  of  Mentor  ;  and 
Racine,  under  the  personages  acting  in  his  Esther,  and  Athalia,  pre- 
sumed to  give  lessons  of  wisdom  and  moderation  to  Lewis  XIV.,  which 
would  not  have  been  received  but  through  the  prudent  mysticism  of  the 
authors.  In  imitation  of  these  I  have  sometimes  introduced  the  apostles 
giving  advice  to  Christians,  at  other  times  the  feathered  tribes  offering 
instruction  to  the  human  race,  but  not  like  Fontaine,  who  says, — 

De  la  simple  nature  encontez  les  lecons,  <J-c. 

To  simple  nature's  sacred  lore  attend, 
Your  ears  to  scaly  tribes  submissive  bend, 
Creation  always  speaks  the  numbers  penn'd  ; 
Foresight  and  diligence  in  them  are  join'd, 
By  animals  I  lecture  all  mankind. 


5  EVANGELICAL  MYSTICISM. 

Judicious  mysticism  enables  us  to  speak  the  greatest  truths  with 
impunity,  and  to  deliver  them  in  the  most  energetic  and  striking  manner. 
Man  being  compounded  of  soul  and  body,  the  language  most  proper  for 
him,  is  that  which  speaks  to  his  sense  and  understanding.  Through  the 
fall  of  the  first  man  we  are  sunk  in  sensuality,  and  the  language  that 
makes  the  deepest  impression,  is  that  which  strikes  our  senses  in  the 
strongest  manner. 

Rousseau,  in  his  Emilius,  regrets  the  loss  of  energy  in  language,  he 
wants  action  in  every  thing,  and  admires  the  wisdom  of  the  man  who, 
to  recommend  silence  to  his  friend,  imposed  a  seal  on  his  lips.  In  this 
manner  St.  Paul,  by  rending  his  garments  before  the  Pagans,  who  were 
going  to  offer  him  sacrifice,  more  strongly  expressed  his  indignation  at 
their  folly  than  if  he  had  given  them  an  elaborate  harangue  on  the 
subject. 

Shall  I  be  criminal  in  imitating  what  is  approved  in  other  authors  ? 
If  Mark  Antony's  policy  is  admired,  who,  to  excite  the  Romans  to  revenge 
the  death  of  Julius  Cesar,  showed  the  bloody  robe  of  his  murdered 
friend ;  can  I  be  blamed  for  exciting  my  readers  to  praise,  by  setting 
before  them,  at  one  time,  the  works  of  the  Almighty,  at  another  the 
jubilant  choirs  of  angels,  or  music  of  the  feathered  tribes  ? 

A  moral  precept  divested  of  examples,  metaphors,  comparisons, 
actions,  and  images  proper  to  seize  on  the  senses  and  imagination, 
resembles  the  first  sketch  of  a  picture  before  the  painter  has  animated  it 
with  colours ;  such  a  precept  leaves  the  attention  wavering  and  unsettled, 
making  no  lively  impression ;  like  an  unsubstantial  shade  eluding  the 
grasp  and  vanishing  into  empty  air. 

The  necessity  of  mysticism,  which  gives  body  and  strength  to  morality, 
was  well  understood  by  that  prince  who,  to  engage  his  sons  in  concord, 
ordered  them  into  his  chamber  where  he  lay  at  the  point  of  death.  He 
commanded  them  to  break  a  bundle  of  arrows,  which  they  attempted  in 
vain  ;  he  then  enjoined  them  to  cut  the  band  by  which  they  were  united, 
and  break  them  separately,  which  was  easily  doni.  This  plan  is  pursued 
in  the  following  work :  instead  of  simply  telling  man  he  ought  not  to 
squander  in  dissensions  the  time  allotted  for  the  noble  purpose  of 
advancing  in  the  path  of  salvation,  he  is  invited  to  observe  the  birds  of 
passage,  which  give  lessons  of  foresight  and  unanimity. 

The  wisdom  of  that  tender  father  has  been  admired,  who,  to  snatch 
his  son  from  the  horrors  of  debauchery,  led  him  to  an  hospital  where 
living  carcasses  half  consumed  by  the  poison  of  vice,  and  terrible  medi- 
cines, send  forth  a  stench  worse  than  sepulchres.  "  Go,  my  son,"  said 
he,  "  and  seek  thy  punishment  in  such  an  infamous  place  as  this,  where 
these  unfortunate  wretches  have  found  the  beginning  of  punishment  inse- 
parable from  vice."  Does  the  sermon  of  Bourdaloue,  or  the  treatise  of 
Placette  against  impurity,  give  such  a  pointed  lesson  1 

Comformable  to  this,  instead  of  declaiming  against  human  weakness 
and  the  absurdity  of  pride — at  one  time  I  produce  a  peacock  falling  a 
victim  to  swelling  pride,  at  another  a  Herod  devoured  by  worms,  or  a 
Pharaoh  humbled  by  insects  more  vile  than  worms. 

A  wise  mysticism  not  only  gives  body  and  weight  to  moral  precepts, 
but  facilitates  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  rendering  them  more  pleasing 
and  impressive.     Thus  Jesus  Christ,  instead  of  preaching  a  sermon  to 


EVANGELICAL  MYSTICISM.  9 

his  disciples  on  feebleness,  another  on  dependence,  a  third  on  the  need 
of  close  and  constant  union  with  him,  a  fourth  on  the  invisible  manner 
in  which  he  communicates  his  grace,  a  filth  on  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
unfolds  all  these  important  truths  in  two  words  :  "  I  am  the  vine,"  says 
he,  "ye  are  the  branches."  "Here  is  mysticism,"  says  prejudice. 
"  Yes,"  replies  candour,  "  but  it  is  a  mysticism  glowing  with  the  Divine 
wisdom,  and  shedding  luminous  rays  on  the  most  profound  truths ,  a 
mysticism  having  more  light  and  energy  than  all  the  subtle  arguments 
of  the  schoolmen ;  in  fine,  a  mysticism  which  lays  the  most  sublime  truths 
on  a  level  with  simple  and  unlearned  people. 

Nevertheless,  I  allow  there  is  an  extravagant  mysticism,  by  which  vio- 
lence is  done  to  sound  criticism,  in  quitting,  without  reason,  the  literal 
sense  of  the  Scriptures,  and  running  into  ridiculous  and  forced  allegories. 
The  authors  who  incline  to  this  error,  for  which  Origen  was  reproached, 
are  blamable.  But  let  us  distinguish  between  frivolous  mysticism  and 
that  which  cautiously  penetrates  the  bark  or  veil  of  religion  to  sound  its 
depths,  and  discover  in  the  sacred  oracles  a  spiritual  and  heavenly  sense, 
though  veiled  with  figures  which,  in  their  general  acceptance,  signify 
nothing  more  than  common  things. 

It  would  be  impossible,  without  this  wise  mysticism,  to  understand  the 
Scriptures,  which,  in  many  places,  offer  nothing  but  a  coarse  meaning, 
equally  unworthy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  common  sense.  For  instance, 
what  literal  meaning  is  there  in  these  words  of  Moses?  "  Circumcise 
the  foreskin  of  your  hearts,  and  harden  not  your  necks.  The  Lord 
will  circumcise  your  hearts  that  ye  may  love  him  with  all  your  soul." 
And  what  literal  sense  can  we  fix  to  the  words  of  David,  when  he  says, 
"  The  Lord  is  my  rock  and  my  fortress,  my  buckler,  and  the  horn  of 
my  salvation  ]"  All  the  sacred  writers  may  be  cited  to  prove  the  neces- 
sity of  admitting  mysticism  in  the  manner  it  is  done  in  the  following 
work. 

To  confine  every  thing  in  the  Bible  to  a  literal  meaning,  is  sinking  to 
a  level  with  the  carnal  Jews.  Jesus  attacked  this  error,  saying  to  Nico- 
demus,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God."  The  Jewish  doctor  replied  with  astonishment,  "  How  can  a  man 
be  born  again  when  he  is  old  ?  Can  he  enter  again  into  his  mother's 
womb,  and  be  born  again  ?"  The  answer  of  our  Saviour  applies  not 
only  to  Nicodemus,  but  to  all  those  who  bury  the  mystical  sense  in  the 
gross  and  literal  meaning,  and  subjugate  the  spirit  to  the  letter. 

The  apostles  themselves,  during  the  time  of  their  novitiate,  not  unfre- 
quently  attached  a  ridiculous  sense  to  the  words  of  their  Master,  and  by 
the  letter  slew  the  spirit.  When  Jesus  Christ  made  an  allusion  to  the 
sourness  of  the  Pharisees'  doctrine,  the  gall  of  their  characters,  and  the 
bitterness  of  their  discourses;  "Beware,"  said  he,  "of  the  leaven  of 
these  false  devotees."  The  apostles  being  severally  attached  to  the  let- 
ter, imagined  our  Lord  meant  the  leaven  used  in  fermenting  bread  :  but 
calling  them  to  the  mystical  sense  of  the  words,  he  said,  "  O  ye  of  little . 
faith  !  [or  of  small  discernment,]  how  is  it  that  ye  do  not  understand  that 
I  spake  not  concerning  bread,  when  I  said  unto  you,  Beware  of  the  haven 
of the  Pharisees  /"  This  proof  opened  their  eyes,  and  they  perceived 
that  the  leaven  of  which  he  spake  was  the  traditions  of  the  Jewish 
doctors. 


10  EVANGELICAL  MYSTICISM. 

A  sage  may  smile  at  the  disciples'  error ;  but  the  crimes  which  flow 
from  the  same  source  ought  to  cover  the  Christian  world  with  sorrow. 
Certain  doctors  require  those  passages  to  be  literally  understood  which 
should  be  taken  mystically,  and  some  divines  insist  on  giving  a  mystical" 
turn  to  passages  which  are  literal.  They  dispute  and  mutually  burn  to 
establish  opposite  sentiments.  From  these  contests  spring  those  fatal 
schisms  which  unhappily  divide  Christians,  and  must  continue  to  divide, 
until  they  become  wise  enough  to  admit  a  judicious  mysticism. 

An  obstinate  aversion  to  the  spiritual  sense  of  some  mystical  expres- 
sions does  much  injury  to  the  Gospel,  and  the  same  obstinacy  concern- 
ing certain  mystical  actions  called  sacraments,  wounds  both  truth  and 
Christian  charity  in  a  much  more  dangerous  manner.  For  instance,  do 
not  many  content  themselves  with  the  exterior  of  baptism,  and  neglect 
that  sanctification  of  manners,  and  purity  of  heart,  without  which  no 
man  can  see  the  Lord  ?  The  Scriptures  clearly  conduct  us  to  the  mys- 
tical design  of  this  august  ceremony,  when  they  declare,  "  the  baptism 
which  saves,  i&i  not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer 
of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,"  1  Pet.  iii,  21.  But  in  vain  does  an 
apostle  speak  thus,  our  aversion  to  true  mysticism  being  such,  that,  con- 
tenting ourselves  with  the  letter  that  kills,  we  too  frequently  reject  the 
Spirit  that  gives  life. 

To  this  error  must  be  ascribed,  not  only  the  corruption  of  Christi- 
anity, but  the  murder  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  malice  of  the  Jews  vented 
itself  against  his  innocence  in  opposing  the  literal  meaning  of  his  words 
to  the  mystical  and  spiritual  sense.  They  demanded,  "  What  miracles 
dost  thou  perform  to  prove  thyself  the  Messiah  ?"  and  he  answered  them 
concerning  the  temple  of  his  body,  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and  I  will  raise 
it  again  in  three  days."  That  is,  resign  myself  to  death,  and  in  three 
days  rise  again.  "  And  the  elders,"  says  St.  Matthew,  "  sought  false 
witnesses  against  Jesus  to  put  him  to  death,  but  found  none  [that  were 
proper.]  At  last  two  false  witnesses  came,  saying,  This  man  said,  I  can 
destroy  the  temple  of  God,  and  in  three  days  rebuild  it."  And  when  he 
hung  on  the  cross,  those  who  passed  by  said,  "  Thou  that  destroyest  the 
temple,  and  in  three  days  rebuildest  it,  save  thyself!"  This  aversion  of 
the  Jews  to  mysticism,  contributed  to  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  it 
now  mutilates  true  Christianity,  which  enjoins  a  spiritual  worship,  and 
is  a  reasonable  service. 

A  marked  contempt  for  evangelical  mysticism  is  so  dangerous,  that 
were  it  to  become  general,  it  would  show  the  progress  of  that  apostasy 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  latter  times.  See  what  St.  Paul  has  said 
on  this  subject,  "  This  know,  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall 
come.  For  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters, 
proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  lovers 
of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God ;  having  a  form  of  godliness,  but 
denying  the  power  thereof:  from  such  turn  away." 

The  severity  of  this  apostolical  command  needs  not  surprise  us,  if  we 
consider  how  much  the  enemies  of  true  mysticism  injure  religion:  they 
enervate  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Pharisees  did  the  law  of " 
Moses ;  leaving  only  a  dead  carcass  without  a  soul. 

The  strong  aversion  to  evangelical  mysticism  manifested  by  some  of 
the  learned,  flows  from  two  sources  equally  dangerous.     Extravagant 


EVANGELICAL   MYSTICISM.  11 

mysticism  appears  ridiculous  to  the  well  informed  and  judicious,  turning 
all  into  allegories,  and  constantly  pursuing  vain  subtilties,  and  curious 
refinements,  unworthy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
sages  of  this  world,  beholding,  with  indignation,  these  excesses  of  theo- 
logy and  metaphysics,  imagine  the  only  way  to  avoid  them  is  by  run- 
ning to  the  other  extreme ;  and  being  chiefly  conversant  with  bodies, 
and  natural  philosophy,  they  regard  the  soul  and  metaphysics,  as  mere 
romances. 

But  do  you,  judicious  reader,  profit  by  the  errors  of  the  mystics,  who 
resolve  all  into  spirit ;  and  by  those  of  the  philosophers,  who  turn  every 
thing  into  body  or  matter  throughout  the  universe.  Make  it  your  care 
to  preserve  the  way  of  truth  equally  distant  from  the  precipice  down 
which  mistaken  religionists  tumble,  and  the  vortex  where  materialists 
perish.  This  path  is  attempted  in  the  following  work,  where  man,  com- 
posed of  body  and  soul,  will  find  the  literal  and  spiritual  sense  combined 
in  a  manner  agreeable  to  sound  reason  and  the  word  of  God. 

Those  who  prefer  the  feeble  rays  of  their  own  understanding  to  the 
blazing  light  of  the  Gospel,  are  in  general  the  greatest  enemies  id  the 
profound  meaning  of  the  sacred  writings.  Yet  there  is  nothing  more 
reasonable  than  evangelical  mysticism.     Observe  the  proof. 

Carnal  and  worldly  men  do  not  comprehend  spiritual  things  but  with 
the  greatest  difficulty.  The  language  of  paradise,  and  of  celestial  devo- 
tion, were  lost  with  the  innocence  of  the  first  man ;  and  while  man 
continues  in  his  natural  state,  he  is  as  much  embarrassed  to  express  a 
spiritual  and  heavenly  idea,  as  an  Indian,  who  having  for  the  first  time 
beheld  a  fleet  of  ships,  would  be  to  give  his  compatriots  an  idea  of  navi- 
gation. "I  have  seen,"  he  would  say,  "great  houses  with  wings  which 
fly,  or  swim  on  the  water."  Some  savages,  as  full  of  vanity  as  of 
ignorance,  might  perhaps  blame  the  mysticism  of  these  expressions ;  but 
a  philosopher  comes  who  is  able  to  give  such  ideas  of  these  things  as 
the  enlightened  savage  wished  to  give  his  ignorant  companions. 

All  men  are  savages  respecting  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  holy  city. 
We  need  not  therefore  be  surprised,  if  those  who  have  some  ideas  of 
these  subjects,  can  only  express  them  in  terms  of  circumlocution,  which 
appear  mysterious  to  carnal  minds,  whatever  natural  knowledge  they 
possess  in  worldly  concerns.  Permission  is  given  to  poets  and  orators 
to  employ  metaphors,  comparisons,  and  allegories.  Why  then  censure 
a  divine,  who  only  submits  through  necessity  to  what  orators  do  of 
choice,  for  the  ornament  of  their  works  and  pleasure  of  their  auditors  ? 
Moreover,  the  liberty  taken  by  the  judicious  divine,  in  this  respect,  is 
founded  on  the  nature  of  things,  and  the  essential  relations  they  bear 
among  themselves.  These  relations  are  so  real  that  the  unenlightened 
man  may  be  conducted  to  the  knowledge  of  supernatural  things  by  the 
resemblance  they  bear  to  natural ;  as  children  and  novices  are  taught 
sacred  history  by  prints  and  figures. 

The  reality  of  these  relations  among  things  visible  and  invisible, 
engaged  Jesus  Christ  to  instruct  the  people  by  parables,  founded  in  these 
relations,  and  having  a  double  use  ;  that  of  a  glass  by  which  objects  are 
magnified  and  rendered  more  visible  to  the  simple  ;  and  a  veil  to  conceal 
them  from  false  sages.  St.  Paul  has  given  us  a  key  to  evangelical 
mysticism,  when  he  assures  us,  "  that  the  invisible  things  of  God  are 


12  EVANGELICAL  MYSTICISM. 

clearly  seen  by  the  things  which  he  has  made,"  that  is,  by  the  visible' 
creation.  And  he  gives  the  reason,  saying,  "  That  things  which  are  seen 
were  not  made  of  things  which  do  appear ;"  and  when  he  declares, 
"  that  the  things  on  earth  are  copies  of  those  in  heaven  :"  as  though  he 
had  said,  that  all  the  visible  and  sensible  objects  are  only  dross  and 
material  copies,  whose  originals  are  spiritual  and  invisible.  This  is  the 
foundation  of  that  mysticism  which  runs  through  the  Gospel.  To  reject 
it,  is  to  continue  in  ignorance  of  Divine  things,  and  in  spiritual  infancy. 
It  is  to  imitate  the  folly  of  stupid  persons  who  reject  the  sense  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  content  themselves  with  admiring  the  pictures  which 
render  the  meaning  more  agreeable  and  easy. 

I  will  conclude  this  dissertation  by  a  remark  taken  from  Dr.  Henry 
More,  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  have  ornamented  the  university  of 
Cambridge.  This  poet  and  philosopher,  in  his  discourse  on  John  iv, 
31—34,  gives  a  proper  idea  of  evangelical  mysticism,  and  the  character 
of  such  as  turn  it  into  ridicule. 

Having  considered  the  carnal  disposition  of  the  disciples,  who  imagined 
when  Jesus  Christ  said,  "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of;  my 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me  ;"  that  he  spake  of  animal 
food ;  and  said  one  to  another,  "  Hath  any  man  brought  him  aught  to 
eat  ?"  And  having  noticed  the  manner  in  which  our  Lord  takes  the 
opportunity  of  offering  spiritual  grace,  under  the  name  of  "  living  water," 
to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  who  had  come  to  draw  material  water  from 
Jacob's  well,  he  thus  expresses  himself: — 

"  Whether  we  instruct  others,  or  wish  to  enlarge  our  own  knowledge, 
let  us  imitate  the  example  given  by  Jesus  Christ  on  this  occasion.  This 
is  not  only  our  privilege  but  indispensable  duty ;  for  the  whole  universe 
forms  one  great  emblem,  or  symbolic  sign  of  the  most  interesting  truths. 

"  On  the  first  appearance  of  the  morning,  when  the  sun  darts  his 
new-born  rays  over  the  face  of  creation,  let  us  open  the  eyes  of  our 
understanding  with  those  of  our  body,  and  say  with  David,  '  Lord,  lift 
upon  me  the  light  of  thy  countenance.'  The  air  we  respire  should 
awaken  a  desire,  like  that  which  filled  the  breast  of  a  certain  emperor, 
not  merely  to  breathe  the  common  air,  but  to  be  untied  with  the  great 
Intelligence  which  Jills  the  universe.  Solitude  and  darkness,  which  natu- 
rally inspire  dread  and  horror,  represent  the  privation  of  that  '  perfect 
love  which  casteth  out  fear.'  Thus  St.  John  speaks,  'He  that  hateth 
his  brother,  walks  in  darkness.' 

"  As  the  circle  of  nature  is  unfolded  to  the  natural  man,  the  Spirit  of 
God  makes  use  of  this,  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  him  to  spiritual 
things ;  so  that  by  a  thousand  objects,  which  constantly  strike  the  eyes, 
our  souls  are  invited  to  elevate  themselves  above  gross  matter,  and  to 
obtain  the  spiritual  treasure  offered  in  the  Gospel.  Whatever  we  see, 
smell,  taste,  or  hear,  and  the  things  that  are  tangible  and  sensible,  repre- 
sent some  hidden  mystery ;  and  under  all  this  bark  and  these  ornamental 
shells,  that  veil  the  face  of  nature,  we  may  find  nourishment  more  pre- 
cious than  that  which  supports  our  senses  and  perishable  bodies. 

"  A  man  surrounded  by  these  objects,  and  neglecting  to  elevate  him- 
self to  the  more  substantial  and  excellent  things,  is  afflicted  with  a 
spiritual  lethargy,  or  rather  he  is  spiritually  dead  ;  and  in  conduc' 
resembles  the  beasts  of  the  forest.     He  is  under  a  malediction,  and  in 


GRACE  AND  NATURE.  13 

that  brutality  which  fell  on  Nebuchadnezzar  ;  and  continues  in  this 
deplorable  state,  till  the  pride  of  his  heart  is  humbled  sufficiently  to 
recollect,  like  that  degraded  monarch,  that  the  Most  High  governs  the 
world,  and  that  a  Divine  Providence  superintends  all  things.  Then 
returning  to  himself,  with  all  the  regenerate,  he  is  able  to  understand 
the  meaning  of  spiritual  life.  He  discovers  that  our  spirits,  as  well  as 
our  bodies,  may  here  find  that  beauty,  fortitude,  and  pleasure,  which  are 
suitable  to  the  dignity  of  their  nature." 

Thus  speaks  this  ingenious  divine  and  philosopher.  And  I  confess,  I 
would  much  rather  be  blamed  unjustly  by  superficial  philosophers,  than 
be  compared  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  by  the  celebrated  author  whose  words 
are  here  cited. 


GRACE  AND  NATURE. 


When  St.  Paul  exhorts  Christians  to  improve  their  grace,  (or  the 
spiritual  aids  which  God  bestows  on  reasonable  creatures,)  he  says, 
"  Rejoice  evermore,  and  in  every  thing  give  thanks  to  the  Lord." 
Gratitude,  which  naturally  utters  its  feelings  in  praise,  is  so  essential  a 
part  of  Christian  worship,  that  the  contrary  disposition  is,  by  this  apostle, 
represented  as  characteristic  of  obdurate  Pagans  :  "  They  are  inex- 
cusable," said  he,  "  because  having  known  God,"  by  his  works,  "  they 
did  not  glorify  him  as  God,"  nor  render  him  due  praise.  They  forgot 
their  greatest  benefactor,  and  behaved  like  Atheists  in  refusing  him  the 
tribute  of  adoration. 

If  grace  leads  us  to  celebrate  the  God  of  all  grace,  nature,  in  like 
manner,  calls  upon  us  to  celebrate  her  invisible  Author.  "  It  is  neces- 
sary," says  M.  de  Luc,  in  his  History  of  the  Earth,  "  daily  to  recall 
men  to  the  original  bias  of  human  nature,  which  certainly  was  the 
admiration  of  the  universe.  That  every  step  we  advance  in  discoveries 
should  be  compared  with  our  ideas  of  a  wise  and  intelligent  Cause,"  &c. 
To  follow  the  advice  of  this  physician,  is  to  proceed  by  the  light  of  the 
universe,,  to  the  knowledge  of  her  author.  'By  this  mean,  religion 
walks  hand  in  hand  with  philosophy,  and  grace  and  nature  are  united. 


EULOGY 


CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS, 

PASCAL,  NEWTON,  BONNET,  DE  LUC,  BACON, 
BOYLE,  NEWTON,  &c. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE   FRENCH  OF  THE   REV.  J.  FLETCHER, 

BY  THE  LATE  REV.  MILES  MARTINDALE. 


Good  sense  should  lead  thee  to  the  Gospel  door, 
That  source  of  mercy  to  the  guilty  poor. 
Led  by  this  torch,  implore  celestial  peace, 
And  prove  the  virtue  of  redeeming  grace. 
The  yoke  of  Satan  from  thy  heart  remove, 
And  taste  true  wisdom  flowing  from  above. 
With  humble  Newton  gain  supernal  light ; 
The  Christian  and  philosopher  unite. 

Deep  in  thy  heart  let  grace  and  wisdom  join, 
Thy  life  shall  prove  their  energy  Divine  : 
Copy  Bonnet,  that  great  observing  sage, 
And  point  to  God  in  every  glowing  page. 
The  dreadful  deluge  with  de  Luc  unfold ; 
With  him  by  faith  the  righteous  Judge  behold, 
Who  with  infuriate  waters  drown'd  the  earth, 
Changed  ocean's  bed,  and  to  new  worlds  gave  birth : 
With  vast  concussions  roused  volcanoes  dire, 
To  raise  the  deep,  and  bid  the  globe  expire. 
Who  plunged  the  guilty  world  in  death  profound. 
Bid  ocean  roll  her  foaming  billows  round. 
This  mighty  wreck  with  pious  dread  behold, 
Revere  that  God  whom  Moses  sung  of  old  ; 
With  Galen  trace  his  wondrous  skill  and  might, 
Till  Heaven  bestow  the  renovating  light. 

In  the  former  edition  I  said,  such  as  humble  Pascal:  the  sense  is 
equally  just.  Pascal  was  one  of  the  best  writers,  the  finest  geniuses, 
and  the  greatest  mathematicians  that  France  has  produced.  '  In  his  con- 
duct and  writings  he  has  fully  demonstrated,  that  philosophy  perfectly 
accords  with  Christianity.  Superficial  philosophers  are  frequently 
among  the  incredulous,  but  the  truly  learned  consider  it  an  honour  to  be 
believers.  The  system  of  Descartes  tends  to  demonstrate  the  existence 
of  a  God  :  and  though  Voltaire  has  frequently  ridiculed  the  devotion  of 
Pascal,  he  has  done  justice  .to  that  of  the  great  English  philosopher, 
in  his  Elements  of  Newton's  Philosophy. 

"  Newton"  says  he,  "  was  intimately  persuaded  of  the  existence  of  a 
God  ;  and  he  understood  by  this  word,  not  merely  a  being  that  is  infinite, 


EULOGY   ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS.  15 

omnipotent,  eternal,  and  the  Creator  of  all  things,  but  a  Master,  who 
hath  formed  a  relation  between  himself  and  his  creatures ;  for  without 
this  relation  the  knowledge  of  the  Deity  is  only  a  barren  science.  This 
great  philosopher  has  likewise  a  very  singular  remark  at  the  conclusion 
of  his  principles  ;  which  is,  that  we  do  not  say,  My  eternal,  my  infinite, 
because  these  attributes  have  no  relation  to  our  nature  ;  but  we  say,  and 
we  ought  to  say,  My  God  !  and  by  this  we  understand  the  Master  and 
Preserver  of  our  life,  and  the  object  of  our  tlwvghts.  I  remember  that, 
in  several  conversations  which  I  had  with  Dr.  Clarke,  in  the  year  1726, 
this  philosopher  never  pronounced  the  name  of  God  but  with  an  air  of 
recollection,  and  the  most  marked  respect.  I  acknowledged  to  him  the 
impression  which  his  manner  made  upon  my  mind,  and  he  informed  me 
that  it  was  from  Newton  he  insensibly  learned  this  manner,  which  indeed 
ought  to  be  that  of  all  men. 

"  A  catechist  announces  God  to  his  pupils,  and  Newton  demonstrates  his 
being  to  the  wise.  The  whole  of  his  philosophy  necessarily  leads  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Supreme  Being,  who  created  all  things,  and  regulates 
them  with  ease.  Of  all  the  proofs  concerning  the  existence  of  a  God, 
those  which  proceed  from  final  causes,  appeared  the  strongest  in  the 
eyes  of  Newton.  The  infinite  designs  which  beam  forth  ,in  the  most 
extensive,  and  in  the  smallest  parts  of  the  universe,  are  a  demonstration  ; 
and  yet,  though  so  obvious,  they  are  almost  neglected ;  but  Newton 
thought  that  these  numberless  evidences,  which  he  perceived  more 
clearly  than  others,  were  the  productions  of  an  infinitely  powerful  artist. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  continues  M.  de  Voltaire,  "  that  there  is  one  meta- 
physical proof  that  speaks  more  strongly  to  man  than  this  admirable 
order  which  reigns  in  the  universe ;  and  if  there  had  existed  a  more 
beautiful  argument  than  this  verse,  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  Newton  would  not  have  placed  this  at  the  end  of  his  principles. 
He  found  no  kind  of  ratiocination  more  convincing  in  favour  of  the 
Deity  than  that  of  Plato,  who  says  to  one  of  his  interrogators,  You 
judge  that  I  have  a  reasonable  soul,  because  you  perceive  an  order  in 
my  words  and  actions  :  judge  then,  in  beholding  the  order  of  the  uni- 
verse, that  it  is  regulated  by  a  mind  infinitely  intelligent."  Thus  speaks 
M.  de  Voltaire.  I  am  glad  to  see  this  philosopher  united  with  Plato 
and  Newton  in  supporting  this  grand  truth !  I  likewise  feel  great  satis- 
faction when  I  behold  Locke  demonstrate  the  superiority  of  his  judg- 
ment, saymg,  "  I  receive  the  light  of  revelation  with  pleasure  and 
gratitude,  and  I  rejoice  therein  :"for  it  lays  my  mind  at  rest  concerning 
many  questions  which  my  poor  feeble  reason  could  never  fathom." 

This  satisfaction  is  augmented,  when  I  behold  so  fine  a  genius  as 
M.  de  Moxtesquieu  giving  evidence  in  favour  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  of  that  power  which  at  first  established  it,  and  which  has 
preserved  it  to  the  present  season.  "  The  religion  of  Heaven,"  says  he, 
"was  not  established  by  the  same  methods  as  the  religion  of  this  world. 
Read  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  you  will  see  the  wonders  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Did  she  resolve  to  enter  a  country  ?  She  caused 
the  gates  to  open  :  all  instruments  served  her  purpose.  Sometimes  God 
makes  use  of  a  few  fishermen,  and  at  other  times  he  takes  an  emperor 
from  his  throne,  and  makes  him  bend  his  neck  to  the  yoke  of  the  Gospel. 
Did  the  Christian  religion  conceal   herself  in  subterranean   caverns  ? 


xt>  EULOGY   ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS. 

Attend  a  moment,  and  you  shall  see  imperial  majesty  speaking  for  her. 
She  passes,  at  pleasure,  the  ocean,  the  rivers,  and  the  mountains :  no 
obstacles  on  earth  can  impede  her  progress.  Fill  the  minds  of  men  with 
hatred  to  her,  she  will  vanquish  this  aversion.  Establish  customs,  form 
usages,  publish  edicts,  make  laws  :  she  will  triumph  over  the  climate, 
the  laws  which  are  in  force  there,  and  the  legislators  who  formed  them. 
God,  by  his  decrees,  of  which  we  have  no  knowledge,  extends  or  con- 
tracts  the  boundaries  of  his  holy  religion."  {Defense  de  V Esprit  des 
Loix,  p.  112.) 

How  different  is  this  language  to  that  of  Hume,  the  Scottish  philoso- 
pher, who,  filled  with  a  vain  hope  concerning  the  progress  of  his  vain 
philosophy,  takes  upon  him  to  predict  the  approaching  downfall  of  the 
Gospel ;  as  if  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  must  lick  the  dust  before  his 
philosophy,  and  that  of  Voltaire  !  But  his  expectation  is  vain  :  M.  Bon- 
net,  the  pious  philosopher  of  Geneva,  more  closely  unites  Christian 
piety  with  sound  philosophy ;  and  his  judicious  researches  into  the  truth 
of  Christianity,  demonstrate  the  Scottish  prophet  to  be  grossly  mistaken. 

It  will  not  be  unimportant  to  notice  here  the  eulogy  which  M.  Bon- 
net pays,  in  his  Philosophic  Regeneration,  to  the  piety  of  Leibnitz,  the 
great  philosopher  of  Germany,  whom  he  called  the  Germanic  Plato. 

This  Genevese  philosopher,  speaking  of  the  philosophical  comparison 
of  death  and  sleep,  which  Leibnitz  had  made  according  to  the  words  of 
Jesus  Christ,  adds,  "  He  cited  with  great  pleasure  even  the  least  words 
of  this  Divine  Master,  and  he  always  discovered  some  hidden  sense  still 
the  more  beautiful,  as  it  was  the  more  philosophical.  The  passage  upon 
which  I  comment  will  furnish  us  with  a  remarkable  example :  I  could 
easily  cite  many  more  ;  but  I  confine  myself  to  the  admirable  preface  to 
the  Theodicee.  He  who  was  delighted  to  find  in  the  Gospel  a  philosophy 
so  exalted,  was  a  living  Encyclopedia,  and  one  of  the  most  profound 
geniuses  that  ever  appeared  on  the  earth.  I  beseech  those  who  have 
neither  the  understanding  nor  the  wisdom  of  this  great  man,  to  consider 
that  it  ill  becomes  them  to  despise  the  Gospel,  and  to  strive  at  inspiring 
others  with  the  same  contempt." 

"  Four  of  the  greatest  English  philosophers,  (says  Dr.  Newton,  the 
bishop  of  Bristol,  in  his  Dissertation  on  the  Philosophy  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,)  were  Lord  Bacon,  Boyle,  Locke,  and  Newton,  who 
have  all  proved,  by  their  example,  that  philosophy  and  faith  perfectly 
accord. 

"  Bacon,  elevated  by  his  merit  and  his  talents  to  the  rank  of  chan- 
cellor, was  a  universal  genius.  In  his  works,  which  do  great  honour  to 
England,  we  every  where  see  his  marked  respect  for  religion,  and  his 
veneration  for  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  he  always  quotes  with  reve- 
rence.  His  maxim  is  well  known  :  '  That  a  smattering  of  philosophy 
leads  to  Atheism,  but  a  profound  knowledge  of  this  science  to  devotion.' 
He  considered  theology  as  the  most  exalted  of  all  knowledge,  and  the 
perfection  of  human  nature. 

"  Boyle,  a  profound  natural  philosopher,  is  better  known  by  his  piety 
than  his  nobility,  and  his  discoveries  in  experimental  physics.  He  wrote 
a  treatise  on  Seraphic  Love,  for  thus  he  called  the  love  of  God.  This 
work  is  dedicated  to  his  sister,  the  countess  of  Warwick,  and  it  breathes 
the  most  sublime  devotion  of  David's  Psalms.     He  was  the  author  of  a 


EULOGY  ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS.  17 

treatise  which  proves  divinity  superior  to  philosophy.  He  was  so  filled 
with  admiration  of  the  Scriptures,  that  he  composed  a  work  on  the  ex- 
cellency of  their  style  :  and  at  his  own  expense  procured  translations  of 
the  Bible  in  various  languages,  and  often  printed  them  to  distribute 
among  the  poor ;  and  after  having  passed  his  life  in  doing  good,  to 
combat  error  after  his  death,  he  left  a  considerable  sum  of  money  for 
the  purpose  of  preaching  annual  sermons  on  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
religion. 

"  Locke  is  so  well  known,  as  a  profound  metaphysician  by  his  Essay 
on  the  Human  Understanding,  that  any  praise  of  him  as  a  philosopher  is 
unnecessary.  He  has  proved  that  Christianity  accords  with  reason, 
and  has  even  composed  a  paraphrase  on  some  of  St.  Paul's  epistles ; 
having  consecrated  the  latter  part  of  his  life  to  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

"  Newton  was  so  great  a  mathematician,  that  a  learned  man  said, 
'  If  we  consider  philosophy  and  the  mathematics  as  composed  of  ten 
parts,  we  may  regard  him  as  the  inventor  of nine  of  those  parts.'  He  snake 
of  the  Supreme  Being  with  that  respect  which  becomes  a  sage.  Whsn 
he  regulated  the  chronology  of  the  ancient  empires,  it  was  always  ac- 
cording to  the  light  with  which  we  are  furnished  by  the  Holy  Scriptures : 
and  by  his  observations  on  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  of  St.  John,  he 
demonstrated  that  the  word  of  God  was  the  object  to  which  all  his  labours 
tended ;  and  having  begun  with  philosophy,  he  acted  like  all  the  truly 
wise  in  finishing  with  religion." 

M.  Bonnet  was  a  celebrated  philosopher  of  Geneva,  a  member  and 
correspondent  of  many  academies  and  royal  societies.  His  philosophical 
researches  into  the  truth  of  Christianity,  organized  bodies,  regeneration, 
&c,  have  procured  him  the  respect  and  admiration  of  Christian  philoso- 
phers, as  well  as  his  Contemplations  of  Nature,  in  which  we  every 
where  behold  the  judicious  observer  of  the  universe,  and  the  humble 
adorer  of  the  Supreme  Being. 

M.  dk  Luc  was  a  companion  of  M.  Bonnet,  and  with  him  trod  the 
paths  of  the  greatest  philosophers  of  the  Christian  persuasion.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  of  the  Batavian  Society,  and 
a  correspondent  of  the  Royal  Academies  of  Paris  and  Montpelier.  His 
Letters,  Physical  and  Moral,  on  the  History  of  the  Earth  and  of  Man, 
which  he  published  in  five  volumes,  are  an  additional  proof  of  the  agree- 
ment of  Christianity  with  sound  philosophy.  The  reader  will  doubtless 
find  a  pleasure  in  reading  what  he  says  upon  these  articles. 

After  having  compared  an  incredulous  philosopher  to  a  person  found 
upon  an  immense  ocean,  without  pilot,  helm,  or  anchors,  and  having  no 
hope  of  finding  any  port,  he  adds,  "Being  warned  betimes  by  a  wise 
pilot,  my  Father,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  avoid  the  dangers,  in  the 
seasons  of  illusion,  which  every  where  surround  the  studious  youth.  I 
was  in  a  measure  captivated  by  the  first  attack,  but  restrained  by  a  happy 
education,  and  by  this  recalled  to  reflection,  I  resisted,  ere  it  was  too 
late,  the  cruel  hands  that  would  have  consigned  me  to  the  merciless 
waves. 

"  Who  ave  you  ?  I  demanded  of  those  who  wished  to  allure  me  into 
their  dangerous  path.  In  whose  name  do  you  speak  1  In  the  name  oj 
nature.  And  in  what  manner  has  she  spoken  to  you  ?  We  have  studied 
her  oracles,  and  arc  become  her  interpreters.     Have  you  the  credentials 

Vol.  IV.  2 


18  EULOGY  ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS. 

of  your  mission  1  Credentials  !  fine  demand  !  Do  you  then  listen  to  these 
vulgar  opinions  ?  Do  you  believe  in  a  revelation  ?  Open  your  eyes,  and  be. 
hold  how  nature  contradicts  your  fables  !  &c.  If  you  have  made  these 
discoveries  in  nature  by  your  own  faculties,  I  will  examine  also,  for  I 
have  faculties  similar  to  yours,  and  shall  be  very  cautious  in  fixing  my 
opinion  upon  the  authority  of  any  man,  whoever  he  may  be,  concerning 
objects  of  this  vast  importance. 

"  Hence,"  continues  M.  de  Luc,  "  arose  my  great  inclination  for  this 
science,  which  the  schools  call  the  knowledge  of  nature.  I  was  deter- 
mined  to  know  for  myself  what  man  could  discover  there.  No,  said  I 
to  myself,  no,  I  will  not  relinquish,  on  the  authority  of  any  person,  those 
laws  which  hitherto  have  appeared  conformable  to  all  the  feelings  of 
my  heart,  or  that  hope  of  future  bliss  which,  amidst  all  the  innocent 
pleasures  resulting  from  society,  are,  in  my  esteem,  more  valuable  than 
existence.  I  will  not,  upon  the  credit  of  any  man,  render  myself  offen- 
sive to  this  Being,  on  the  belief  of  whom  I  rest  as  upon  a  centre,  and 
who  through  the  universe  unfolds  to  my  sight  the  most  admirable  har- 
mony ;  by  whose  existence  I  am  restrained  from  the  commission  of  the 
evils  too  prevalent  in  society,  nor  am  I  alone  in  the  lonely  desert ! 

"  They  do  not  credit,  they  say,  the  facts  which  have  been  transmitted 
from  Moses  to  the  first  Christians,  and  from  the  primitive  Christians 
down  to  us !  These  form,  however,  the  basis  of  all  revelation,  the  most 
glorious  display  of  light  upon  the  universe,  and  the  first  foundation  of 
human  hopes.  But  if  some  of  these  facts  be  true,  such,  for  instance,  as 
the  universality  of  the  deluge,  and  the  destruction  of  the  earth  by  water, 
would  there  not  remain  some  traces  of  them  on  the  face  of  the  globe  ? 
I  will  then  go  in  pursuit  of  them,  I  will  study  the  phenomena,  and  I  will 
see  how  they  explain  them  who  reject  the  sacred  text. 

"  I  undertook  to  observe  the  moral  and  physical  world ;  I  read  what 
these  philosophers  said  upon  these  subjects,  and  I  soon  suspected  that 
those  who  abandoned  Moses,  saw  but  darkly,  or  reasoned  without  ex- 
amination. The  farther  I  carried  my  researches  in  this  manner,  the 
more  was  I  convinced  of  their  error ;  and  cheerful  serenity  returned  to 
my  mind. 

"  Nor  was  I  less  struck  with  the  deplorable  effects  produced  by  this 
system  among  certain  individuals,  and  through  them  to  society  at  large ; 
the  schemes  of  Atheism,  of  Fatalism,  and  of  Materialism,  children  of 
impatience  and  false  learning.  There  I  beheld  a  morality  withoiu 
principle,  politics  separated  from  their  true  design,  and  a  happiness  with- 
out any  durable  source.  I  observed  a  number  of  unfortunate'  persons, 
victims  to  opinions  which  they  did  not  comprehend,  and  repeating  ruinous 
creeds  to  which  they  had  no  other  attachment  but  the  force  of  fashion, 
and  the  confidential  tone  with  which  they  were  supported  ;  and  I  saw 
that  they  were  unable  to  extricate  themselves  from  these  shackles ;  be- 
cause a  single  word  produced  a  doubt,  and  it  required  deep  study  to 
dissipate  the  darkness. 

"  Hitherto  I  have  only  spoken  of  myself,  and  have  done  it  with  this 
view,  to  discover  the  internal  history  of  man  ;  and  the  progress  of  his 
ideas  on  a  subject  which  contains  so  much  happiness  :  and  this  man  is 
none  but  myself,  merely  because  I  am  the  best  acquainted  with  him. 
But  I  must  associate  my  brother  with  me,  who,  next  to  myself,  is  the 


EULOGY  ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS.  19 

best  known  to  me.  Thirty  years  we  studied  the  principal  subject  of  this 
work,  and  we  never  took  one  step  but  in  concert.  When  we  were  per- 
suaded by  the  study  of  the  phenomena,  that  the  Mosaic  history  of  our 
globe  was  the  only  system  to  be  depended  on,  we  formed  the  design  of 
instructing  those  who  either  did  not,  or  could  not  examine  these  subjects 
themselves ;  but  we  will  not  conceal  the  difficulties,  &c. 

"  At  present  a  certain  class  of  infidels,  with  a  labyrinth  of  arguments, 
constitute  the  fashion.  The  more  feeble  their  reasons,  the  more  decisive. 
They  never  hesitate,  they  deny  and  ridicule.  In  a  word,  one  knows 
not  which  is  the  most  wonderful,  the  boldness  of  their  attacks,  or  the 
supercilious  air  which  is  manifested  in  the  weakness  of  their  means. 
One  would  think  they  imagine  that  religion  is  on  the  point  of  destruc- 
tion, and  that  they  have  only  to  mingle  with  the  crowd  of  assailants,  to 
obtain  some  small  branch  of  laurel.  But  they  deceive  themselves ; 
religion  has  her  foundation  in  nature,  &c. 

"  Religion  in  general  seizes  the  hearts  of  men.  What  conclusion 
should  the  observing  philosopher  draw  from  this  ?  Must  we  not  change 
the  nature  of  man  before  we  can  destroy  its  influence  ?  &c.  In  the 
whole  system  of  morality,  religion  merits  the  regard  of  every  honest 
man.  And  what  religion  has  such  strong  reasons  for  its  support  as  ours, 
that  is  impressed  with  such  striking  characters  of  truth,  and  so  firmly 
established,  whose  morality  is  so  beautiful,  whose  motives  to  practice  are 
so  powerful,  whose  promises  are  so  sweet  and  so  conformable  to  our 
desires,  and  so  well  calculated  to  support  us  under  the  inevitable  evils  of 
the  present  life  ?  A  religion,  in  one  word,  which  whoever  announces  in 
its  proper  form  and  beauty,  and  with  pure  intentions,  obliges  the  idolater 
to  renounce  his  false  deities,  because  he  feels  the  purity  of  primitive 
notions. 

"  I  return  to  my  general  proposition.  Since,  in  the  study  of  the  uni- 
verse, man  seeks  to  discover  what  is  agreeable,  that  he  may  conform  his 
conduct  thereto,  his  first  step  should  be  to  inquire  if  the  First  Cause, 
to  whom  he  owes  his  existence,  has  not  manifested  his  will  concerning 
man  ;  and  if  he  has  not  given  him  a  rule  of  conduct.  This  is  what  has 
at  all  times  determined  a  number  of  philosophers,  whose  example  I  think 
it  an  honour  to  follow,  to  examine  the  proofs  concerning  the  certainty 
of  a  Divine  revelation,  and  to  publish  such  proofs  when  they  had  found 
them  substantial,  &c. 

"  To  examine  if  revelation  be  certain,  it  is  requisite,  in  the  first  place, 
to  be  well  assured  of  the  facts  which  I  have  collected,  and  to  examine 
their  consequents  with  respect  to  the  ancient  history  of  the  earth ;  then 
to  see  if  they  be  conformable  to  what  Moses  has  said,  and  by  what  means 
he  could  gain  a  knowledge  of  these  things.  And  if  you  are  too  feeble 
to  run  from  country  to  country,  or  too  much  engaged  with  other  con- 
cerns, even  to  examine  the  account  which  I  have  given  in  my  labours- 
of  thirty  years,  you  cannot  be  in  a  condition  to  decide  upon  these  facts  ; 
I  beseech  you,  at  least,  for  the  sake  of  justice  and  humanity,  to  abstain . 
from  spreading  such  perplexing  opinions,  which  at  the  best  are  only 
chimerical." 

Such  is  the  decision  of  a  philosopher  after  having  pursued  his  inqui- 
ries for  a  great  number  of  years  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  who 
pushed  his  researches  to  the  summits  of  the  most  lofty  mountains,  to  the 


20  EULOGY  ON  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHERS. 

bottom  of  the  deepest  valleys,  and  down  the  most  terrible  precipices. 
But  I  refer  the  reader  to  the  work  itself,  where  he  will  find  himself  both 
amused  and  profited ;  and  I  will  conclude  this  extract  with  a  sketch  of 
the  character  which  M.  de  Luc  gives  of  his  celebrated  compatriot,  J.  J. 
Rousseau. 

"This  haughty,  but  honest  man,"  says  he,  "knowing  the  weakness 
of  human  reason  in  the  pursuit  of  truth,  sensibly  felt  the  despotism  which 
was  exercised  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  even  by  those  who  ought  to 
have  made  revelation  respectable.  He  was  grieved  to  see  the  most 
essential  part  of  religion  falling  a  victim  in  the  great  world,  through  the 
unskilfulness  of  its  defenders ;  and  believing  that  he  ought  to  hasten  to 
its  succour,  and  at  least  to  give  some  support  to  the  morals  and  hopes 
which  are  drawn  from  reason,  he  ranked  himself  on  the  side  of  those 
philosophers,  who  seek  only  in  this  way  for  a  foundation  of  morality  to 
combat,  more  certainly,  the  monstrous  systems  of  Atheism  and  Material- 
ism, which  leave  man  without  hope  and  without  restraint. 

"  He  too  much  doubted  the  influence  of  religion  in  herself,  and  being 
entangled  in  the  heat  of  the  contest,  he  went  farther  than  he  at  first 
intended.  He  respected  Christianity  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart :  this 
I  know,  and  this  he  has  declared.  But  wishing  to  put  an  end  to  the 
persecution  exercised  on  those  who  may,  in  sincerity,  seek  for  the  foun- 
dation of  morality  out  of  the  Bible,  he  undertook  to  prove  that  the 
characters  rising  from  this  source  were  not  sufficiently  authentic,  to 
affix  the  charge  of  impiety  upon  those  who  sought  them  elsewhere. 
But  in  attempting  to  prove  this  he  wanted  evidence,  and  sunk  into 
doubts.  He  was  deceived  concerning  the  force  of  these  objections  to 
Christianity ;  for  the  most  part  they  are  only  such  difficulties  as  men 
meet  with  in  their  examinations  of  any  subject,  and  those  which  appear 
more  formidable  are  easily  solved." 


A  LETTER  FROM  THE  REV.  MR.  FLETCHER, 

TO 

THE  REV.  MR.  PROTHERO, 

IN  DEFENCE   OF 

EXPERIMENTAL    RELIGION.* 


Madeley,  July  25,  1761. 

Rev.  Sir, — The  elegant  sermon  you  preached  at  the  visitation,  got 
you,  no  doubt,  the  thanks  of  your  known  hearers.  Permit  an  unknown 
one  to  add  his  to  theirs,  and  to  pay  to  merit  a  just  tribute.  It  gave  me 
exceeding  great  satisfaction  to  see  you  stand  up  so  boldly  in  defence  of 
revealed  religion  against  Deists  and  infidels,  and,  by  ingenious  observa- 
tions and  cogent  arguments,  force  them  out  of  their  strong  hold,  a  blind 
confidence  in  reason.  I  could  not  help  wishing  that  they  did  every 
where  meet  with  opponents  so  able  to  fight  them  with  their  own  weapons. 
Were  this  the  case,  there  would  not  be  so  much  room  to  lament  the  over- 
flowings of  Deism  among  men  of  reason  and  learning. 

The  second  part  of  your  discourse,  wherein  you  endeavoured  to  guard 
the  truth  from  the  other  extreme,  superstition  and  enthusiasm,  deserves 
no  less  to  be  commended,  on  account  of  the  goodness  of  your  design.  It 
is  the  duty  of  a  preacher  to  keep  the  sacred  truths  committed  to  him,  as 
well  from  being  perverted  by  enthusiasts,  as  crushed  by  infidels.  The 
rocks  on  which  both  split  are  equally  dangerous,  and  we  see  daily  that 
nothing  exposes  so  much  the  mysteries  of  Christianity  to  the  scorn  of 
freethinkers,  as  the  words  and  behaviour  of  those  who  suppose  themselves 
under  the  inspiration  of  God's  Spirit,  when,  it  appears,  that  they  are  led 
only  by  the  weakness  of  their  mind  and  nerves,  by  spiritual  pride  and 
the  warmth  of  their  imagination.    Boasting  of  communion  with  God,  and 

*  We  find  this  letter  referred  to  in  a  letter  of  Mr.  Fletcher  to  the  Rev.  Charles 
Wesley,  dated  August  18,  1761,  and  recorded  in  page  73  of  his  life,  octavo  edition, 
in  the  following  words :  "  I  do  not  know  whether  I  mentioned  to  you  a  sermon 
preached  at  the  archdeacon's  visitation.  It  is  almost  all  levelled  at  the  points 
which  are  called  '  The  Doctrines  of  Methodism,'  and  as  the  preacher  is  minister 
of  a  parish  near  mine,  it  is  probable  he  had  me  in  his  eye.  After  the  sermon, 
another  clergyman  addressed  me  with  an  air  of  triumph,  and  demanded  what 
answer  I  could  make  ?  As  several  of  my  parishioners  were  present,  beside  the 
churchwardens,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  take  the  matter  up ;  and  I  have  done  so, 
by  writing  a  long  letter  to  the  preacher,  in  which  I  have  touched  the  principal 
mistakes  of  his  discourse,  with  as  much  politeness  and  freedom  as  I  was  able : 
but  I  have  as  yet  had  no  answer.  [And,  it  seems,  he  never  had  any.]  I  could 
have  wished  for  your  advice  before  I  sealed  my  letter  ;  but  as  I  could  not  have  it, 
I  have  been  very  cautious,  entrenching  myself  behind  the  ramparts  of  Scripture, 
as  well  as  those  of  our  homilies  and  articles." 


22  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL   RELIGION. 

peculiar  favours  from  heaven,  is  no  less  hurtful  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
when  people's  lives  show  them  to  be  actuated  by  a  spirit  of  delusion  ; 
and  setting  up  impulses  in  the  room  of  repentance,  faith,  hope,  charity, 
obedience,  has  done  no  small  mischief  in  the  Church  of  God. 

These  are  the  counterfeits  and  bane  of  inward  religion  :  these  the' 
tares  that  the  enemy  sows  in  the  night  of  ignorance  and  superstition  ; 
and,  I  repeat  it  again,  you  cannot  be  too  much  commended,  sir,  for  en- 
deavouring to  detect  and  stop  him  in  this  work  of  darkness.  But  did 
you  act  with  all  the  caution  necessary  in  so  important  an  undertaking, 
and,  while  you  were  pulling  out  the  tares,  did  not  you  root  up,  unawares, 
some  of  the  wheat  also  1 

I  had  some  fear  of  it,  sir,  while  I  was  hearing  you ;  and  I  beg  leave 
to  lay  before  you  the  ground  of  this  fear  in  the  following  observations, 
which  I  humbly  entreat  you  to  weigh  in  the  balance  of  the  sanctuary  : — 

I.  Is  the  representing,  in  general,  virtue,  benevolence,  good  nature, 
and  morality,  as  the  way  to  salvation,  agreeable  to  either  the  word  of 
God,  or  the  doctrine  of  our  Church  ?  Both  show  us  no  other  way  but 
Christ  alone,  Christ  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;"  Christ  the 
door,  the  only  door  to  come  to  the  Father,  and  receive  grace  and  glory. 
"  If  justification  comes  by  obeying  the  law,"  says  Paul,  Gal.  ii,  21, 
"  then  Christ  died  in  vain  ;"  and  to  the  Ephesians,  ii,  8,  he  says,  "  By 
grace  you  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God  ;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast. " 

The  only  means  and  instrument,  on  our  part,  required  for  salvation, 
(according  to  our  Church,  second  sermon  on  the  passion,)  is  faith,  that 
is  to  say,  a  sure  trust  and  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God,  whereby  we 
persuade  ourselves  that  God  both  has  forgiven  and  will  forgive  our  sins  ; 
that  he  has  taken  us  again  into  his  favour  ;  that  he  has  released  us  from 
the  bonds  of  damnation,  and  received  us  again  into  the  number  of  his 
elect  people,  not  for  our  merits  and  deserts,  but  only  and  solely  for  the 
merits  of  Christ's  death  and  passion. 

This  faith  is  so  far  from  superseding  morality  and  good  works,  that  it 
works  infallibly  by  love,  and  love  infallibly  by  obedience,  and  consequently 
produces  morality  and  good  works,  truly  so  called.  "  Do  we  make  void 
the  law  through  faith  ?"  says  Paul :  ""  nay,  we  establish  the  law." 

Nevertheless,  faith  unfeigned  alone  justifieth,  if  the  word  of  God  and 
the  articles  of  our  Church  stand  for  any  thing;  the  eleventh  of  which 
runs  thus  :  "  We  are  accounted  righteous  before  God,  only  for  the  merit 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  by  faith,  and  not  for  our  own  works 
and  deservings  ;  wherefore,  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  only,  is  a  most 
wholesome  doctrine,  and  very  full  of  comfort,  as  is  more  largely  expressed 
in  the  homily  on  juslification  :"  to  which  I  refer  you,  sir,  or  to  the 
enclosed  extract  of  our  homilies  on  this  point,  if  you  please  to  peruse  it. 

II.  Does  what  you  said,  sir,  of  reason  and  free  agency,  in  the  second 
part  of  your  discourse,  perfectly  agree  with  what  you  said  in  the  first'' 

You  told  us  first,  (if  i  understood  you  rightly,)  that  since  the  fall,  man's 
reason  is  so  darkened,  that  the  greatest  philosophers  staggered  even  at 
the  fundamental  truths  of  religion,  the  being  of  a  God,  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  &c  ;  that  his  passions  are  so  disorderly  and  impetuous,  as  to 
hurry  him  down  the  paths  of  error  and  vice  ;  that  reason,  so  far  from 
bringing  him  back,  redoubles  the  cheat,  and  makes  him  ingenious  to 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL   RELIGION.  23 

excuse  and  satisfy  his  unruly  appetites  ;  that  St.  Paul's  words  painted  his 
helplessness  with  true  colours,  "  The  good  that  I  would  I  do  not,  and 
the  evil  I  would  not  that  I  do,"  &c. 

This,  sir,  was  a  superstructure  worthy  of  the  foundation  ;  this  agreed 
with  your  text  with  the  utmost  exactness :  "  We  are  not  sufficient  of  our- 
selves to  think  any  thing,  [truly  good  before  God,]  as  of  ourselves,  but 
our  sufficiency  is  of  God." 

Who  would  have  expected,  after  this,  to  hear  you  place  again  reason, 
and  free  will  to  good,  upon  the  throne  out  of  which  you  had  but  just 
forced  them  ?  I  humbly  presume,  sir,  that  this  candle  of  the  Lord, 
shining  in  the  breast  of  man,  did  not  deserve  to  be  set  up  quite  so  high 
again,  since  the  light  it  gives  can  hardly  hinder  a  philosopher,  a  man 
who  makes  it  all  his  business  to  collect  and  follow  that  light,  from  stum- 
bling at  the  being  of  a  God. 

As  for  free  agency  to  good,  you  appealed  to  experience,  sir,  (if  I  am 
not  mistaken,)  whether  a  man  has  not  the  same  power  to  enter  the 
paths  of  virtue  as  to  walk  across  a  roi-m  :  let  then  experience  decide. 

The  heathen  says,  Video  meliora  proboque,  deteriora  sequor.  The 
prophet  says,  "  Turn  us,  and  so  shall  we  be  turned.  Draw  me,  and  I 
shall  run  after  thee."  You  say  yourself,  sir,  "The  good  that  I  would  I 
do  not,  and  the  evil  I  would  not  that  I  do."  Our  Church  says,  (Col.  for 
Easter,)  "  We  humbly  beseech  thee  that,  as  by  thy  special  grace  pre- 
venting us,  thou  dost  put  into  our  minds  good  desires,  so  by  thy  continual 
help  we  may  bring  the  same  to  good  effect."  The  Bible  says,  Phil. 
ii,  13,  "  It  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do"  that  which 
is  truly  good  in  his  sight ;  and  the  tenth  of  those  articles,  which  we 
solemnly  took  for  the  rule  of  our  preaching,  next  to  the  word  of  God, 
says,  "  The  condition  of  man,  after  the  fall  of  Adam,  is  such  that  he 
cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural  strength  and  good 
works,  to  faith  and  calling  upon  God  ;  wherefore  we  have  no  power  to 
do  good  works  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God,  without  the  grace  of 
God,  by  Christ,  preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and 
working  with  us  when  we  have  that  good  will." 

"What!  is  man,  then,  a  mere  machine?"  No,  sir,  he  has  a  will, 
but  it  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  God  ;  his  carnal  mind,  his  natural  wis- 
dom, "  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be,"  says  St. 
Paul :  he  is  a  free  agent  to  do  evil.  Yet,  when  God  prevents  him  with 
convictions  of  sin  and  good  desires,  as  says  our  Church,  which  he  always 
does  sooner  or  later,  he  may,  through  the  grace  of  God,  yield  to  them, 
and  enter  into  life,  or  through  his  stubbornness  resist  them,  and  remain 
in  his  fallen  state. 

III.  You  objected,  in  your  discourse,  that  "  the  insisting  upon  these, 
and  the  like  doctrines,  tended  to  breed  disturbances,  strife,  and  confu- 
sion." This  is  accidentally  true,  sir ;  but  what  do  you  infer  from 
thence  1  That  the  doctrines  are  false,  or  the  preachers  in  the  wrong, 
because  offences  arise  1 

We  cannot  do  this  without  giving  up  the  Bible.  What  strife  and 
confusion,  yea,  what  jeering  and  cruel  mockings,  attended  the  ministry 
of  the  prophets  among  the  Israel  of  God  !  Witness  Micaiah,  Elias,  Jere- 
miah, <&c.  Yea,  who  was  so  great  a  disturber  as  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, of  whom  some  of  his  friends  said,  "  He  is  mad,"  whom  all  Jerusa- 


24  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

lem,  in  uproar,  brought  to  Pilate,  and  accused,  saying,  Luke  xxiii,  2,  5, 
"  We  found  this  fellow  perverting  the  nation ;  for  he  stirreth  up  the 
people,  teaching  throughout  all  Jewry,  beginning  from  Galilee  to  this 
place  ?"  Or  that  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who  was  well  nigh  torn  in  pieces  by 
his  offended  hearers,  yea,  and  by  those  that  had  never  heard  him,  while 
the  general  cry  was,  "  This  is  the  pestilential  fellow,  who  turneth  the 
world  upside  down — brethren,  help  !" 

The  same  causes  will  produce  the  same  effects.  The  doctrines  of 
the  fall,  the  new  birth,  and  free  justification  by  faith  alone  ;  and  their 
fruits  in  those  that  embrace  them,  godly  sorrow,  peace,  righteousness, 
and  joy  in  a  believing  heart,  will  stir  up  the  hearers  in  proportion  to  the 
clearness,  constancy,  and  power  with  which  they  are  preached.  And 
this  will  be  the  case  in  all  ages,  because  in  all  ages  men  are  born  in  sin, 
and  children  of  wrath  ;  yea,  and  in  all  places  too :  those  that  are  born 
on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  or  Severn,  are  no  better,  by  nature,  than 
those  that  drink  the  water  of  Jordan  or  of  the  Ganges. 

When  a  medicine  operates  by  stirring  up  the  peccant  humours  in 
order  to  evacuate  them,  is  it  a  sign  that  it  is  not  a  good  one  ?  Not  at 
all :  it  must  work  if  it  be  good.  I  shall  conclude  this  paragraph  by  a 
few  words  of  him  who  had  in  his  breast  all  the  treasures  of  Divine  wis- 
dom and  knowledge.  John  vii,  7,  "  The  world  hateth  me,  because  I  testily 
of  it  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil."  And  "  shall  the  servant  be  above 
his  master?"  "  I  am  come  to  send  fire  upon  the  earth — to  set  [occa- 
sionally] a  man  at  variance  with  his  father,"  &c.  While  the  Gospel 
gives  inward  peace,  even  a  peace  that  the  world  knoweth  not,  to  those 
that  really  embrace  it,  it  declares  war,  an  eternal  war,  against  sin,  and 
must,  of  course,  disturb  the  peace  of  the  prince  of  this  world  and  his 
subjects. 

IV.  It  is  agreeable  enough  to  the  doctrine  of  free  agency  to  good,  not 
to  insist  upon  the  necessity  of  being  born  again  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ; 
but  is  the  discountenancing  of  the  preaching  of  it  agreeable  to  the  tenor 
of  that  revelation  you  did  so  well  defend  in  the  beginning  of  your  dis- 
course? If  Ezekiel  preached  it,  chap,  xi,  19,  and  xviii,  31,  and 
xxxvi,  26,  if  John  speaks  so  often,  as  well  as  David  and  St.  Paul,  of 
being  born  of  God,  of  being  "  quickened"  by  his  word  and  Spirit,  of  the 
"new  heart,"  the  "new  creature,"  the  "renewing  of  the  mind,"  the 
"  life  of  God,"  the  "  eternal  life,"  the  "  life  of  Christ"  in  a  believer,  &c  ; 
if  Jesus  himself  enforced  this  doctrine  in  the  strongest  manner  to  Nico- 
demus  ;  if  our  Church  (office  for  baptism  and  collect  for  Ash  Wednesday) 
pleads  for  it  as  well  as  the  word  of  God,  can  we  supersede  it  in  the 
pulpit  as  an  unintelligible  tenet,  without  wounding,  unawares,  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  our  Church  and  the  compilers  of  her  liturgy  ?  See 
Rev.  xxii,  19. 

V.  To  set  up  impulses  as  the  standard  of  our  faith,  or  rule  of  our 
conduct ;  to  take  the  thrilling  of  weak  nerves,  sinking  of  the  animal 
spirits,  or  flights  of  a  heated  imagination,  for  the  workings  of  God's 
Spirit ;  to  pretend  to  miraculous  gifts,  and  those  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
which  are  not  offered  and  promised  to  believers  in  all  ages,  or  to 
boast  of  the  graces  which  that  Spirit  produces  in  the  heart  of  every 
child  of  God,  when  the  fruits  of  the  flesh  appear  in  our  life — this  is 
downright  enthusiasm  :  I  detest  it  as  well   as  you,  sir,  and  I  heartily 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  25 

wish  you  good  luck  whenever  you  shall  attack  such  monstrous 
delusions. 

But  is  it  consistent  with  the  doctrine  of  our  Church  to  condemn  and 
set  aside  all  feelings  in  religion,  and  rank  them  with  unaccountable  im- 
pulses ?  Give  me  leave,  sir,  to  tell  you,  that  either  you  or  the  compilers 
of  our  liturgy,  articles,  and  homilies,  must  be  mistaken,  if  I  did  not 
mistake  you. 

They  teach  us  to  beseech  God  to  "  deliver  us  from  hardness  of  heart,'' 
whereby  I  cannot  conceive  they  mean  any  thing,  if  they  mean  not  a 
heart  past  feeling.  They  bid  us  pray,  (office  for  the  sick,)  that  every 
sick  person  may  know  and  feel  that  there  is  no  saving  name  or  power 
but  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  seventeenth  of  our  articles,  they  speak 
of  godly  persons,  and  such  as  feel  in  themselves  the  workings  of  God's 
Spirit.  And  in  the  third  part  of  the  homily  for  Rogation  Week,  they 
declare  that  when  after  contrition  we  feel  our  consciences  at  peace  with 
God  through  the  remission  of  our  sin,  it  is  God  that  worketh  this  miracle 
in  us.  Compare  this  with  Rom.  v,  1.  They  are  so  far,  therefore,  from 
attributing  such  feelings  to  the  weakness  of  good  people's  nerves,  or  to 
a  spirit  of  pride  and  delusion,  that  they  affirm  it  is  God  that  worketh 
them  in  their  hearts. 

Yea,  they  never  suffer  us  to  meet  together  for  public  worship  without 
beseeching  the  God  of  all  grace  to  give  us  such  a  "  due  sense  of  all  his 
mercies,  especially  of  his  inestimable  love  in  our  redemption  by  Jesus 
Christ,  as  that  our  hearts  may  be  unfeignedly  thankful ;"  and  if  they 
would  have  us  have  a  due  sense  of  an  inestimable  love  causing  our  hearts 
to  be  unfeignedly  thankful,  she  is  not  against  our  feeling  some  thankful- 
ness, for  the  word  sense  certainly  conveys  that  idea,  as  well  as  the  Latin 
word  sentire,  or  the  French  sentir,  whence  it  is  derived,  which  cannot 
be  Englished  more  literally  than  by  the  word  to  feel.  Therefore  the 
expression,  "  to  feel  thankfulness,"  does  not  convey  a  stronger  idea  than 
the  words  of  our  Church,  to  be  duly,  sensibly,  unfeignedly  thankful  in 
heart,  which  you  daily  use  yourself,  sir.  In  condemning  feelings  in 
general,  it  would  not  then  have  been  disagreeable  at  all  to  our  liturgy  to 
have  allowed  your  hearers  at  least  some  feelings  of  thankfulness  for  the 
inestimable  love  of  their  dying  Lord. 

But  to  proceed  :  you  seemed,  sir,  to  discountenance  feelings  as  not 
agreeable  to  sober,  rational  worship ;  but  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  reason 
by  no  means  clashes  with  feelings  of  various  sorts  in  religion.  I  am 
willing  to  let  any  man  of  reason  judge  whether  feeling  sorrow  for  sin, 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  peace  of  conscience,  serenity  of 
mind,  consolation  in  prayer,  thankfulness  at  the  Lord's  table,  hatred  of 
sin,  zeal  for  God,  love  to  Jesus  and  all  men,  compassion  for  the  dis- 
tressed, &c  ;  or  feeling  nothing  at  all  of  this,  is  matter  of  mere  indiffer- 
ence :  yea,  sir,  take  for  a  judge  a  heathen  poet,  if  you  please,  and  you 
will  hear  him  say,  of  a  young  man  who,  by  his  blushes,  betrayed  the 
shame  he  felt  for  having  told  an  untruth,  Erubuit — salin  res  est. 

Does  it  seem  contrary  to  reason  that  a  spirit  should  be  affected  by 
.spiritual  objects  ?  If  heat  and  cold,  sickness  and  health,  so  affect  my 
body  as  to  cause  various  feelings  in  it,  why  cannot  fear  and  hope,  love 
and  hatred,  joy  and  sorrow,  sin  and  grace,  remorse  and  peace,  so  affect 
my  soul  as  to  produce  various  feelings  or  sensations  there  ?     Can  any 


26  DEFENCE  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

thing  be  more  absurd  and  contrary  to  nature  than  the  apathy  of  Stoics  ? 
And  what  is  banishing  feelings  out  of  religion,  but  pleading  for  religious 
apathy  1 

If  a  man  may  feel  sorrow  when  he  sees  himself  stripped  of  all,  and  left 
naked  upon  a  desert  coast,  why  should  not  a  penitent  sinner,  whom  God 
has  delivered  from  blindness  of  heart,  be  allowed  to  feel  sorrow  upon 
seeing  himself  robbed  of  his  title  to  heaven,  and  left  in  the  wilderness  of 
this  world  destitute  of  original  righteousness  ?  Again :  if  it  is  not  absurd 
to  say  that  a  rebel,  condemned  to  death,  feels  joy  upon  his  being  reprieved 
and  received  into  his  prince's  favour,  why  should  it  be  thought  absurd 
to  affirm  that  a  Christian  who,  being  justified  by  faith,  has  peace  with 
God,  and  rejoices  in  hope  of  the  glory  to  come,  feels  joy  and  happiness 
in  his  inmost  soul  on  that  account  ?  On  the  contrary,  sir,  to  affirm  that 
such  a  one  feels  nothing,  (if  I  am  not  mistaken,)  is  no  less  repugnant  to 
reason  than  to  religion. 

But  let  us  go  to  the  law  and  the  testimony,  and  let  the  point  stand 
or  fall  by  the  oracles  of  God.  Had  Adam  no  feeling  when,  seeing  his 
nakedness,  he  tried  to  hide  himself  from  himself  and  from  God  ?  I  be- 
lieve,  sir,  he  felt  remorse,  shame,  and  fear,  to  a  very  great  degree ;  and 
should  I  be  thought  an  enthusiast  for  it,  I  confess  I  have  felt  the  same 
upon  conviction  of  sin. 

It  is  probable  enough,  also,  that  Jacob  felt  religious  awe  and  a  holy 
dread  when  he  said,  "  How  dreadful  is  this  place  ;  this  is  none  other 
than  the  gate  of  heaven!"  And  young  King  Josiah,  contrition  of  heart, 
when,  upon  his  hearing  the  word  of  the  Lord,  he  rent  his  clothes  and 
wept,  2  Kings  xxii,  11.  Nor  did  the  Searcher  of  hearts  say  that  he 
was  indebted  to  his  constitution,  and  the  weakness  of  his  nerves,  for 
.hose  feelings  of  sorrow.  Just  the  reverse  :  "  Because  thine  heart  was 
tender,  and  thou  hast  humbled  thyself  and  wept  before  me,  I  also  have 
heard  thee,  says  the  Lord." 

Was  Job  a  low-spirited  enthusiast,  or  did  he  feel  something  of  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord  in  reality,  when  he  cried  out,  chap,  vi,  4,  "  The 
arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  me  ;  the  poison  thereof  drinketh 
up  my  spirits  :  the  terrors  of  God  do  set  themselves  in  array  against 
me." 

But  let  us  go  to  the  Psalms,  which,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  have 
been  looked  upon  as  the  standard  of  true  devotion. 

Can  we,  without  uncharitableness,  suppose  that  David  had  no  feelings 
(or  which  comes  to  the  same  sense,  no  sensation)  of  joy  and  thankful- 
ness in  his  heart,  when  he  sung,  Psalm  xxviii,  7,  "The  Lord  is  my 
strength  and  shield ;  my  heart  trusted  in  him,  and  I  am  helped ;  there- 
fore my  heart  greatly  rejoiceth  V 

Was  not  he  a  great  dissembler,  if,  feeling  no  godly  sorrow,  he  said, 
Psalm  xxxi,  10,  "  My  life  is  spent  with  grief,  and  my  years  with  sigh- 
ing ;  my  strength  failelh  me  because  of  mine  iniquity,  and  my  bones  are 
consumed  V 

Did  he  feel  no  happiness  in  God,  taste  nothing  of  the  Lord's  good- 
ness, when  he  said,  Psalm  xxxiv,  8,  18,  "  O  taste  and  see  that  the 
Lord  is  good,  he  is  nigh  unto  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart  ?"  No 
remorse,  no  fear  of  God's  wrath,  when  he  cried  out,  Psalm  xxxviii,  1, 
S,  4,  "  O  Lord,  rebuke  me  not  in  thy  wrath ;  there  is  no  rest  in  my 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  27 

bones  because  of  my  sin :  for  mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  my  head  as 
a  heavy  burden,  they  are  too  heavy  for  me  to  bear !" 

Did  he  feel  no  fervour  of  devotion,  no  warmth  of  love,  when  he  said, 
Psa.  xxxix,  3,  "  My  heart  was  hot  within  me ;  while  I  was  musing,  the 
fire  kindled,  and  I  spake  with  my  tongue  ?"  No  desire  and  thirst  after 
God,  when  he  sung,  Psa.  xlii,  1,  "As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water- 
brook,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  thee,  O  God  ?"  No  dejection  or  trouble 
of  mind,  when  he  expostulated  with  himself,  Psalm  xlii,  11,  "  Why  art 
thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  disquieted  within  me  ?" 
Did  he  expect  no  feelings  of  joy,  no  sense  of  the  peace  of  God,  when  he 
prayed,  Psalm  li,  8,  "  Make  me  to  hear  of  joy  and  gladness,  that  the 
bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice  ?  Restore  unto  me  the  joy 
of  salvation  !"  "  Let  thy  loving  kindness  comfort  me  :  when  wilt  thou 
comfort  me  ?*'  &c,  Psalm  cxix,  76,  82. 

Had  he  no  sense,  no  inward  consciousness,  that  his  affections  were 
set  on  things  above,  when  he  said,  "  My  heart  is  fixed ;  my  heart  is 
fixed  ;  I  will  sing  and  give  praise  ?"  Did  he  feel  no  stirrings  of  desire, 
no  touches  of  joy,  when  he  cried,  Psa.  lxiii,  1,  "My  soul  thirsteth  afier 
thee,  my  flesh  longeth  for  thee  as  a  dry  and  thirsty  land,  where  no  water 
is.  Because  thy  loving  kindness  is  better  than  life,  my  lips  shall  praise 
thee.  Thus  will  I  bless  thee  while  I  live  ;  and  my  soul  shall  be  satis- 
fied as  with  marrow  and  fatness?" 

Had  he  no  seuse  or  feeling  of  the  mercy  of  God,  and  of  his  justifica- 
tion, when  he  said,  Psa.  lxvi,  16,  "  Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  the 
Lord,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  he  has  done  for  my  soul  ?"  Psa.  xxxii, 
1,  5,  "Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  &c.  I  acknow- 
ledged my  sin  unto  thee,  and  thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin  ?" 
Psa.  ciii,  1,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me 
bless  his  holy  name ;  who  forgiveth  all  thy  sin,  and  healeth  all  thy 
infirmity  ?" 

Did  he  feel  no  concern  for  God's  glory,  when  he  said,  Psa.  cxix,  136, 
139,  "  Rivers  of  water  run  down  mine  eyes,  because  men  keep  not  thy 
law  ?  My  zeal  hath  even  consumed  me ;  because  mine  enemies  have 
forgotten  thy  words  ?"  In  short,  had  he  felt  neither  sorrow  nor  com- 
fort, when  he  said,  Psa.  xciv,  19,  "In  the  multitudes  of  the  sorrows  of 
my  heart,  thy  comforts  have  refreshed  my  soul  ?"  Or  shall  we  suppose, 
that  the  man  after  God's  own  heart,  in  his  devotion,  was  only  a  well- 
meaning  enthusiast,  of  a  soft  complexion,  sometimes  cast  down  by 
melancholy,  at  other  times  carried  out  by  the  warmth  of  his  imagina- 
tion, and  often  led  by  impulses  into  the  wild  presumption  of  Ranters? 
If  you  refuse  (as  I  am  sure  you  do)  to  pass  such  judgments  on  David, 
you  cannot  help,  sir,  allowing  the  reality  and  the  usefulness  of  feelings 
in  sober  religion,  in  rational  devotion. 

But  let  us  leave  the  penitent  king  to  his  feelings,  and  consider  what 
we  can  make  of  the  weeping  prophet.  Certainly,  sir,  we  must  say 
that  Jeremiah  was  a  melancholy  enthusiast,  almost  falling  into  despair 
through  the  weakness  of  his  nerves  and  lowness  of  his  spirits,  or  allow 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  feeling  godly  sorrow  in  religion,  and  thereby 
becoming  entitled  to  the  promise  of  our  Lord,  Matt,  v,  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted ;" -unless  we  run  to  the 
other  extreme,  and  account  for  his  rivers  of  tears,  by  saying  they  were 


28  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

hypocritical  tears,  such  as  crocodiles  are  supposed  to  shed  to  bring  men 
into  their  snare ;  and  yet  this  must  have  been  the  case,  if  he  felt  no 
inward  sorrow  adequate  to  the  outward  demonstrations  of  his  grief. 

Were  the  saints  of  the  New  Testament  more  free  from  these  inward 
feelings  1  Just  the  reverse !  At  least  we  ought  to  judge  charitably 
enough  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  suppose  that  she  felt  some  spiritual  joy, 
when  she  said,  "  My  soul  rejoiceth  in  God  my  Saviour ;"  and  of  our 
Lord  himself,  to  believe  that  he  felt  some  trouble  of  mind,  some  deep 
concern,  when  he  Avept  over  Jerusalem,  when  he  was  troubled  and  wept 
at  Lazarus'  grave,  when  he  said,  "  My  soul  is  troubled  unto  death  ;" 
and  when,  being  in  an  agony,  he  offered  up  prayers  with  strong  crying 
and  tears,  yea,  with  a  bloody  sweat :  surely,  sir,  such  scenes  were 
transacted,  not  in  his  weak  nerves,  or  frighted  imagination,  but  in  his 
inmost  soul,  and  consequently  we  may  conclude  that  he  first  felt  them 
there. 

If  we  read  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  we  find  frequent  mention  made 
6f  a  peace,  joy,  and  love,  which  people  were  strangers  to,  till  they 
received  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One ;  and  that  not  among  apostles 
only,  but  among  private  Christians  and  illiterate  women.  The  two  dis- 
ciples cried  out,  Luke  xxiv,  "  How  did  our  heart  burn  within  us  !"  The 
twelve,  whose  hearts  were  filled  with  sorrow,  John  xvi,  6,  return  to 
Jerusalem  with  great  joy,  Luke  xxiv. 

At  the  day  of  pentecost  they  were  filled  with  power,  boldness,  and 
zeal,  which  are  graces  common  to  all  believers,  especially  preachers  : 
(for  what  have  we  to  do  with  the  miraculous  gifts  which  it  pleased  God 
to  confine  to  the  apostolic  age  ?)  at  least  our  Church  declares,  (homily 
for  Whitsunday,)  that  the  Spirit  of  God  engendereth  still  a  burning  zeal 
toward  God's  word,  and  giveth  all  men  (not  cloven  tongues  outwardly, 
but)  a  tongue,  yea,  a  fiery  tongue,  so  that  they  may  boldly  and  cheer- 
fully  declare  the  truth  in  the  face  of  all  the  world. 

If  we  read  on,  we  see  three  thousand  people  pricked  to  the  heart  by 
the  word,  (and  consequently  feeling  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  their 
heart,)  Eph.  vi,  compared  with  Hebrews,  and  upon  their  crying  for 
help,  we  find  them  so  comforted  upon  believing  the  forgiveness  of  sins 
through  Jesus,  that  they  were  enabled  to  praise  God,  continue  instant  in 
prayer  and  breaking  of  bread,  and  to  eat  their  food  with  gladness  and 
singleness  of  heart.  And  I  presume,  sir,  they  felt  and  enjoyed  that 
gladness  of  heart  :  yea,  not  only  believers  at  Jerusalem  felt  it,  but  those 
of  Antioch  also,  who,  Acts  xiii,  52,  were  filled  with  joy  and  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  the  Churches  of  Judea  and  Galilee,  who  walked  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  aud  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Acts  ix,  31. 

Nor  was  that  a  privilege  peculiar  to  the  primitive  Christians,  as  all 
those  who  have  been  at  the  pains  of  making  their  calling  and  election 
sure,  experience  daily :  for  the  promise  was  not  only  to  them,  but  to 
their  children,  and  to  us  that  are  afar  off.  Had  our  Church  been  of 
another  opinion,  she  would  never  have  bidden  us  pray,  as  she  does  in  the 
collect  for  Whitsunday,  and  the  Sunday  before  :  "  Send  us  thine  Holy 
Ghost  to  comfort  us,  and  grant  us,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit,  to  have  a  right 
judgment  in  all  things,  and  evermore  to  rejoice  in  his  holy  comfort :" 
and  in  that  for  St.  Stephen's  day,  "  Grant  that  we,  being  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  may  learn  to  love  our  enemies  as  thy  first  martyr :"  much 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  29 

less  would  she  have  bid  us  ask  for  the  inspiration  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and 
conclude  all  our  morning  and  evening  prayers  by  asking  the  fellowship 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  ourselves  and  for  all. 

But  if,  because  your  text  was  taken  out  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle,  you 
choose,  sir,  to  let  him  decide  whether  feelings  ought  to  have  place  in 
sound  religion  or  not,  I  am  willing  to  stand  at  the  bar  before  so  great  a 
judge,  and  promise  to  find  no  fault  with  his  sentence. 

And  first,  not  to  mention  the  various  scenes  of  terror,  remorse,  shame, 
desire,  hope,  joy,  love,  and  admiration,  he  went  through  at  his  conver- 
sion, which  he  could  not  but  feel  in  his  soul ;  can  we  suppose,  without 
rashness,  that  when  he  speaks  of  his  fears  within,  the  continual  sorrow 
in  his  heart,  the  being  in  much  trembling,  the  breaking  of  his  heart,  his 
preaching,  praying,  writing  with  many  tears,  his  being  "  sorrowful,  yet 
always  rejoicing,"  his  longing  to  be  dissolved,  his  being  constrained  by 
the  love  of  Christ,  his  being  refreshed  in  the  Spirit,  his  bowels  and  the 
bowels  of  the  saints  being  refreshed,  his  being  comforted,  yea,  "  exceed- 
ing full  of  comfort;"  his  "consolations  abounding  through  Christ,"  &c. 
Can  we  suppose,  I  say,  he  felt  all  along  neither  sorrow  nor  consolation, 
neither  fear  nor  trembling,  neither  desire  nor  love  ?  For  my  part,  I  be- 
lieve he  felt  all  this,  and  more  than  words  can  express :  I  dare  no  more 
place  him  among  hypocrites  than  I  dare  rank  him  with  enthusiasts. 

But  where  does  he  exclaim  against  feeling  the  power  of  God,  or  the 
powerful  operations  of  his  Spirit  on  the  heart  ?  Is  it  where  he  says, 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  "  not  in  word  but  in  power  ;"  that  this  king- 
dom within  us,  (if  we  are  believers,)  this  true  inward  religion  consists 
"  in  peace,  righteousness,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ?"  That  Christians 
rejoice  in  tribulation,  because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given  unto  them  ?  Is  it  where  he  says,  he  is 
"  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  because  it  is  the  power  of  God 
to  the  salvation  of  every  one  that  believeth  ?"  That  he  desired  to  "  know 
nothing  but  Jesus  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection  ?"  That  his  preach- 
ing was  not  with  "  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  that  the  faith  of  his  hearers  might  not 
"  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  man,  but  in  the  power  of  God?"  2  Cor.  ii,  24. 
Or,  is  it  when  he  calls  the  exerting  of  this  power  in  him,  his  life,  saying, 
"  I  live  not,  but  Christ  lives  in  me  ;•  and  the  life  that  I  now  live  in  the 
flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  him- 
self for  me  ?" 

Can  we  suppose  that  he  discountenances  feelings  in  religion  when  he 
prays  that  "the  God  of  hope  would  fill  the  Romans,  chap,  xv,  13,  with 
all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  that  they  might  abound  in  hope  through 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?"  When  he  says  that "  they  had  not  received 
again  the  spirit  of  bondage  to  fear,  but  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  crying, 
Abba  Father,  and  witnessing  to  their  spirits  that  they  were  the  children 
of  God,"  agreeable  to  that  of  St.  John,  "He  that  believeth,  hath  the 
witness  in  himself?" 

Or  does  he  suppose  feelings  useless  when  he  gives  up  a  notorious  sin- 
ner to  Satan,  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  his  spirit,  being  first 
troubled,  might  afterward  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord?  And  when, 
fearing  the  wound  would  be  too  deep,  (for  there  is  a  danger  in  this  also,) 
he  desires  the  Corinthians  "to  comfort  him,  lest  he  should  be  swallowed 


30  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

up  with  overmuch  sorrow  ?"  Does  it  not  rather  clearly  appear,  that  deep 
sorrow  is  necessary  to  a  great  sinner,  though  he  would  not  have  him 
be  swallowed  up  with  overmuch  sorrow  ? 

Yea,  he  puts  the  question  out  of  all  doubt  when  he  tells  the  Corinthians, 
second  Epistle,  chap,  vii,  10,  "that  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance 
to  salvation,  not  to  be  repented  of;"  and  praises  them  for  "  sorrowing 
after  a  godly  sort,  insomuch  that  when  Titus  came,  they  received  him 
with  fear  and  trembling,  and  refreshed  his  spirit  by  the  demonstrations 
that  they  gave  him  of  their  sorrow,  indignation,  fear,  zeal,  and  vehement 
desire." 

We  may  then  safely  conclude,  that  Paul,  in  this  and  other  places,  is 
as  far  from  superseding  feelings  of  godly  sorrow  as  feelings  of  godly  joy, 
when  he  says  to  the  Philippians,  "  Rejoice,  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  again 
I  say  rejoice ;"  or  feelings  of  vehement  desire,  when  he  tells  the  Ro- 
mans, that  when  the  "  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmities,  he  enables  us  to  pray 
with  o-roanings  and  desires  that  cannot  be  uttered." 

But  to  avoid  transcribing  the  greatest  part  of  the  apostle's  epistles,  let 
us  see  if  he  never  spoke  correctly  to  the  point  in  question.  Upon  inquiry, 
I  find  him  in  our  translation  using  thrice  the  word  exclaimed  against, 
and  every  time  very  much  to  the  purpose,  to  show  you  were  mistaken, 
sir,  when  you  supposed  that  he  discountenances  feelings  in  your  text. 

The  first  is  in  Acts  xvii,  27,  where  he  is  not  ashamed  to  exhort  the 
wise  and  learned  Athenians  "  to  seek  after  God,  if  haply  they  might  feel 
after  him  and  find  him,  as  he  is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us."  It  is 
true  the  word  in  the  original  means  palpare,  but  it  has  still  a  near  rela- 
tion to  feel,  when  it  signifies  sent  ire,  as  it  would  be  absurd  to  feel  after 
that  which  cannot  be  ielt,  perceived,  and  found. 

A  man  may  properly  enough  be  said  "to  feel  after  God,"  when  he 
is  enabled  to  obey  the  command  of  our  Church,  "  Lift  up  your  hearts 
unto  the  Lord,"  and  to  "  find  him,"  and  get  a  sense  of  his  glorious  pre- 
sence, when  "  the  peace  of  God,  passing  all  understanding,  enters  and 
keeps  his  heart  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  Christ,"  for  "  God  is  love." 
See  2  Cor.  iv,  6. 

The  second  place  is  Heb.  iv,  15,  where  the  apostle  represents  Jesus 
Christ  himself  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  as  "  touched  with  the  feeling 
of  our  infirmity."  What,  sir,  sKall  we  impute  our  Saviour's  being 
touched  with  such  a  feeling  in  heaven  to  the  weakness  of  his  nerves  ? 
Or  shall  we  beg  of  God  to  give  us  hearts  to  love  and  dread  him,  such 
hearts  as  may  be  touched,  first,  with  a  feeling  of  our  sins  and  miseries, 
and  then  with  such  a  due  sense  of  his  inestimable  love,  as  that  they  may 
be  unfeignedly  thankful? 

The  third  place  is  Eph.  iv,  19,  where,  after  having  begun  the  picture 
of  heathens  by  saying,  that  their  "  understanding  was  darkened,  and  that 
they  were  alienated  from  the  life  of  God  by  the  ignorance  that  was  in 
them,  because  of  the  blindness  of  their  hearts,"  the  apostle  gives  it  the 
last  stroke  but  one  by  adding  they  were  past  feeling. 

Past  feeling!  What?  Bodily  pain  and  pleasure?  No:  for  he  says 
that  they  gave  themselves  to  lasciviousness,  the  basest  pleasure  of  sense. 
They  were  then  past  feel'.ng  in  their  hearts,  ("  the  blindness  of  their 
hearts"  being  mentioned  just  before,)  past  feeling  any  shame  or  remorse 
past  feeling  any  horror  of  sin,  or  dread  of  the  Lord. 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  KELIGION.  31 

David  means  the  same  thing  when,  speaking  of  stout-hearted  sinners, 
he  says  that  he  delights  in  the  Lord,  but  that  their  heart  is  "  fat  as 
brawn."  According  to  St.  Paul,  the  veil  is  still  upon  their  heart,  2  Cor. 
iii,  17,  "their  heart  was  waxed  gross,"  Acts  xxviii,  27,  yea,  "after 
their  hardness  and  impenitent  heart,  they  heaped  upon  themselves  wrath 
against  the  day  of  wrath,"  Rom.  ii,  5. 

It  is  not,  then,  without  reason  that  God  sums  up  all  inward  religion  in 
this  glorious  promise,  Ezek.  xi,  19,  "I  will  take  the  heart  of  stone  out 
of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh,"  a  feeling  instead  of 
a  callous  heart.  And  it  is  to  be  feared,  that  banishing  feeling  out  of 
religion,  in  a  zeal  against  enthusiasm,  will  not  a  little  countenance  peo- 
ple in  the  hardness  of  their  heart.  They  feel  little  enough  alreadj . 
God  knows  :  why  then  should  they  be  encouraged  from  the  pulpit  to 
feel  less  still,  when  the  horrible  consequence  is  to  become  past  feeling 
in  the  end,  and  then  "  work  all  manner  of  uncleanness  with  greediness,' 
as  too  many  baptized  heathen  daily  do,  and  glory  to  do  ? 

To  the  above-mentioned  passages,  I  may  add  a  fourth  one  which  is  no 
less  to  the  purpose.  It  is  the  last  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter  to  the  He- 
brews, where  strong  believers  are  said  to  have  their  senses  exercised 
to  discern  both  good  and  evil.  From  thence,  it  appears,  that  one  that 
is  born  of  God  has  spiritual  senses,  (cutfSrjrTipja,)  just  as  the  natural  man 
has  bodily  senses.  lie  is  endued  with  spiritual  sight  and  taste.  "  See 
and  taste  how  good  the  Lord  is.  His  love  is  better  than  wine,  his  word 
sweeter  than  the  honey  comb,"  &c ;  with  a  spiritual  feeling,  whereby, 
through  the  power  of  the  Highest  overshadowing  him,  he  perceives  the 
presence  of  him  in  whom  he  "  lives,  moves,  and  has  his  being  ;"  and  in 
particular  feels  "the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  through  the 
Holy  Ghost  given  unto  him."  Yea,  with  spiritual  hearing,  so  that 
he  hears  the  voice  of  the  good  Shepherd,  and  hearing  it  to-day,  he 
"hardens  not  his  heart." 

The  opening  of  these  spiritual  senses  in  a  heart  that  was  past  feeling, 
blind,  hard,  and  deaf  before  :  or  the  faith,  the  living  faith,  whereby  a  man 
is  born  of  God,  born  again  of  the  Spirit,  is  one  and  the  same  thing  :  and 
the  living  by  the  faith  of  the  just,  is  nothing  else  but  the  exercising  con- 
tinually some  of  these  spiritual  senses  on  their  proper  objects.  If  we 
deny  this,  what  can  we  make  of  St.  Paul's  definition  of  faith  ?  It  is,  says 
he,  "the  subs^mce  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  [demonstration  (eXsyxos) 
the  Divine]  evidence  of  things  not  seen."  I  say,  the  Divine  evidence,  be- 
cause I  speak  not  of  a  speculative,  human,  historical  faith,  but  of  the  faith 
unfeigned,  the  saving,  justifying  faith,  that  "  works  by  love  ;"  even  that 
faith  which  is  "  of  the  operation  of  God,"  Col.  ii,  12,  whereby  a  man 
"  passes  from  death  unto  life." 

To  these  passages  of  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  I  beg  leave  to  add 
one  or  two  of  the  apostle  of  the  Jews,  1  Pet.  i,  8,  "  Whom  having  not 
seen  ye  love,  and  in  whom,  though  now  you  see  him  not,  yet  believing, 
ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  Now,  sir,  could  such 
unspeakable  joy  be  unfelt  ? 

In  the  next  chapter,  verse  3,  he  charges  Christians  to  desire  the  sin- 
cere milk  of  the  word,  if  so  be  they  had  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious. 
Agreeable  to  which  is  the  noted  place,  Heb.  vi,  4,  5,  where  the  apostle 
represents  believers  as  people  "  enlightened,  that  taste  the  heavenly  gilt, 


32  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

are  made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  taste  the  good  word  of  God,  and 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come."  If  the  inspired  writers  could  without 
absurdity  and  enthusiasm  say,  that  the  faithful  "  taste  that  the  Lord  is 
gracious,  taste  the  heavenly  gift,  taste  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come," 
why  should  it  be  thought  irrational  to  declare,  as  our  Church  does,  that 
the  children  of  God  feel  in  themselves  the  workings  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
feel  peace  of  conscience  after  pardon,  know  and  feel  the  saving  virtue 
of  Jesus'  name  ? 

To  conclude,  sir,  if  we  are  to  insist  upon  rational  goodness,  benevo- 
lence, &c,  exclusive  of  feelings  in  the  heart,  what  shall  we  make  of 
those  scriptures  which  our  Church  places  at  the  head  of  all  our  public 
worship  :  "  Rend  your  heart  and  not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord  ;"  a  troubled  spirit,  yea,  a  "  broken  and  contrite  heart,"  is  the  first 
sacrifice  he  does  not  despise. 

Upon  the  scheme  that  excludes  feelings,  a  man  may  say,  that  "  the 
remembrance  of  his  sins  is  grievous  unto  him,  the  burden  of  them  in- 
tolerable," and  have  been  all  his  life  as  great  a  stranger  to  godly  sorrow, 
as  if  he  had  not  been  conceived  in  iniquity.  Upon  the  Gospel  plan,  such  a 
one  is  whole,  he  has  no  need  of  a  physician,  he  draws  near  to  God  with 
his  lips,  while  his  heart  is  far  from  him  :  he  is  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord,  though  as  sincere  in  his  blind  worship  as  Paul  before  his  conversion. 

Upon  this  scheme,  a  man  may  be  a  believer  if  he  give  a  rational  as- 
sent to  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  and  has  "  a  form  of  godliness,"  though  he 
never  felt  the  power  of  it  in  his  heart.  But  upon  the  Gospel  scheme,  he 
is  to  "  believe  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness,"  before  he  can  make 
confession  with  the  mouth  unto  salvation  ;  and  he  is  to  turn  away  from 
such  as  "  have  a  form  of  godliness,  but  deny  the  power  thereof." 

Upon  this  scheme,  again,  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  a  true 
Christian,  a  penitent  restored  to  God's  favour,  without  ever  going  through 
the  least  trouble  of  mind  for  sin  ;  whereas,  upon  the  Scripture  plan, 
Christ  saves  none  but  the  lost,  heals  none,  as  says  our  Church,  (homily 
on  man's  misery,)  but  those  who  have  need  of  his  salve  for  their  sore  ; 
invites  none  to  the  living  water,  but  the  thirsty,  offers  refreshment  and 
rest  to  none  but  those  "  that  travail  and  are  heavy  laden  ;"  which,  I  sup- 
pose, they  are  allowed  to  perceive,  it  being  absurd  to  call  those  people 
heavy  laden,  who  never  felt  the  least  load. 

Upon  this  new  scheme,  the  Pharisee,  who  had  a  rational  conviction 
that  he  was  not  as  other  men,  but  benevolent,  courteous,  just,  and  chaste, 
must  have  gone  to  his  house  justified,  as  well  as  the  publican  who  felt  so 
much  remorse,  that  he  smote  upon  his  breast ;  so  much  holy  shame,  that 
he  durst  neither  draw  near,  nor  look  up  to  heaven.  But  upon  the 
scheme  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  man,  who  appeared  to  the  composed  Pha- 
risee such  a  low-spirited,  silly  wretch,  that  he  thanked  God,  too,  he  was 
not  such  an  enthusiast ;  this  man,  I  say,  went  to  his  house  justified  rather 
than  the  other  ;  for,  says  the  Lord,  Isa.  lxvi,  2,  "  To  this  man  will  I 
look,  even  to  him  that  is  poor  in  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my  word." 

Agreeably  to  this  easy  scheme,  a  man  may  have  the  peace  that  the 
world  knoweth  not,  the  peace  of  God  passing  all  understanding,  and  the 
love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  without  ever 
feeling  any  thing  of  either  ;  whereas,  this  is  impossible,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  some  of  thf  best  and  wisest  of  men. 


DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL   RELIGION.  33 

• 

Pascal,  the  strength  of  whose  reason  was  so  much  celebrated  in  the 
last  age,  thought  that  peace  and  love,  unfelt,  and  consequently  unenjoyed, 
were  of  as  little  service  to  him  as  a  painted  sun  to  a  plant  under  snow, 
or  the  description  of  some  beautiful  fruits  to  a  man  starved  with  hunger. 
Take  one  of  his  thoughts  : — 

"  To  know  God  speculatively  is  not  to  know  him  at  all.  Heathens 
knew  him  to  be  the  infallible  author  of  geometrical  truths,  and  supreme 
disposer  of  nature.  The  Jews  knew  him  by  his  providential  care  of  his 
worshippers,  and  temporal  blessings,  but  Christians  know  God  as  a  God 
of  consolation  and  love,  a  God  who  possesses  the  hearts  and  souls  of  his 
servants,  gives  them  an  inward  feeling  of  their  own  misery,  and  his  in- 
finite mercy,  and  unites  himself  to  their  spirits,  replenishing  them  with 
humility  and  joy,  with  affiance  and  love." 

To  the  testimony  of  that  Christian  philosopher,  I  beg  leave  to  add  that 
of  the  celebrated  divine,  St.  Chrysostom,  (Horn,  xxiii,  on  the  Romans,) 
"  How  must  he  be  ravished,  (says  he,)  who  truly  loves  God  !  The  state 
of  such  a  one  is  the  happiness  of  paradise  itself.  We  may  study  what 
terms  we  please  ;  we  shall  never  be  able  to  represent  the  happiness  of 
that  love.  Experience  only  can  give  us  a  just  sense  of  it.  Let  us,  then, 
taste  and  see  how  good  the  Lord  is,  and  we  shall  anticipate  the  life  of 
heaven,  and  live  on  earth  in  the  fruition  of  what  the  angels  enjoy  in 
heaven." 

But  why  should  we  go  into  distant  countries,  when  this  island  has 
produced  such  clouds  of  witnesses  of  God's  power,  sensibly  exerted  in 
the  souls  of  his  children  ?  Out  of  a  thousand,  take  the  famous  Bradford, 
one  of  the  brightest  lights  of  our  Church,  who  confirmed  the  truth  he  had 
preached,  by  laying  down  his  life  in  the  flames  :  [Mirror  of  Martyrs,  page 
276,)  "  He  preached  twice  a  day.  In  the  midst  of  his  repast  he  used 
often  to  muse,-  having  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  from  whence  commonly 
trickled  plenty  of  tears,  dropping  on  his  trencher.  Such  continual 
exercises  of  soul  he  had  in  private  prayer,  that  he  did  not  count  himself 
to  have  prayed  to  his  satisfaction,  unless  in  it  he  felt  inwardly  some 
smiting  of  heart  for  sin,  and  some  healing  of  that  wound  by  faith  ;  feel- 
ing the  saving  health  of  Christ,  with  some  change  of  mind,  detestation 
of  sin,  and  love  to  God." 

I  shall  close  these  testimonies  by  transcribing  part  of  the  xxth  article 
of  the  famous  Confession  of  Augsburg,  drawn  up  and  signed  by  Luther, 
and  all  the  German  reformers. 

"  Faith,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  is  not  a  bare  knowledge  that  may  be 
common  to  us  and  wicked  men,  but  it  is  a  sure  confidence  that  lifts  up 
those  that  are  cast  down,  and  fills  with  consolation  those  that  are  troubled 
in  mind.  By  this  faith  we  obtain  remission  of  our  sins,  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  given  unto  us,  our  hearts  are  renewed,"  &c.  All  this  doctrine  belongs 
to  the  fight  of  a  conscience  awakened  and  galled  with  sin,  without  which 
also  it  canuot  be  understood,  which  is  the  reason  why  it  is  rejected  of 
the  ignorant  and  profane  people,  who  suppose  that  "  Christian  righteous- 
ness is  only  civil  righteousness,"  lifeless  morality. 

Noiv,  sir,  I  leave  you  to  judge  whether  a  man  may  have  this  faith, 
this  sure  confidence,  that  fills  a  troubled  mind  wkh  Divine  consolation, 
and  never  be  sensible  of  it. 

Nor  did  the  other  reformers  hold  any  other  opinion,  as  vou  may  see 
Vol.  IV.  3 


34  DEFENCE  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

• 

sir,  by  the  following  lines,  Englished  from  articles  xx  and  xxii  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  drawn  up  by  Calvin,  Beza,  &c,  and  still  subscribed 
to  by  all  the  Protestant  clergy  in  France  and  Holland  : — 

"  We  believe  that  by  faith  alone  we  are  born  again,  and  made  par- 
takers of  salvation,  being  enabled  thereby  to  receive  the  promises  of  life 
made  to  us  in  Jesus  Christ.  We  make  them  our  own,  and  apply  them 
by  faith,  insomuch  that  we  feel  the  effect  of  them."  This  is  still  more 
clearly  expressed  in  the  fourteenth  section  of  their  Article,  of  Faith,  printed 
with  their  liturgy,  part  of  which  runs  thus  : — 

"  As  the  blood  of  Christ  is  to  purify  us,  so  the  Holy  Ghost  besprinkles 
our  consciences  therewith,  that  they  may  be  effectually  purified ;  for, 
dwelling  in  our  hearts,  he  makes  us  feel  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;  he  enlightens  us,  he  seals  and  impresses  his  graces  in  our  hearts, 
regenerates,  and  makes  us  new  creatures,"  &c. 

I  own,  sir,  that  after  these  great  divines,  I  am  no  more  ashamed  to 
enforce  faith  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Author  and  Giver  of  life,  and  to  say 
to  my  flock  that  he  is  to  make  them  feel  the  power  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  virtue  of  his  blood  in  their  hearts,  than  I  would  be  ashamed,  were  I 
a  physician  for  the  body,  to  tell  them  they  must  take  a  medicine  inwardly, 
if  the  applying  it  outwardly  would  not  do  ;  and  that  would  cause  them 
some  pain  at  the  first  operation,  but  only  in  order  to  cure  them  more 
radically. 

Thus,  sir,  I  have  endeavoured  to  prove,  from  the  doctrine  of  our 
Church,  from  reason  and  Scripture,  from  the  testimony  of  the  best  men, 
and  of  all  the  Reformed  Churches,  not  only  that  feeling  and  rational 
Christianity  are  not  incompatible,  especially  the  feeling  godly  sorrow  or 
trouble  of  mind,  antecedent  to  justifying  faith,  and  the  feeling  the  com- 
forts of  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  peace,  love,  and  joy,  in  believing ;  but  also 
that  such  feelings,  so  far  from  deserving  to  be  called  madness  and  en- 
thusiasm, are  nothing  short  of  the  actings  of  spiritual  life,  or,  to  speak 
Scripturally,  ';  the  power  of  God  to  every  one  that  believeth,"  Rom.  i. 

One  more  argument  on  this  subject,  and  I  shall  conclude  the  whole. 

If  good  nature,  affability,  and  morality  with  a  round  of  outward  duties, 
will  fit  a  man  for  heaven,  without  any  feeling  of  the  workings  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart,  or  without  peace,  righteousness,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  if  such  a  professor  of  godliness  is  really  in  that  narrow 
way  to  the  kingdom  which  few  people  find ;  why  did  our  Lord  puzzle 
honest  Nicodemus  with  the  strange  doctrine  of  a  new  birth  ?  Why  was 
he  so  uncharitable  as  to  declare,  with  the  utmost  solemnity,  that  he 
could  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God  if  he  was  not  born  again  of  the 
Spirit  ? 

Why  did  he  trouble  the  religious  centurion  with  sending  for  Peter,  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  might  fall  upon  him,  and  all  that  heard  the  word,  while 
the  apostle  preached  to  them  remission  of  sins,  through  faith  in  Jesus,  a 
heart-purifying  faith  ?  See  Acts  xv,  8,  9. 

But,  above  ali,  if  inward  feelings  are  nothing  in  sound  religion ;  if 
they  rather  border  upon  enthusiasm ;  why  did  not  our  Lord  caution  the 
woman  who  came  behind  him  in  Simon's  house,  who  wept  at  his  feet, 
and  kissed  and  wiped  them  with  her  hair?  Why  did  he  not  take  this 
opportunity  to  preach  her  and  us  a  lecture  on  enthusiasm  ?  Why  did  not 
he  advise  her  to  take  something  to  help  the  weakness  of  her  nerves,  and 


DEFENCE  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  3t> 

prevent  the  ferment  of  her  spirits  ?  Why  did  not  he  tell  her  she  went  too 
far,  she  would  run  mad  in  the  end  ?  Why  did  not  he  bid  her  (as  people 
do  in  our  days)  go  into  company  a  little,  and  divert  her  melancholy? 
Nay,  more ;  why  did  he  prefer  her,  with  all  her  behaviour,  to  good- 
natured.,  virtuous,  religious,  undisturbed  Simon  ?  Why  did  he  send  her 
away  with  his  peace,  and  the  assurance  of  the  forgiveness  of  her  sins, 
while  he  did  not  vouchsafe  to  say  to  the  composed  Pharisee,  "  This  day 
salvation  is  come  to  thy  house  ?" 

May  I  be  allowed  to  tell  the  reason  ?  Christ  came  not  to  "  call  the 
righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance,"  If  a  man,  therefore,  is  full  of 
confidence  in  his  own  powers  and  righteousness ;  if  he  supposes  he  is, 
or  can  make  himself,  good  enough  outwardly,  without  those  enthusiastic 
feelings  of  godly  sorrow,  pardon,  peace,  and  love  in  his  heart ;  Jesus 
must  leave  him  to  his  self  conceit  and  virtuous  pride  ;  for  "  God  resisteth 
the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble." 

However,  do  not  mistake  me,  sir ;  I  am  far  from  supposing  that  the 
sincerity  of  people's  d^'otion  must  be  judged  of  by  the  emotion  they  feel 
in  their  bodies  ;  for  the  grace  of  God  generally  brings  a  great  calm,  and 
such  a  heavenly  serenity  into  the  soul,  that  it  may  even  keep  the  body 
composed  in  a  sudden  danger.  But  as  I  read  that  God  will  have  the 
heart  or  nothing,  so  I  know  that  when  he  has  the  heart,  he  has  the  affec- 
tions of  course.  Fear  and  hope,  sorrow  and  joy,  desire  and  love,  act 
upon  their  proper  objects,  God's  attributes.  They  often  launch  out,  and, 
as  it  were,  lose  themselves  in  his  immensity,  and,  at  times,  several  of 
these  passions  acting  together  in  the  soul,  the  noble  disorder  they  cause 
there  cannot  but  affect  the  animal  spirits,  and  communicate  itself  more 
or  less  to  the  body.  Hence  came  the  floods  of  tears  shed  by  David, 
Jeremiah,  Mary,  Peter,  Paul,  &c :  hence  came  the  sighs,  tears,  strong 
cries,  and  groans  unutterable,  of  our  Saviour  himself. 

But,  after  all,  sir,  if  you  exclaim  only  against  bodily  feelings  and 
emotions,  when  the  soul  itself  is  past  feeling,  you  cannot  do  it  too  much ; 
it  is  either  weakness,  or  hypocrisy  intolerable ;  it  must  be  thundered 
against.  Therefore  a  just  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  feelings 
excited  in  the  body  alone  by  self  exertion  or  mere  natural  pathos,  and 
those  bodily  emotions  that  are  necessary  and  involuntary  consequences 
of  the  powerful  workings  of  God's  Spirit  on  the  soul.  The  one  are 
"  sparks  of  our  own  kindling,"  which  give  neither  heat  nor  light,  and 
vanish  as  soon  as  perceived ;  the  other  are  the  natural  effect  of  grace, 
which  the  soul  cannot  contain ;  and  they  are  to  grace,  and  the  fire  of 
Divine  love,  what  smoke  is  to  culinary  fire  :  it  proceeds  from  it,  but  adds 
nothing  to  it ;  yea,  if  a  man  lay  any  stress  thereon,  it  will  darken,  and 
perhaps  put  out  the  flame. 

You  see,  sir,  by  this  observation,  that  though  I  plead  for  spiritual 
feelings  in  devotion,  and  would  not  have  even  all  bodily  feelings  result- 
ing therefrom  branded  with  the  name  pf  enthusiasm,  yet  I  am  as  far  as 
yourself  from  laying  any  stress  upon  bodily  frames,  merely  as  such  ;  and 
I  would  as  soon  judge  of  the  heat  of  a  fire  by  the  smoke  that  comes  out 
of  the  chimney,  as  judge  of  grace  by  bodily  emotions,  conscious  that 
there  may  be  more  of  the  one  when  there  is  less  of  the  other ;  yea,  that 
grace,  peace,  and  love  often  overflow  the  soul  within,  when  the  animal 
spirits  are  most  composed,  and  the  nerves  least  at  work  without. 


36  DEFENCE  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

Upon  the  whole,  sir,  I  humbly  presume  that  I  may  conclude  from 
what  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  lay  before  you,  that  true  Christians,  as 
free  from  enthusiasm  as  Paul  or  David,  may  experience,  at  times,  emo- 
tions in  their  animal  spirits,  attended  with  tears  and  sighs,  especially, 
when  the  cup  of  blessing  or  sorrow  runs*  over  with  desire  and  love,  or 
with  fear  and  trouble ;  and,  if  they  walk  in  the  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, must  enjoy,  and  consequently  be  sensible  of,  or  feel,  in  their 
inmost  souls,  through  believing,  "  a  peace  that  passes  all  understanding," 
such  as  the  world  knoweth  not,  "a  joy,"  at  times,  "  unspeakable,"  such 
as  a  stranger  intermeddles  not  with. 

This,  and  this  alone,  makes  the  service  of  God  "  perfect  freedom  ;" 
this  takes  away  the  guilt  and  the  power  of  sin,  disarms  death  of  its  sting, 
and  the  grave  of  its  horrors. 

This  is  the  first  fruit  of  that  "  faith  working  by  love,"  which  gives 
confessors  victory  over  the  world,  and  martyrs  power  to  clap  their  hands 
for  joy  on  the  racks,  and  in  the  flames.  It  is  the  "  Spirit  of  adoption, 
whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father,"  the  earnest  of^he  Spirit ;  the  earnest 
of  our  inheritance  above. 

If  we  take  this  inward  principle  from  the  heart  of  a  believer,  we 
take  away  the  ingrafted  word,  the  incorruptible  seed,  the  kingdom  within, 
the  bread  and  water  of  life,  the  little  leaven,  the  pearl  of  great  price, 
Ahe  hidden  treasure,  the  wedding  garment,  the  oil  of  the  virgins,  the 
hidden  manna,  the  power  of  God  to  him  that  believes,  the  power  of 
Christ's  resurrection,  the  new  creature,  the  new  name  which  no  one 
knoweth  but  he  that  receiveth  it,  the  new  birth;  the  wisdom  from  above, 
the  blood  of  sprinkling,  the  life  of  God,  &c ;  we  take  away,  in  short, 
"  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God  ;"  and,  in  a  blind  zeal  for  formal 
religion,  we  cry  out  against  Jesus  coming  in  the  Spirit,  as  the  Jews,  in 
their  blind  zeal  for  the  law,  cried  out  against  Jesus  coming  in  the  flesh, 
"  Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  and  effectually,  though  ignorantly,  crucify 
"  Christ  in  us  the  hope,"  the  living  hope  "  of  glory." 

Thus  Christianity  degenerates  into  mere  heathenish  morality  and 
good  nature,  dressed  up  with  Christian  rites.  All  that  is  spiritual  and 
experimental  in  our  Bible  and  liturgy  must  be,  of  course,  enthusiastic 
stuff,  or,  at  best,  words  without  meaning.  So  that,  after  all,  the  only 
essential  difference  that  will  be  found  between  us  and  just,  sober,  chaste, 
benevolent  Deists,  will  consist  in  repeating  speculatively  some  creeds 
they  do  not  assent  to,  in  speaking  for  a  book  they  run  down,  in  using 
some  religious  ceremonies  they  think  useless,  and  entertaining  dry 
notions  of  one  Jesus  and  his  Spirit,  whom  they  despise  and  reject ; 
when,  at  the  same  time,  we  shall  be  equally  strangers  to  that  Gospel 
"  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth," 
to  "  the  exceeding  greatness  of  God's  power  toward  those  that  believe, 
according  to  the  working  of  his  mighty  power,"  Eph.  i,  19. 

I  have  found  it  hard,  sir,  to  sybmit  my  carnal  reason  to  the  force  of 
these  and  the  like  observations.  I  know,  by  experience,  that  "  the 
natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned."  I  can  therefore  truly  sympathize  with  those  that 
stagger  yet  at  the  hard  saying  of  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  iii,  18,  "  Let  no  man 
deceive  Inmself ;   if  any  man  among  you  seemeth  to  be  wise  in  this 


DEFENCE  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION.  6t 

» 

world,  let  him  become  a  fool  that  he  may  be  wise,  for  the  wisdom  of 
this  world  is  foolishness  with  God.  Where  is  the  wise,  where  the 
scholar,  where  the  disputer  of  this  world  ?  Has  not  God  made  foolish 
the  wisdom  of  this  world  ?  For,  when  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,  it  pleased  God,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching,  to  save  them  that 
believe" — that  believe  so  as  to  be  born  of  God,  John  v,  i ;  that  believe 
so  as  to  be  "  filled  with  peace,  hope,  joy,  and  love,  through  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  Rom.  xv,  13. 

Let  us  then  often  meditate,  sir,  upon  such  scriptures ;  they  will,  by 
the  blessing  of  God,  bring  our  hearts  low,  and  make  them  willing,  in 
spite  of  our  reasonings,  to  submit  to  that  faith  which  is  the  gift  of  God 
to  a  soul  distressed  for  sin,  and  to  reap  and  enjoy  its  fruits,  a  solid  peace, 
a  living  hope,  a  burning  love,  and  an  unwearied  obedience.  For  till  we. 
are  stripped  of  our  fig  leaves,  till  we  have  done  boasting  of  our  own 
powers,  and  the  glorious  remains  of  God's  image,  and  trusting  to  self 
and  reason,  to  Pharisaical  righteousness  and  forms  of  godliness,  we 
cannot  truly  seek  the  power  of  it ;  and  we  must  stumble  at  a  thousand 
scriptures,  as  well  as  that  famous  saying  of  Luther,  "  Sicut  solajide  in 
Christum  veram  justitiam  ad  salutem  consequimur ;  ita  nihil  difficilius, 
quam  hoc,  hominibus  persuadetur ;  nihil  Satan  (prcesertim  Candidas  ille 
Satan)  cBque  oppugnat." 

Thus  have  I,  sir,  laid  down  with  all  plainness  the  observations  I  made 
upon  your  elegant  discourse,  as  I  understood  it ;  I  submit  them  to  your 
candid  judgment,  and  to  your  second  thoughts,  as  well  as  to  the  word 
of  God  and  the  articles  of  our  Church.  Should  I  have  mistaken  your 
meaning,  sir,  in  any  part  of  these  sheets,  (which  may  easily  have  been 
the  case,)  I  shall  be  exceeding  glad  to  acknowledge  it,  and  ask  your 
pardon. 

Should  you  have  been  mistaken,  yourself,  sir,  in  some  parts  of  your 
discourse,  I  beg  you  would  not  take  amiss  the  liberty  I  have  taken  to 
lay  before  you  the  grounds  of  my  fears  on  that  account.  I  have  not 
done  it  ('God  knows)  out  of  desire  to  set  myself  up  as  a  judge  of  any 
one  of  my  brethren  and  fathers  in  the  Church  ;  but  I  found  myself  in 
some  measure  forced  to  it  by  the  following  observations  of  some  of 
my  parishioners  that  were  at  Wenlock  to  hear  you,  sir,  beside  the 
officers : — 

"  If  that  gentleman  is  right,"  they  concluded,  "  our  minister  must  be 
quite  wrong :  he  is  always  telling  us  of  the  darkness  and  blindness  of 
our  understandings  in  Divine  things,  the  hardness  of  our  hearts  which 
we  cannot  force  to  repent  and  love,  the  unruliness  of  our  will,  which  we 
cannot  turn  to  true  obedience :  he  concludes  there  is  an  absolute  neces- 
sity for  us  to  be  born  again,  renewed  in  those  faculties  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  given  unto  us.  But  this  gentleman  talks  of  precious  remains  of 
God's  image  in  our  souls,  and  seems  to  be  against  this  new  birth.  The 
one  tells  us,  we  are  fallen,  that  God  has  concluded  all  under  sin,  that 
there  is  none  good,  no  not  one*  that  without  Christ  we  can  do  nothing 
right,  that  there  is  no  health  in  us  ;  yea,  he  goes  so  far  as  to  declare 
that  '  of  ourselves  and  by  ourselves  we  have  no  goodness,  help,  or  salva- 
tion; but  contrariwise  sin,  damnation,  and  death  everlasting.'  (Homily 
of  the  Misery  of  Man,  2d  part.)  The  other  affirms  that  we  are  fallen, 
yet  we  can  help  and  raise  ourselves :  we  have  a  free  will,  and  we  may 


33  DEFENCE   OF  EXPERIMENTAL  RELIGION. 

use  it  to  do  good  works ;  and  if,  after  all,  we  fall  short  in  some  things, 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  to  help  our  infirmity.  Yea,  we  are  not  so  blind 
and  dark  as  some  suppose,  for  we  have  the  candle  of  the  Lord  shining 
in  our  breast,  and  that  is,  (not  '  Christ,  the  light  of  the  world,'  or  the 
word  of  God,  that  shines  as  a  lamp  in  a  dark  place,)  but  reason. 

"  The  one  tells  us,  that  all  the  world  being  wrapped  up  in  sin,  by 
breaking  the  law,  no  man,  by  his  own  acts,  words,  and  deeds,  seem  they 
never  so  good,  can  be  justified  before  God,  and  saved.  (Horn,  of 
Salvation.)  He  says  that  all  our  moral  righteousness  and  our  forms  of 
godliness  are  but  tig  leaves,  with  which  we  cover  the  desperate  pride 
and  wickedness  of  our  hearts,  if,  trusting  to  them  for  justification,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  we  do  not  flee  as  naked,  poor,  miserable,  and  blind 
sinners,  to  Jesus  alone,  put  off,  by  repentance,  the  filthy  rags  of  our 
own  righteousness,  and  put  on,  by  faith,  the  robe  of  our  Saviour's 
merits. 

"  But  the  other  recommends,  in  general,  virtue,  benevolence,  relative 
duties,  &c,  and  gives  us  to  understand,  that  this  is  by  far  the  plainest 
and  most  rational  way  of  salvation. 

"  The  one  tells  us,  that  if  we  never  felt  godly  sorrow  for  sin,  we 
never  truly  repented ;  that  if  we  never  enjoyed,  and  consequently  were 
sensible  of,  or  felt,  the  peace  and  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  have  great  reason  to  examine  whether  we  be 
really  in  the  faith — whether  Christ  be  in  us  of  a  truth,  Rom.  v,  1-5 ; 
2  Cor.  xiii,  5. 

"  But  the  other  discountenances  such  doctrines  as  leading  to  despair 
and  enthusiasm  ;  he  represents  feelings  without  distinction,  as  the  conse- 
quences of  people's  constitutions,  as  owing  to  the  weakness  of  their 
nerves,  the  lowness  or  height  of  their  animal  spirits ;  and  he  is  so  far 
from  wishing  to  have  us  be  uneasy,  if  we  feel  neither  the  burden  of  our 
sins  nor  the  refreshment  which  Christ  offers  to  those  that  are  heavy 
laden,  neither  peace  nor  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that  he  thinks  our  good 
nature,  benevolence,  diligence  in  business,  &c,  exclusive  of  those  feel- 
ings, are  the  most  rational  way  to  happiness  and  heaven." 

I  find  myself,  then,  under  a  necessity,  sir,  as  I  value  the  souls  of  my 
parishioners,  and  regard  the  success  of  my  ministry  among  them,  to  lay 
before  those,  who  asked  me  what  I  had  to  say  to  your  discourse,  the 
reflections  contained  in  these  sheets ;  but  would  not  do  it  before  I  had 
laid  them  at  your  feet,  in  hopes  that  if  I  have  mistaken  your  meaning, 
you  will  be  so  kind  as  to  acquaint  me  with  it ;  or  that,  if  I  am  in  the 
wrong  myself,  by  preaching  such  doctrines,  you  will  condescend  to  con- 
vince me  of  my  errors,  and  by  that  means  stop  the  mischief  I  might  do 
in  propagating  them.  With  an  entire  readiness  to  lie  at  your  feet  for 
instructions  or  reproofs,  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  and  the  doctrine 
of  our  Church,  I  am,  reverend  sir,  yours,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


NATURAL  AVERSION 


HUMAN  MIND  TO  THAT  WHICH  IS  GOOD. 


"  Should  naked  virtue  give  herself  to  view, 
Th'  admiring  world  would  pay  the  homage  due," 
Says  a  philosopher,  whose  erring  mind 
Was  to  man's  vice  and  monstrous  evils  blind. 

Thus  Joseph's  piety,  in  tender  age, 
Awakes  the  fury  of  fraternal  rage  ; 
By  envy  stung,  his  brothers  all  conspire 
The  son  to  banish  and  deceive  the  sire. 

Such  was  Pythagoras,  a  sage  far  famed ; 
And  Aristides  was  the  just  surnamed ; 
Great  Socrates,  unfortunately  wise, 
Bravely  confess'd  one  Ruler  of  the  skies, 
On  Heaven  reposed  ;  while  Greeks,  a  sinning  race, 
Levell'd  his  honours  with  the  vile  and  base. 

It  is  well  known  that  Aristides  was  banished  from  Athens  for  his 
excellent  virtues  ;  and  in  particular  for  his  justice  and  beneficence,  which 
gave  umbrage  to  his  fellow  citizens.  In  the  like  manner  that  illustrious 
philosopher,  who  preached  equity  in  Athens,  lost  his  life  through  his 
support  of  truth  which  leads  to  piety.  Many  people,  however,  may  not 
know  that  Pythagoras  was  himself  a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  virtue.  For 
the  sake  of  these,  the  following  remarks,  concerning  the  life  and  death  of 
this  great  philosopher,  are  inserted  from  the  account  given  by  M.  Dacier. 

"Nothing  could  equal  the  respect  shown  to  Pythagoras.  He  was 
regarded  as  the  most  perfect  image  of  God  among  men ;  his  dwelling 
was  named  the  temple  of  Ceres,  and  when  he  went  to  the  villages,  it 
was  said  that  he  came  not  merely  to  instruct,  but  to  bless  mankind. 

"  Who  could  have  thought  but  a  man  so  respected,  who  never  did  any 
thing  but  good  to  society,  would  have  enjoyed  a  tranquil  old  age,  and  a 
happy  conclusion  ?  But  this  is  not  always  the  lot  of  heroes  and  sages. 
The  corruption  and  injustice  of  men  promise,  to  such  characters  as 
these,  more  vexation  than  tranquillity.  The  last  years  of  Pythagoras 
were  clouded  with  persecution,  and  he  met  a  tragical  death.  Observe 
the  origin  of  his  misfortunes. 

"  There  was  at  Crotona  a  young  man  named  Cylon,  who  was  so ' 
elated  with  his  birth,  riches,  and  the  great  influence  of  his  family,  that 
he  imagined  it  would  be  conferring  honour  on  Pythagoras  to  become  his 
disciple.  The  philosopher,  not  forming  his  judgment  of  men  by  external 
circumstances,  perceiving  this  youth  to  be  greatly  depraved,  dismissed 
him  from  his  school. 

"  Cylon,  being  enraged  at  this  injury,  sought  revenge.  He  every 
where  defamed  the  philosopher,  and  endeavoured  to  render  him  suspected 
among  the  people,  by  representing  his  meetings  as  clubs  of  disaffected 
and  seditious  persons,  whose  aim  was  to  overturn  the  state.  These 
calumnies  easily  gained  ground ;  (for  the  public  were  always  unjust  and 


40  AVERSION  OF  THE   I1UMAIS'  MIXD  TO   GOOD. 

suspicious,  and  ever  ready  to  proceed  to  extremities  against  the  sages, 
whom  they  considered  as  pedagogues  who  controlled  and  chastised 
them ;)  so  that  Pythagoras,  their  benefactor,  was  soon  regarded  as  a 
public  enemy  at  Crotona. 

"  One  day  when  all  his  disciples  were  assembled  with  him  in  the 
house  of  Milo,  Cylon  went  there  with  a  crowd  of  ruffians,  and  a  great 
number  of  his  friends  that  were  devoted  to  his  resentment.  They  sur- 
rounded and  set  fire  to  the  house.  None  escaped  from  the  ruins  save 
Pythagoras,  Lysis,  and  Archippus ;  the  latter  fled  to  Tarentum,  his 
own  country,  and  Lysis  to  Thebes,  where  he  became  preceptor  to 
Epaminondas. 

"  With  respect  to  Pythagoras,  he  took  the  way  to  Locris ;  but  the 
people  being  advertised  of  his  intended  visit  to  them,  and  dreading  the 
wrath  of  Cylon,  and  the  fate  of  Crotona,  sent  their  principal  magistrates 
to  entreat  him  to  depart  from  them.  He  went  to  Tarentum,  from  whence 
a  new  persecution  shortly  drove  him.  He  went  to  Metapontum,  but  the 
sedition  of  Crotona  served  as  a  signal  for  a  general  insurrection  against 
the  Pythagoreans.  The  flame  extended  to  all  the  cities  of  Greece.  The 
schools  of  Pythagoras  were  demolished,  and  he  himself,  at  the  age  of 
fourscore,  murdered  in  a  tumult  at  Metapontum  ;  or,  according  to  others, 
he  died  of  hunger  in  the  temple  of  the  muses,  where  he  had  taken 
shelter.  These  are  the  most  circumstantial  and  authentic  materials  I 
have  been  able  to  collect  concerning  the  death  of  Pythagoras. 

"  Strange  event,'*  concludes  M.  Dacier,  "  that  the  man  who  had  ap- 
peased so  many  wars,  calmed  so  many  seditions,  and  extinguished  the 
flame  of  discord  in  so  many  families,  should  perish  in  a  tumult  raised 
against  himself.  He  was  pursued  from  city  to  city,  and  the  greatest 
part  of  his  disciples  were  involved  in  the  same  ruin.  It  is  very  remark- 
able that  the  cities  which  had  persecuted  Pythagoras  the  most,  were  the 
first  who  honoured  his  memory,  and  followed  his  laws  with  the  greatest 
exactness." 

Those  who  neither  embrace  the  Gospel,  nor  sound  philosophy,  will 
doubtless  say,  that  the  most  active  virtue  has  nothing  to  fear  in  these 
days.  Does  human  nature  differ  at  Paris  and  Toulouse  from  what  it 
was  at  Crotona  and  Tarentum  1  Let  us  hear  the  decision  of  the  two 
Rousseaus.  "  Socrates  among  us,"  says  Rousseau  the  philosopher,  who 
had  such  exalted  ideas  of  man,  "  must  not  only  drink  the  cup  of  poison, 
but  he  must  also  drink  a  bitter  cup  of  insulting  raillery  and  contempt,  a 
thousand  times  worse  than  death  itself."  Rousseau  the  poet  is  of  the 
same  mind,  in  his  Epistle  to  Count  De  Luc. 

Si  sur  la  terre  aucun  ne  vous  croit  digne 
D'etre  hai,  e'esi  un  fort  mauvais  signe,  tj-c. 
Are  you  regarded  in  this  envious  age 
Of  hate  unworthy  ?     'Tis  a  bad  presage  ! 
But  you,  'tis  said,  pursue  fair  virtue's  ways, 
And  clear  of  vice  in  these  degenerate  days ; 
Object  of  scorn,  if  yet  from  talents  free, 
Strange!  what,  not  safe  in  mediocrity ? 
In  all  your  conduct  purest  morals  show, 
Your  merit  let  observing  mortals  know, 
Procuring  praise,  and  not  provoke  one  foe. 
This  maxim  treasure  in  your  thoughtful  mind. 
Acquire  just  praise,  and  war  with  all  mankind. 


AVERSION   OF  THE   HUMAN  MIND  TO  GOOD.  41 

M.  de  Voltaire,  who  had  no  relish  for  the  severe  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
could  not  forbear  publishing  similar  thoughts  in  his  Epistle  on  Calumny. 

Que  le  mensonge  un  instant  vous  outrage,  fyc. 

Should  slander  cast  a  hellish  flood  on  you, 
All  burn  with  rage  to  prove  that  slander  true: 
Should  truth  beyond  the  clouds  exalt  her  voice, 
To  vindicate  thy  fame,  mankind  are  ice. 

Horace  had  nearly  the  same  views,  if  we  consult  the  following  lines. 
(Epis.  i.  lib.  2.) 

Post  ingentia  fata  Deorum  in  templa  recepti, 
Dum  terras  hominumque  colunt  genus,  aspera  bella 
Componunt,  agros  adsignant,*oppida  condunt,  SfC. 

Rome's  founder,  Leda's  twins,  the  god  of  wine, 
By  human  virtues  raised  to  power  Divine, 
While  they  with  pious  cares  improved  mankind, 
To  various  states  their  proper  bounds  assign'd, 
Commanded  war's  destroying  rage  to  cease, 
And  bless'd  their  cities  with  the  arts  of  peace  ; 
Complain'd  their  virtues  and  their  toils  could  raise 
But  slight  returns  of  gratitude  and  praise. 
Who  crush'd  the  hydra,  when  to  life  renew'd, 
And  monsters  dire  with  fated  toil  subdued, 
Found  that  the  monster  envy  never  dies, 
Till  low  in  equal  death  her  conqueror  lies. 
Virtue,  while  living,  suffers  causeless  hate, 
But  dead,  we  to  the  realms  Divine  translate. 

The  language  of  these  poets  illustrates  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  . 
"  Wo  to  you  when  all  men  speak  well  of  you.  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all 
nations  for  my  sake."  Those  who  think  Jesus  Christ  was  deceived 
when  he  thus  expressed  himself,  will  doubtless  conclude  this  canto  of  no 
advantage ;  but  those  who  rise  above  mediocrity  in  virtue,  and  luke- 
warmness  in  piety,  will  perhaps  be  of  another  mind. 

We  need  only  view  the  persecutions  which  Pythagoras  suffered,  to  be 
convinced  how  much  philosophers  deceive  themselves  in  saying  Chris- 
tianity is  a  false  religion,  owing  to  its  being  the  innocent  cause  of  per- 
secutions. It  is  granted  that  pure  Christianity,  like  sound  philosophy, 
hits  always  been  persecuted  by  wicked  Pagans,  sophistical  reasoners, 
and  carnal  Christians  ;  but  instead  of  concluding  that  this  religion  is  bad, 
we  ought  to  infer  that  it  is  the  most  perfect  and  holy  in  the  world,  seeing 
it  leads  men  to  the  most  sublime  virtue.  And  though  it  be  hated  and 
persecuted  by  all  worldly-minded  persons,  not  even  excepting  those  who 
have  been  dedicated  to  Jesus  Christ  in  baptism,  and  consequently  ought 
to  tolerate  the  Gospel ;  yet  it  meets  the  cordial  approbation  of  all 
honest  men 

True  Christianity  is  so  excellent,  that  no  wicked  person  can  love  it, 
and  the  more  depraved  men  are,  the  more  they  persecute  it.  And  from 
this  source  spring  those  numerous  and  bloody  persecutions  with  which 
nominal  Christians  are  reproached.  If  it  be  demanded  why  wicked 
Christians  are  not  only  persecutors,  but  the  fiercest  persecutors,  we 
answer,  They  persecute  because  they  are  wicked,  and  they  are  the  most 


42  REMARKS  ON  THE  TRINITY. 

cruel  persecutors  because  they  are  the  greatest  hypocrites,  and  conse 
quently  the  worst  of  men.  "  I  will  not  cease  to  declare,"  says  Rousr 
seau,  "that  persecutors  who  profess  a  religion  of  charity,  and  torment 
unbelievers,  as  though  they  wished  to  damn  them  in  the  present  life, 
and  so  become  the  devil's  harbingers,  are  not  believers,  but  villains.''' 
What  numbers  of  persons  have  been  entangled  with,  or  confirmed  in 
their  incredulity  by  this  difficulty,  the  solution  of  which  we  here  present 


REMARKS    ON   THE   TRINITY, 

* 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE   FRENCH    OF  THE    REV.   J.   FLETCHER. 

BY  THE  LATE  REV.  MILES  MARTINDALE. 


Sing  nature's  Sire,  sing  his  redeeming  Son, 
And  the  blest  Paraclete  with  glory  crown  ; 
From  God,  our  light,  life,  love,  Divinely  spring, 
His  lofty  praise  let  us  incessant  sing. 
Let  nature,  long  as  endless  ages  move, 
Of  this  thrice  holy  God  proclaim  the  love. 

Those  who  think  Arius  and  Socinus  more  rational  than  St.  Paul  and 
St.  John,  will  perhaps  say  this  doxology  is  contraiy  to  the  second  dogma 
of  natural  religion,  which  establishes  the  unity  of  the  Godhead.  But  if 
candour  and  honesty  oblige  us,  either  to  renounce  revelation,  or  admit 
that  God  has  revealed  his  extraordinary  essence,  eternal  and  perfect, 
existing  without  separation  under  the  distinctions  of  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost ;  it  is  evident,  we  cannot  believe  the  whole  Gospel  without 
adoring  the  holy  trinity  in  unity,  as  appointed  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles  in  the  baptismal  form. 

Moreover,  if  God  has  revealed  his  essence  to  us  by  the  terms  of  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  the  generation  and  the  procession,  it  is  because 
they  are  the  best  that  man's  imperfect  language  can  furnish  to  convey 
ideas  of  a  mystery  altogether  Divine.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  ideas 
we  attach  to  these  words,  in  speaking  of  God,  ought  to  be  as  much  ele- 
vated above  our  common  ideas,  as  the  Supreme  Being  is  above  imperfect 
and  finite  beings.  In  the  meantime  this  imperfect  knowledge,  like  that 
which  an  infant  in  the  cradle  has  of  his  father,  mother,  and  nurse,  may 
he  sufficient  for  our  present  condition,  as  we  are  not  called  to  speculate, 
but  earnestly  desire,  as  new-born  babes,  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word, 
that  we  may  grow  thereby.  This  made  St.  Paul  say,  "  For  now  we  see 
through  a  glass  darkly;  but  then  face  to  face." 

We  can  in  some  measure  conceive  that  an  infinite  and  eternal  Father 
has  necessarily  an  infinite  and  eternal  Son :  if  the  Father  be  eternal, 
and  if  the  Son  be  his  eternal  and  perfect  image,  we  can  also  compre- 
hend that,  as  it  would  be  absurd  to  admit  of  two  infinities,  the  Father 


REMARKS  ON  THE  TRINITY.  43 

and  Son  are  united  in  the  most  perfect  manner  by  an  eternal  Spirit  of 
peace,  power,  and  love.  And  thus  being  equally  removed  from  Deism 
and  Tritheism,  we  adore  the  sacred  trinity  to  whom  we  have  been  con- 
secrated in  baptism. 

If  Christians  adored  three  gods,  they  would  adore  three  separate 
beings  ;  but  they  abhor  Polytheism,  and  say  with  St.  John,  "  There  are 
three  that  bear  record  in  heaven  :  xou  outoi  oi  rpsig  sv  jitfi  :*  et  hi  Ires  unum 
sunt.  And  these  three  [hypostases,  substances]  are  one :"  the  same 
one  and  perfect  God.  Those  who  consider  the  different  nature  of  the 
words  three  and  one  used  by  St.  John,  will  see  the  unreasonableness  of 
those  who  way,  "  The  Gospel  calls  us  to  believe  three  persons  are  only 
one."  Never  was  charge  more  false  :  the  care  taken  by  the  apostle  to 
change  the  words  by  which  he  expresses  the  unity  of  the  substance,  and 
the  trinity  of  the  substances,  if  I  may  use  the  term,  is  an  incontrovertible 
proof. 

The  whole  difficulty  then  lies  in  believing  that  God,  who  knows  his 
own  nature,  (to  give  us  a  view  of  the  greatness  of  our  salvation,  and  the 
price  of  redemption,)  has  condescended  to  inform  us  that,  in  his  adorable 
nature,  there  are  three  principles  so  perfectly  united  that  they  form  a 
trinity  of  substances,  without  breaking  the  unity  of  the  substanct,  or 
Divine  essence.  Thousands  of  intelligent  persons  are  so  far  from  find- 
ing any  contradiction  in  this  proposition,  that,  to  reject  it  in  opposition  to 
the  irrefragable  evidence  of  Scripture  and  the  catholic  Church,  they 
conclude  they  must  suffer  themselves  to  be  blinded  by  the  grossest  pride, 
or  unreasonable  philosophy. 

Those  who  worship  only  the  Father,  reject  in  part  the  Christians' 
God,  who  does  not  exist  without  his  Son  and  Spirit,  any  more  than  the 
sun  exist*  without  his  light  and  heat.  The  Scriptures  declare,  that 
those  who  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  believe  not  in  the  Son  ;  and  that 
such  as  receive  not  the  Son,  reject  the  Father,  Rom.  viii,  9  ;  1  John  ii, 
23.  It  follows  then  that  Deists  and  their  associates  worship  a  being 
created  by  their  proud  reason,  rather  than  the  only  true  and  living  God, 
who  particularly  reveals  himself  in  the  Gospel,  and  who  is  called  Thrice 
Holy,  to  show  that  the  same  perfect  holiness  shines  in  the  Father,  'Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit. 

If  'we  name  the  distinctions  given  to  the  Father,  Son,  and  Comforter, 
or  Holy  Spirit,  the  principles,  it  is  with  reference  to  the  creatures.  For 
to  these  the  Father  is  particularly  a  principle  of  life,  the  Son  is  a  prin- 
ciple of  light,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  principle  of  charity.  For  in  the 
Supreme  Being  these  three  distinctions  are  always  in  the  most  perfect 
unity,  and  never  admit  of  the  smallest  shade  of  division. 

The  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being  is  the  first  truth  in  religion,  and 
the  unity  of  this  Being  is  the  second.  This  unity  is  not  denied  here, 
but  we  blame  those  who  reject  the  distinction  between  the  Father,  the 
Word,  and  the  Spirit,  because  they  judge  of  this  distinction  by  the  diver- 
sity of  three  human  persons.  The  enemies  of  the  Christian  religion 
would  undoubtedly  be  right,  if  the  personality  in  Divine  nature  was  in 

*  1  John  v,  7.  This  passage  is  so  decisive  that  the  enemies  of  the  trinity  have 
used  all  their  efforts  to  render  it  suspected.  But  Mr.  Travis  kas  demonstrated  its 
authenticity  in  a  manner  sufficiently  clear  to  remove  the  d<  ubts  of  the  most 
scrupulous  critic. 


44  REMARKS   OIS  .THE  TRINITY. 

all  respects  the  same  as  personality  in  human  nature.  But  good  sense 
informs  us,  that  the  manner  in  which  the  Supreme  Being  exists  is  as 
much  superior  to  our  manner  of  existing,  as  eternity  is  to  time,  or  the 
omniscience  of  God  to  the  feeble  light  of  a  mortal.  It  is  hoped,  how- 
ever,  that  the  word  person,  used  by  divines,  has  not  produced  any  thing 
equivocal  from  which  the  Deists  can  take  occasion  to  call  us  Tritheists, 
and  thereby  render  the  doctrine  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  ridicu- 
lous in  the  eyes  of  men. 

It  is  true,  in  some  sense  we  admit  a  trinity  in  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing, and  we  shall  always  be  regarded  by  the  Deists  as  superstitious , 
because  we  believe  what  we  have  no  clear  and  precise  idea  of.  But, 
if  the  Deist's  mode  of  judging  be  reasonable,  will  not  he  himself  be. 
obliged  to  renounce  Deism,  and  must  not  the  Atheist  renounce  his 
Materialism  and  Fatalism  ?  Where  is  the  Deist  who  has  a  clear  idea  of 
a  Spirit,  and  of  an  infinite  unity,  that  pervades  all  and  divides  nothing? 
Where  is  the  Atheist  who  has  a  just  conception  of  that  chance,  which, 
according  to  his  doctrine,  fixed  the  order  of  the  world  ?  Or  how  does  he 
comprehend  that  fate  which  regulates  all  events?  And  what  idea  has  he 
of  those  atoms  which,  after  wandering  at  random  in  chaos,  have  at 
length  formed  the  system  of  the  universe,  and  which  suddenly  became 
so  wise  and  regular  in  their  motions,  that  the  revolutions  of  sun,  moon, 
the  great  planets  and  their  satellites,  of  summer  and  winter,  the  flux 
and  reflux  of  the  ocean,  are  never  wanting  ?  We  therefore  see,  that  the 
great  objection  these  gentlemen  have  to  revelation,  equally  militates 
against  all  the  systems  which  they  can  substitute. 

"  God  is  an  infinite  Being,"  says  true  philosophy.  A  being  which  I 
can  comprehend,  does  not  merit  the  name  of  infinite.  He  is  no  longer 
my  God,  but  my  equal,  or  my  inferior :  for,  according  to  metaphysics, 
that  which  comprehends  is  greater  than  that  which  is  comprehended ; 
the  same  as  in  physics,  that  which  contains  is  greater  than  that  which  is 
contained.  When  the  hollow  of  my  hand  can  hold  all  the  water  of  the 
ocean,  I  may  flatter  myself  that  I  can  comprehend  the  essence  of  the 
Supreme  Being  :  and  for  this  reason  I  conclude,  that  true  philosophers 
will  never  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  in  the  Supreme  Being,  under 
a  pretence  that  this  doctrine  is  surrounded  with  difficulties  which  they 
cannot  clearly  unravel. 

Some  readers  will  perhaps  demand  why  the  trinity  is  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  this  work.  Of  what  advantage  is  the  doctrine  ?  Dr. 
Priestley  wished  to  know  its  use  in  morality  and  piety.  "  Does  it  ren- 
der men  more  holy  and  happy  ?"  An  answer  to  this  question  shall  be 
my  apology. 

In  proportion  as  God  has  withheld  the  revelation  of  his  trinity,  the 
nations,  not  excepting  the  Jews,  have  abandoned  themselves  to  their 
passions,  and  men  in  general  have  neither  been  good  nor  happy  ;  and 
St.  Paul  draws  their  portrait  in  these  words :  "  Destruction  and  misery 
are  in  their  ways,  and  the  way  of  peace  they  have  not  known,"  Rom. 
iii,  16,  17.  In  this  fallen  and  corrupt  condition  in  which  human  nature 
finds  itself,  the  general  knowledge  of  God,  as  a  Creator,  is  insufficient  to 
secure  peace.  Witness  those  who  have  no  desire  to  behold  the  light ; 
those  who  destroy  themselves  through  an  excess  of  despair  ;  and  those 
who  would  make  their  own  exit,  did  not  fear  bind  their  impatient  hands! 


REMARKS    OX  THE   TRINITY.  45 

But  things  are  soon  changed,  when  the  creating  God  reveals  himself 
as  Immanuel  in  believers  ;  as  soon  as  God,  by  the  manifestation  of  his 
sanctifying  Spirit,  has  re-established  his  image  in  their  souls.  Then  the 
trinity  being  clearly  revealed,  God  is  adored  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  with 
a  zeal  like  that  which  burned  in  the  bosoms  of  the  primitive  Christians  ; 
then  men  begin  to  love  and  help  each  other  with  a  charity  which  the 
world  never  saw  before. 

The  multitude  who  believed  in  God  manifested  as  Creator,  Saviour, 
and  Comforter,  or  (what  is  the  same  thing)  those  who  truly  believed  in 
a  trinity,  "  were  all  of  one  heart,  and  of  one  soul.  Walking  in  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  receiving  their 
food  with  singleness  of  heart,  they  rejoiced  in  God  the  Saviour,  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  The  God  of  hope  tilled  them  with  joy 
and  peace  in  believing,  so  that  they  abounded  in  hope  through  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Full  of  faith,  like  Stephen,  they  saw  the  glory  of  the  Saviour, 
as  with  uncovered  faces ;  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  they  were  trans- 
formed into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory.  Conducted  by  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  and  sustained  by  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  they  call  God 
their  Father  with  unshaken  confidence,  and  praise  him  on  the  scaffolds 
with  a  transport  of  joy  which  the  Deists  never  knew. 

If  we  insist  upon  the  knowledge  and  adoration  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  the  three  eternal  principles  that  compose  the  Divine 
essence,  it  is  not  through  superstition,  as  Dr.  Priestley  imagined,  but 
because  Scripture  and  experience  concur  in  showing  this  to  be  the  only 
mean  of  bringing  sinners  to  lhat  happy  condition,  in  which  they  said, 
"  We  have  access  to  the  Father,  by  Jesus  Christ,  through  the  same 
Spirit :  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God,  [the  Father,] 
by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  we  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God  ;  and 
we  glory  in  tribulation,  because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts,  by  the  Holy  Spirit  given  unto  us."  It  is  sufficient  to  read  this 
two -fold  evidence  in  the  Epistles  and  Acts  of  the  apostles,  to  see  that 
the  holiness  and  happiness  of  the  first  Christians  depended  on  the  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  the  mystery  of  the  holy  trinity  :  or  of  God  mani- 
fested in  their  souls  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  or  as  Creator, 
Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier. 

It  is  allowed  things  shortly  changed  ;  but  this  change  is  a  proof  that 
the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  cannot  be  attacked  without  sapping  the  foun- 
dation of  Christian  piety.  The  Gnostics,  who,  like  Dr.  Priestley,  prided 
themselves  on  being  more  enlightened  than  other  Christians,  by  refine- 
ments contrary  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  corrupted  the  doctrine  of 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  corruption  of  manners  among 
the  ancient  heretics  was  the  consequence  of  their  first  revolt.  The 
Arians  soon  followed  the  Gnostics,  tearing  the  Church  on  one  hand,  and 
the  Sabellians  on  the  other ;  during  that  time  the  greatest  part  of  the 
Catholics,  occupied  in  disputes  with  their  adversaries,  instead  of  grow- 
ing in  holiness,  by  a  more  lively  knowledge  of  the  Redeemer,  and  Sanc- 
tifier, contented  themselves  with  repeating  forms  of  faith  ;  and  they 
shortly  substituted  the  repetition  of  orthodox  creeds  for  true  Christian 
faith,  which  works  by  love,  and  is  always  fruitful  in  good  works.  The 
Church  will  remain  in  this  state,  until  the  ministers  preach  with  zeal, 
and  the  people  embrace  with  ardour,  the  sacred  doctrine  of  Father,  Son, 


46  ON  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

and  Holy  Spirit,  which  includes  repentance  toward  God  the  Father,  faith 
in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  love  shed  abroad  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy 
Spirit :  love,  the  mother  of  good  works,  and  the  distinguishing  badge  of 
true  Christians.  From  hence  it  follows,  that  Christian  virtues  flourish 
or  decay,  in  proportion  as  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  is  rendered  clear, 
or  obscured  among  men ;  for  it  is  on  this  foundation  that  the  Gospel 
becomes  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  all  who  believe.  And  it  should 
be  remembered,  that  faith  in  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  of  which 
we  speak,  is  the  gift  of  God,  Eph.  ii,  8,  and  not  the  word  of  a  nurse,  or 
the  dictate  of  a  catechist.  It  is  a  Divine  energy,  which  is  "  the  sub- 
stance of  things  hoped  for,  a  cordial  demonstration  of  things  not  seen  ;" 
for  we  believe  with  the  heart  unto  righteousness,  before  we  can  make 
confession  with  the  mouth  unto  salvation. 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  DARKNESS 
AT 

THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR. 


"  And  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour,  and  there  was  darkness  over  all 
the  earth,  [or  country,]  until  the  ninth  hour,  and  the  sun  was  dark- 
ened,"  Luke  xxiii,  45,  and  Matt,  xxvii,  45.  This  event  is  recorded,  not 
by  the  evangelists  only,  but  by  Phlegon,  of  Tralles  or  Seleucia,  in  Asia. 
This  learned  author  flourished  soon  after  the  death  of  Christ,  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  century.  He  was  one  of  the  freed  men  whom 
Adrian  the  emperor  caused  to  be  taught  the  sciences ;  he  wrote  several 
works  worthy  of  the  learned  and  polite  court  where  he  resided.  That 
in  which  we  are  the  most  interested,  is  a  Universal  History  in  twelve 
books.  It  is  in  these  annals  that  Origen,  and  the  learned  defenders  of 
Christianity,  found  the  evidences  of  the  circumstance  here  in  question. 

The  words  of  Phlegon  are  these  : — "  In  the  fourth  year  of  the  202d 
Olympiad,  there  was  the  greatest  eclipse  of  the  sun  that  had  ever  been 
beheld.  About  the  sixth  hour  of  the  day,  it  produced  a  night  so  dark 
that  the  stars  in  the  heaven  were  visible,  and  it  was  attended  with  a  ter- 
rible earthquake."  M.  de  Cheseux,  Calmet,  and  others,  have  proved, 
by  their  judicious  observations,  that  the  fourth  year  of  the  202d  Olym- 
piad, mentioned  by  Phlegon,  was  exactly  the  eighteenth  year  of  the 
reign  of  Tiberius,  and  consequently  the  same  year  in  which  Jesus  Christ 
was  crucified. 

Those  who  wish  to  see  some  judicious  remarks  on  this  passage,  may 
consult  Mr.  Addison's  excellent  Treatise  on  the  Christian  Religion  ;  trans- 
lated by  M.  Seigne'ux  de  Corevon,  (vol.  i,  p.  82.)  This  learned  trans- 
lator  concludes,  that  Phlegon  used  the  word  eclipse  to  express  the  mira- 
culous darkness,  either  because  he  was  ignorant  of  the  real  sense  of  the 


OX  THE   CRUCIFIXION.  47 

word,  or  because  the  public,  who  are  ignorant  of  astronomy,  expressed 
themselves  thus  on  the  phenomenon  which  happened  in  Judea. 

"  Add  to  this,"  says  M.  Seigneux,  "  that  the  darkness  which  reigned 
in  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  during  three  of  the  most  luminous  hours, 
was  altogether  sufficiently  wonderful  to  strike  the  whole  world  with  asto- 
nishment, who  might  learn  the  truth  of  this  prodigy  from  thousands  of 
witnesses.  And  this  Phlegon  had  in  view,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
apologists  for  Christianity  have  cited  them  in  this  manner."  Tertullian 
tells  the  Pagans,  "  that  in  the  hour  when  Jesus  Christ  expired,  at  the 
time  when  the  sun  was  in  the  midst  of  his  career,  the  day  was  darken- 
ed :  this  fact  is  preserved  in  your  archives.  Dies,  medium  orbem  sig- 
nante  sole,  subducta  est,  <fyc.  Eum  mundi  casum  in  archivis  vestris 
habetis."    (Apolog.  Cap.  21.) 

"  This  prodigy,"  adds  the  learned  translator,  "  has  received  the  testi- 
monies of  two  other  celebrated  Pagan  authors  in  addition  to  that  of 
Phlegon ;  we  have  that  of  Thales,  (according  to  Euseb.  Chron.  Grcec. 
page  77,)  a  Greek  author  who  wrote  the  Syriac  History  in  the  first 
century  of  the  Church  ;  in  his  third  book  he  mentions  this  miraculous 
darkness. 

"  Julius  the  African,  the  most  ancient  historian  that  the  Christians 
have  had,  strengthens  the  proof  given  by  these  Pagan  authors.  He  was 
born  in  Palestine  :  he  lived  in  the  third  century.  His  work  is  lost,  save 
what  is  preserved  as  a  quotation  by  Eusebius  concerning  the  miracle  of 
which  we  speak,  and  the  proof  which  Julius  brought  to  establish  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  according  to  Phlegon's  evidence  and  that  of 
Thales.  To  this  may  be  added  what  Rufinus  says  in  his  ecclesiastical 
history  concerning  Lucian,  a  priest  and  martyr,  who  said  to  his  judges  :* 
Consulite  annates  vestros ;  invenietis  Pilati  temporibus,  dum  pateretur 
Christ  us,  media  die  fugatum  solem,  et  interruplum  diem." 

Finally,  as  God  could  shake  the  earth  without  forming  a  new  volcano, 
so  he  could  arrest  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  cause  a  sudden  darkness  with- 
out the  interposition  of  the  moon,  and  without  deranging  the  planets. 
Grotius,  and  some  other  apologists  for  the  Christian  religion,  endeavour 
to  render  this  miracle  more  extraordinary  than  is  needful,  and  thus  have 
unfortunately  given  to  some  philosophers  a  pretext  for  rejecting  it.  Ju- 
dicious persons,  like  M.  Seigneux,  hold  a  just  medium  between  incredu- 
lity which  rejects  the  best  attested  facts,  if  they  are  extraordinary,  and 
that  passion  for  the  marvellous  which  admits  false  miracles,  or  enlarges 
the  true  ones. 

Here  I  will  introduce  the  argument  by  which  Mr.  Ferguson  has 
proved  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Messiah  promised  by  the  prophets. 
Daniel,  in  his  prophecy,  chap,  ix,  25,  thus  expresses  himself:  "Know, 
therefore,  and  understand,  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment 
to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem,  unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be 
seven  weeks  and  threescore  and  two  weeks, — and  after  threescore  and 
two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself."  I  will  here 
give  an  extract  from  Mr.  Ferguson's  Analysis  of  Astronomy  and  Physics, 
concerning  this  prediction. 

*  Consult  your  annals,  and  ye  shall  find,  that  in  the  days  of  Pilate,  while  Christ 
was  suffering,  the  sun  withdrew  at  noon,  and  obscured  the  day  with  darkness 


48  CONVERSION  OF  MR.  FLETCHER. 

"  The  darkness  which  accompanied  the  crucifixion  of  our  Saviour 
could  not  be  occasioned  by  a  natural  and  regular  eclipse  of  the  sun  ;  for 
it  happened  during  the  feast  of  the  passover,  which  was  always  cele- 
brated at  the  full  moon,  at  a  time  when  the  earth  is  between  the  sun  and 
that  planet,  and  when  the  moon  cannot  pass  between  the  earth  and  the 
sun,  and,  by  consequence,  when  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  produce  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun. 

"  He  was  crucified  on  the  preparation  for  the  Jewish  Sabbath ;  and 
this  Sabbath  being  on  a  Saturday,  the  crucifixion  took  place  on  the 
Friday;  therefore  the  full  moon  of  the  passover  fell  this  year  on  the 
Friday. 

"  It  appears  from  astronomical  calculations,  that  from  the  twentieth  to 
the  fortieth  year  of  our  Saviour,  the  full  moon  never  fell  on  a  Friday  but 
once ;  and  this  happened  on  the  third  of  April,  in  the  thirty-third  year 
of  our  Saviour's  life,  computing  his  birth  according  to  the  common  era ; 
the  thirty-third  year  of  our  Saviour's  life  was  the  4746th  year  of  the 
Julian  era,  and  the  fourth  year  of  the  202d  Olympiad.  Phlegon,  a 
Pagan  author,  informs  us  that  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  202d  Olympiad, 
there  was  the  greatest  eclipse  of  the  sun  that  was  ever  beheld  ;  for  the 
day  was  so  completely  changed  into  night  that  the  stars  were  visible. 

"  The  canon  of  Ptolemy  fixes  the  year  4256  of  the  Julian  era,  for  the 
time  in  which  Artaxerxes  Longimanus  published  his  edict  for  Esdras  to 
rebuild  Jerusalem,  and  re-establish  the  Jews  in  their  own  country.  And 
according  to  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  Christ  was  to  suffer  death  seventy 
weeks  of  years,  or  490  years  after  this  command.  Add  490  years  to 
4256,  and  you  have  4746,  the  same  year  of  the  Julian  era  in  which  the 
death  of  Christ  took  place,  according  to  astronomical  calculations.  An 
event  supported  by  a  Pagan  author,  who  regarded  preternatural  dark- 
ness as  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  because  he  was  no  astronomer." 


THE   CONVERSION    OF   MR.  FLETCHER, 

RELATED  BY  HIMSELF, 
IN    A    LETTER    TO    HIS    BROTHER. 


At  eighteen  years  of  age  I  was  a  real  enthusiast ;  for  though  I  li\  ed 
in  the  indulgence  of  many  known  sins,  I  considered  myself  a  religious 
character,  because  I  regularly  attended  public  worship,  made  long 
prayers  in  private,  and  devoted  as  much  time  as  I  could  spare  from  my 
studies  to  reading  the  prophetic  writings  and  a  few  devotional  books. 
Mv  feelings  were  easily  excited,  but  my  heart  was  rarely  affected  ;  and, 
notwithstanding  these  deceitful  externals,  1  was  destitute  of  a  sincere 
love  to  God,  and  consequently  to  my  neighbour.     All  my  hopes  of  sal- 


CONVERSION  OF  MR.  FLETCHER.  49 

vation  rested  on  my  prayers,  devotions,  and  a  certain  habit  of  saying, 
''Lord,  I  am  a  great  sinner,  pardon  me  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ." 
[n  the  meantime  I  was  ignorant  of  the  fall  and  ruin  in  which  every  man 
is  involved,  the  necessity  of  a  Redeemer,  and  the  way  by  which  we  may 
be  rescued  from  the  fall  by  receiving  Christ  with  a  living  faith.  I  should 
have  been  quite  confounded  if  any  one  had  then  asked  me  the  following 
questions  taken  from  the  Holy  Scriptures : — Do  you  know  that  you  are 
dead  in  Adam  ?  Do  you  live  to  yourself?  Do  you  live  in  Christ  and  for 
Christ  ?  Does  God  rule  in  your  heart  ?  Do  you  experience  that  peace  of 
God  which  pas^eth  all  understanding  1  Is  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 
in  your  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  I  repeat  it,  my  dear  brother,  these 
questions  would  have  astonished  and  confounded  me,  as  they  must  every 
one  who  relies  on  the  form  of  religion,  and  neglects  its  power  and  influ- 
ence. Blessed  be  God,  who,  through  his  abundant  mercy  in  Jesus  Christ, 
did  not  then  call  away  my  soul,  when,  with  all  my  pretended  piety,  I  must 
have  had  my  portion  with  hypocrites,  those  clouds  without  water,  those 
corrupt,  unfruitful,  rootless  trees,  those  wandering  stars  for  whom  is 
reserved  the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever. 

My  religion,  alas !  having  a  different  foundation  to  that  which  is  in 
Christ,  was  built  merely  on  the  sand ;  and  no  sooner  did  the  winds  and 
floods  arise  tban  it  tottered  and  fell  to  ruins.  I  formed  an  acquaintance 
with  some  Deists,  at  first  with  the  design  of  converting  them,  and  after- 
ward with  pretence  of  thoroughly  examining  their  sentiments.  But  my 
heart,  like  that  of  Balaam,  was  not  right  with  God.  He  abandoned  me, 
and  I  enrolled  myself  in  their  party.  A  considerable  change  took  place 
in  my  external  deportment.  Before,  I  had  a  form  of  religion  ;  and  now 
I  lost  it.  But  as  to  the  state  of  my  heart,  it  was  precisely  the  same.  I 
did  not  remain  many  weeks  in  this  state ;  my  change  was  too  sudden  to 
be  permanent.  I  sought  for  a  reconciliation  with  my  Saviour  ;  or  rather 
the  good  Shepherd  sought  after  me,  a  wandering  sheep.  Again  I  be- 
came professedly  a  Christian,  that  is,  I  resumed  a  regular  attendance  at 
church  and  the  communion,  and  offered  up  frequent  prayers  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ.  There  were  also  in  my  heart  some  sparks  of  true  love 
to  God,  and  some  germs  of  genuine  faith  :  but  a  connection  with  worldly 
characters,  and  an  undue  anxiety  to  promote  my  secular  interests,  pre- 
vented the  growth  of  these  Christian  graces.  Had  I  now  been  asked  on 
what  I  founded  my  hopes  of  salvation,  I  should  have  replied,  that  I  was 
not  without  some  religion*!  that  so  far  from  doing  harm  to  any  one,  I 
wished  well  to  all  the  world ;  that  I  resisted  my  passions ;  that  I  ab- 
stained from  pleasures  in  which  I  had  once  heedlessly  indulged ;  and 
that  if  I  was  not  so  religious  as  some  others,  it  was  because  such  a  de- 
gree of  religion  was  unnecessary ;  that  heaven  might  be  obtained  on 
easier  terms ;  and  that  if  I  perished,  the  destruction  of  the  generality  of 
Christians  was  inevitable,  which  I  could  not  believe  was  consistent  with 
the  mercy  of  God. 

I  was  in  this  situation  when  a  dream,  in  which  I  am  constrained  to 
acknowledge  the  hand  of  God,  roused  me  from  my  security.  On  a  sud- 
den the  heavens  were  darkened,  the  clouds  rolled  along  in  terrific  majesty, 
and  a  thundering  voice,  like  a  trumpet,  which  penetrated  to  the  bowels 
of  the  earth,  exclaimed,  "Arise,  ye  dead,  and  come  out  of  your 
graves."     Instantly  the  earth  and  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  thev 

Vol.  IV.  4 


50  CONVERSION  OF  MR.  FLETCHER. 

contained ;  and  the  universe  was  crowded  with  living  people,  who  ap- 
peared to  come  out  of  their  graves  by  millions.  But  what  a  difference 
among  them  !  Some  convulsed  with  despair  endeavoured  in  vain  to  hide 
themselves  in  their  tombs  ;  and  cried  to  the  hills  to  fall  on  them,  and  the 
mountains  to  cover  them  from  the  face  of  their  holy  Judge  ;  while 
others  rose  with  seraphic  wings  above  the  earth,  which  had  been  the 
theatre  of  their  conflicts  and  their  victory.  Serenity  was  painted  on 
their  countenances,  joy  sparkled  in  their  eyes,  and  dignity  was  impressed 
on  every  feature ! 

My  astonishment  and  terror  were  redoubled,  when  I  perceived  myself 
raised  up  with  this  innumerable  multitude  into  the  vast  regions  of  the 
air,  from  whence  my  affrighted  eyes  beheld  this  globe  consumed  by 
flames,  the  heavens  on  fire,  and  the  dissolving  elements  ready  to  pass 
away.  But  what  did  I  feel  when  I  beheld  the  Son  of  man  coming  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  in  all  the  splendour  of  his  glory,  crowned  with  the 
charms  of  his  mercy,  and  surrounded  with  the  terrors  of  his  justice. 
Ten  thousand  thousands  went  before  him,  and  millions  pressed  upon  his 
footsteps.  All  nature  was  silent :  the  wicked  were  convicted  and  con- 
demned ;  and  the  sentence  was  pronounced  :  "  Bind  the  tares  and  the 
chaff,  and  cast  them  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone !"  In  an  instant 
the  air  gave  way  under  the  feet  of  those  who  surrounded  me  ;  a  yawn- 
ing gulf  received  them,  and  closed  itself  upon  them.  At  the  same  time, 
he  that  sat  upon  the  throne  exclaimed,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father, 
ye  have  suffered  with  me  ;  come  to  participate  in  my  glory ;  inherit  the 
kingdom  which  I  have  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  !"  "  Happy  children  of* God,"  I  cried,  "  you  are  exalted  in  triumph 
with  your  Redeemer ;  and  my  dazzled  eyes  will  soon  lose  sight  of  you 
in  the  blaze  of  light  which  surrounds  you.  Wretch  that  I  am !  What 
words,  what  language  can  express  the  horror  of  my  situation." 

A  fixed  and  severe  look  from  the  Judge  as  he  departed  pierced  me 'to 
the  heart ;  and  my  anguish  and  confusion  were  extreme,  when  a  brilliant 
personage  despatched  from  the  celestial  host  thus  addressed  me  :  "  Sloth- 
ful servant,"  he  exclaimed  in  a  stern  voice,  "  what  dost  thou  here  ?  Dost 
thou  presume  to  follow  the  Son  of  God,  whom  thou  hast  served  merely 
with  thy  lips,  while  thy  heart  was  far  from  him  ?  Show  me  the  seal  of 
thy  salvation,  and  the  earnest  of  thy  redemption  ;  examine  thy  heart,  and 
see  if  thou  canst  discover  there  a  real  love  to  God,  and  a  living  faith  in 
his  Son  ?  Ask  thy  conscience  what  were  the  motives  of  thy  pretended 
good  works  1  Dost  thou  not  see  that  pride  and  self  love  were  the  source 
of  them?  Dost  thou  not  see 'that  the  fear  of  hell,  rather  than  the  fear  of 
offending  God,  restrained  thee  from  sin  ?"  After  these  words  he  paused ; 
and,  regarding  me  with  a  compassionate  air,  seemed  to  await  my  reply. 
But  conviction  and  terror  closed  my  mouth,  and  he  thus  resumed  his 
discourse  :  "  Withhold  no  lofiger  from  God  the  glory  that  is  due  to  him. 
Turn  to  him  with  all  thy  heart,  and  become  a  new  creature.  Watch 
and  pray,  was  the  command  of  the  Son  of  God  :  but  instead  of  having 
done  this  by  working  out  thy  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  thou  hast 
slept  the  sleep  of  security.  At  this  very  moment  dost  thou  not  sleep  in 
that  state  of  lethargy  and  spiritual  death,  from  which  the  word  of  God, 
the  exhortations  of  his  servants,  and  the  strivings  of  his  grace,  have  not 
been  sufficient  to  deliver  thee  ?  My  words  will  also  probably  be  ineffect- 


CONVERSION  OF  ME.  FLETCHEE.  51 

ual ;  for  he  who  has  not  listened  to  Jesus  Christ  speaking  in  the  Gospel, 
will  net  be  likely  to  listen  to  an  angel  of  the  living  God.  Beside,  time 
is  swallowed  up  in  eternity.  There  is  no  more  place  for  repentance. 
Thou  hast  obstinately  refused  to  glorify  God's  mercy  in  Christ  Jesus : 
go  then,  slothful  servant,  and  glorify  his  justice." 

Having  uttered  these  words,  he  disappeared;  and  at  the  same  instant 
the  air  gave  way  under  my  feet,  the  abyss  began  to  open,  dreadful  wait- 
ings assailed  my  ears,  and  a  whirlwind  of  smoke  surrounded  me.  I 
considered  myself  on  the  brink  of  inevitable  and  eternal  misery, 
when  the  agitation  of  my  mind  and  body  awoke  me,  of  which  nothing 
can  equal  the  horror  ;  and  the  mere  recollection  of  which  still  makes  me 
tremble.  O  how  happy  I  felt  on  awaking,  to  find  that  I  was  still  in  the 
land  of  mercy,  and  the  day  of  salvation  !  "  O  my  God,"  I  cried,  "grant 
that  this  dream  may  continually  influence  my  sentiments  and  my  con- 
duct !  May  it  prove  a  powerful  stimulus  to  excite  me  to  prepare  con- 
tinually for  the  coming  of  my  great  Master!" 

For  some  days  I  was  so  dejected  and  harassed  in  mind  as  to  be  unable 
to  apply  myself  to  any  thing.  While  in  this  state  I  attempted  to  copy 
some  music,  when  a  servant  (an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  was  no 
guile)  entered  my  chamber.  Having  noticed  my  employment,  "  I  am 
surprised,  sir,"  said  he,  with  a  Christian  boldness,  "  that  you  who  know 
so  many  things  should  forget  what  day  this  is,  and  that  you  should  not 
be  aware  that  the  Lord's  day  should  be  sanctified  in  a  very  different 
manner." 

The  sterling  character  of  the  man,  his  deep  humility,  his  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God,  his  love  to  his  neighbours,  and  especially  his  patience, 
which  enabled  him  to  receive  with  joy  the  insults  he  met  with  from  the 
whole  family  for  Christ's  sake,  and  above  all  the  secret  energy  which 
accompanied  his  words,  deeply  affected  me,  and  convinced  me  more 
than  ever  of  my  real  state.  I  was  convinced,  as  it  had  been  told  me  in 
my  dream,  that  I  was  not  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  my  mind,  that  I  was 
not  conformed  to  the  image  of  God,  and  that  without  this  the  death  of 
Christ  would  be  of  no  avail  for  my  salvation. 

In  a  subsequent  letter  to  his  brother  he  gives  a  farther  account  of  this 
change  of  heart : — I  speak  from  experience.  I  have  been  successively 
deluded  by  all  those  desires,  which  I  here  so  sincerely  reprobate  ;  and 
sometimes  I  have  been  the  sport  of  them  all  at  once.  This  will  appear 
incredible,  except  to  those  who  have  discovered  that  the  heart  of  unre- 
generate  man  is  nothing  more  than  a  chaos  of  obscurity,  and  a  mass  of 
contradictions.  If  you  have  any  acquaintance  with  yourself,  you  will 
readily  subscribe  to  this  description  of  the  human  heart  :  and  if  you  are 
without  this  acquaintance,  then  rest  assured,  my  dear  brother,  that 
whatever  your  pursuit  may  be,  you  are  as  far  from  true  happiness  as  the 
most  wretched  of  men.  The  meteor  you  are  following  still  flies  before 
you  ;  frequently  it  disappears,  and  never  shows  itself  but  to  allure  you 
to  the  brink  of  some  unlooked-for  precipice. 

Every  unconverted  man  must  necessarily  come  under  one  or  other  ot 
the  following  descriptions  : — He  is  either  a  voluptuary,  a  worldly-minded 
person,  or  a  Pharisaical  philosopher  :  or,  perhaps,  like  myself,  he  may 
be  all  of  these  at  the  same  time  :  and  what  is  still  more  extraordinary, 
he  may  be  so  not  only  without  believing,  but  even  without  once  su.s- 


52  CONVERSION  OF  MR.  FLETCHER. 

pecting  it.  Indeed,  nothing  is  more  common  among  men  than  an  entire 
blindness  to  their  own  real  characters.  How  long  have  I  placed  my 
happiness  in  mere  chimeras !  How  often  have  I  grounded  my  vain 
hopes  upon  imaginary  foundations !  I  have  been  constantly  employed 
in  framing  designs  for  my  own  felicity  :  but  my  disappointments  have 
been  as  frequent  and  various  as  my  objects.  In  the  midst  of  my  idle 
reveries,  how  often  have  I  said  to  myself,  "  Drag  thy  weary  feet  but  to 
the  summit  of  yonder  eminence,  a  situation  beyond  which  the  world  has 
nothing  to  present  more  adequate  to  thy  wishes,  and  there  thou  shalt 
sit  down  in  a  state  of  repose."  On  my  arrival,  however,  at  the  spot 
proposed,  a  sad  discovery  has  taken  place :  the  whole  scene  has 
appeared  more  barren  than  the  valley  I  had  quitted ;  and  the  point  of 
happiness,  which  I  lately  imagined  it  possible  to  have  touched  with  my 
finger,  has  presented  itself  at  a  greater  distance  than  ever. 

"  If  hitherto,  my  dear  brother,  you  have  beguiled  yourself  with  pros- 
pects  of  the  same  visionary  nature,  never  expect  to  be  more  successful 
in  your  future  pursuits.  One  labour  will  only  succeed  another,  making 
way  for  continual  discontent  and  chagrin.  Open  your  heart,  and  there  you 
will  discover  the  source  of  that  painful  inquietude,  to  which,  by  your  own 
confession,  you  have  been  long  a  prey.  Examine  its  secret  recesses, 
and  you  will  discover  there  sufficient  proofs  of  the  following  truths  : — 
"  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked.  All 
have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  The  thoughts  of  man's 
heart  are  only  evil,  and  that  continually.  The  natural  man  understand- 
eth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God."  On  the  discovery  of  these,  and 
other  important  truths,  you  will  be  convinced  that  man  is  an  apostate 
being,  composed  of  a  sensual,  rebellious  body,  and  a  soul  immersed  in 
pride,  self  love,  and  ignorance  :  nay,  more,  you  will  perceive  it  a  physi- 
cal impossibility  that  man  should  ever  become  truly  happy,  till  he  is 
cast,  as  it  were,  into  a  new  mould,  and  created  a  second  time. 

For  my  own  part,  when  I  first  began  to  know  myself,  I  saw,  I  felt  that 
man  is  an  undefinable  animal,  partly  of  a  bestial,  and  partly  of  an  infer- 
nal nature.  This  discovery  shocked  my  self  love,  and  filled  me  with 
the  utmost  horror.  I  endeavoured,  for  some  time,  to  throw  a  palliating 
disguise  over  the  wretchedness  of  my  condition ;  but  the  impression  it 
had  already  made  upon  my  heart  was  too  deep  to  be  erased.  It  was  to 
no  purpose  that  I  reminded  myself  of  the  morality  of  my  conduct.  It 
was  in  vain  that  I  recollected  the  many  encomiums  that  had  been  pass- 
ed upon  my  early  piety  and  virtue.  And  it  was  to  little  avail  that  I 
sought  to  cast  a  mist  before  my  eyes,  by  reasonings  like  these :  if  Con- 
version implies  a  total  change,  who  has  been  converted  in  these  days  ? 
Why  dost  thou  imagine  thyself  worse  than  thou  really  art  ?  Thou  art 
a  believer  in  God,  and  in  Christ :  thou  art  a  Christian  :  thou  hast  injured 
no  person :  thou  art  neither  a  drunkard  nor  an  adulterer :  thou  hast 
discharged  thy  duties  not  only  in  a  general  way,  but  with  more  than 
ordinary  exactness  :  thou  art  a  strict  attendant  at  church  :  thou  art 
accustomed  to  pray  more  regularly  than  others,  and  frequently  with  a 
good  degree  of  fervour.  Make  thyself  perfectly  easy.  Moreover,  Jesus 
Christ  has  suffered  for  thy  sins,  and  his  merit  will  supply  every  thing 
that  is  lacking  on  thy  part. 

It  was  by  reasonings  of  this  nature  that  I  endeavoured  to  conceaJ 


CONVERSION  OF  MR.  FLETCHER.  53 

from  myself  the  deplorable  state  of  my  heart ;  and  I  am  ashamed,  my 
dear  brother ,  I  repeat  it,  I  am  ashamed  that  I  suffered  myself  so  long 
to  be  deluded  by  the  artifices  of  Satan,  and  the  devices  of  my  own  heart. 
God  himself  has  invited  me ;  a  cloud  of  apostles,  prophets,  and  martyrs 
have  exhorted  me ;  and  my  conscience,  animated  by  these  sparks  of 
grace  which  are  latent  in  every  breast,  has  urged  me  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  this,  a  subtle  tempter,  a  deluding 
world,  and  a  deceived  heart,  have  constantly  turned  the  balance,  for 
above  these  twenty  years,  in  favour  of  the  broad  way.  I  have  passed 
the  most  lovely  part  of  my  life  in  the  service  of  these  tyrannical  mas- 
ters, and  am  ready  to  declare,  in  the  face  of  the  universe,  that  all  my 
reward  has  consisted  in  disquietude  and  remorse.  Happy  had  I  been, 
if  I  had  listened  to  the  earliest  invitations  of  grace,  and  broken  their  iron 
yoke  from  off  my  neck  ' 


A  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON 

DESCRIBED  AND  IMPROVED: 


A    PARTICULAR    ACCOUNT    OP    THE     SUDDEN     STOPPAGE    OP    THE    RIVER 
SEVERN,    AND     OP    THE    TERRIBLE    DESOLATION    THAT    HAP- 
PENED   AT    THE    BIRCHES,    BETWEEN    COLEBROOK 
DALE    AND    BUILDWAS    BRIDGE, 


IN  SHKOPSHIRE,  ON  THURSDAY  MORNING,  MAY  27,  1773 ; 


SUBSTANCE  OF  A  SERMON  PREACHED  THE  NEXT  DAY  ON  THE  RUINS,  TO  A  VAST 
CONCOURSE  OP  SPECTATORS. 


By  REV.  JOHN  FLETCHER. 


0  come,  and  behold  the  works  of  the  Lord :  what  desolations  he  hath  made  in  the  earth. — 

Psalm  xlvi,  8. 


A  PARTICULAR  ACCOUNT 


DREADFUL    PHENOMENON 


WHICH    GAVE    OCCASION 


TO  THE  FOLLOWING  DISCOURSE. 


Hearing,  on  Thursday,  May  27,  1773,  that  a  place  called  the 
Birches,  (probably  from  some  remarkable  birch  trees,  which  formerly 
grew  there,)  many  acres  of  land,  which  a  gentleman  of  my  parish  holds 
on  the  borders  of  Buildwas  parish,  had  that  morning,  about  four  o'clock, 
suffered  strange  revolutions,  as  well  as  the  river  Severn  ;  I  went  to  see 
if  there  was  any  foundation  for  so  extraordinary  a  report. 

When  I  came  to  the  spot,  the  first  thing  that  struck  me  was  the  de- 
struction of  the  little  bridge  that  separated  the  parish  of  Madeley  from 
that  of  Buildwas,  and  the  total  disappearing  of  the  turnpike  road  to 
Buildwas  bridge  ;  instead  of  which  nothing  presented  itself  to  my  view 
but  a  confused  heap  of  bushes,  and  huge  clods  of  earth,  tumbled  one 
over  another.  The  river  also  wore  a  different  aspect :  it  was  shallow, 
turbid,  noisy,  boisterous,  and  came  down  from  a  different  point.  Whether* 
I  considered  the  water  or  the  land,  the  scene  appeared  to  me  entirely 
new,  and  as  I  could  not  fancy  myself  in  another  part  of  the  country,  I 
concluded  that  the  God  of  nature  had  shaken  his  providential  iron  rod 
over  the  subverted  spot  before  me. 

Following  a  tract  made  by  a  great  number  of  spectators,  who  came 
already  from  the  neighbouring  parishes,  I  climbed  over  the  ruins,  and 
came  to  a  field  well  grown  with  rye  grass,  where  the  ground  was  deeply 
cracked  in  several  places ;  and  where  large  turfs,  some  entirely,  others 
half  turned  up,  exhibited  the  appearance  of  straight  or  crooked  furrows 
imperfectly  formed  by  a  plough  drawn  at  a  venture. 

Getting  from  that  field  over  the  hedge,  into  a  part  of  the  road  which 
was  yet  visible,  I  found  it  raised  in  one  place,  sunk  in  another,  concave 
in  a  third,  hanging  on  one  side  in  a  fourth,  and  contracted,  as  if  some 
uncommon  force  had  pressed  the  two  hedges  together.  But  the  higher 
part  of  it  surprised  me  most,  and  brought  directly  to  my  remembrance 
those  places  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  where  the  solid,  stony  lava  has  been 
strongly  worked  by  repeated  earthquakes ;  for  the  hard  beaten  gravel, 
that  formed  the  surface  of  the  road,  was  broken  every  way  into  huge 
masses,  partly  detached  from  each  other,  with  deep  apertures  between 
*them,  exactly  like  the  shattered  lava.  This  striking  likeness  of  circum- 
stances made  me  conclude,  that  the  similar  effect  might  proceed  from 


58  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES. 

the  same  cause,  namely,  a  strong  convulsion  in  the  surface,  if  not  in  the 
bowels  oi^  the  earth. 

Going  a  little  farther  toward  Buildwas,  I  found  that  the  road  was 
again  totally  lost  for  a  considerable  space ;  having  been  overturned, 
absorbed,  or  tumbled,  with  the  hedges  that  bounded  it,  to  a  considerable 
distance  toward  the  river.  This  part  of  the  desolation  appeared  then  to 
me  inexpressibly  dreadful. 

Between  the  road  and  the  river  there  was  a  large  field  of  promising 
oats,  running  in  length  parallel  to  both.  I  got  into  it  over  a  stile  that 
had  been  shocked  out  of  its  proper  position.  Wonderful  and  unaccount- 
able are  the  revolutions  which  that  piece  of  ground  had  suffered.  It 
was  not  flat,  but  diversified  in  its  surface  by  some  gradual  falls  and 
eminences ;  and  now  I  found  it  had  been  tossed  in  so  strange  a  manner, 
that  the  old  mounts  had  sunk  into  hollows,  and  the  hollows  were  raised 
into  mounts,  one  of  which  is  eight  or  nine  yards  higher  than  the  road. 

This  is  not  all ;  this  field  is  rent  throughout,  like  the  shattered  part  of 
the  road  ;  with  this  difference,  that  the  misshapen  masses  into  which  it  is 
torn,  are  in  general  larger,  and  the  apertures  between  them  deeper  than 
those  of  the  road.  Some  of  these  enormous  lumps  were  so  detached 
from  the  rest,  as  to  totter  under  the  weight  of  the  spectators,  when  they 
jumped  from  one  to  the  other,  which  made  several  persons  afraid  to 
venture  upon  the  desultory  walk ;  nor  indeed  without  reason,  for  had 
they  slided  into  some  of  the  apertures,  they  might  have  gone  in  many 
feet,  and  remained  wedged  in  between  two  ruinous  lumps  of  earth. 

Between  that  shattered  field  and  the  river  there  was  that  morning  a 
bank,  on  which,  beside  a  great  deal  of  underwood,  grew  twenty  fine  large 
oaks.  This  wood  shot  with  such  violence  into  the  Severn  before  it,  that 
it  forced  the  water  in  great  columns  a  considerable  height,  like  mighty 
fountains,  and  gave  the  overflowing  river  a  retrograde  motion. 
§  This  is  not  the  only  accident  that  happened  to  the  Severn ;  for  near 
the  grove,  the  channel,  which  was  chiefly  of  a  soft  blue  rock,  burst  in 
ten  thousand  pieces,  and  rose  perpendicularly  about  ten  yards,  heaving 
up  an  immense  quantity  of  water,  and  the  shoals  of  fishes  that  were 
therein.  Among  the  rubbish  at  the  bottom  of  the  river,  which  was  very 
deep  in  that  place,  there  were  one  or  two  huge  stones,  and  a  large  piece 
of  timber,  or  an  oak  tree,  which  from  time  immemorial  had  lain  p'artly 
in  the  mud,  I  suppose  in  consequence  of  some  flood.  The  stones  and 
the  tree  were  thrown  up,  as  if  they  had  only  been  a  pebble  and  a  stick, 
and  are  now  at  some  distance  from  the  river,  many  feet  higher  than  the 
surface  of  it. 

Ascending  from  the  ruins  of  the  road,  I  came  to  those  of  a  barn, 
which,  after  travelling  many  yards  toward  the  river,  had  been  absorbed 
in  a  chasm,  where  the  shattered  roof  was  yet  visible.  Next  to  these 
remains  of  the  barn,  and  partly  parallel  to  the  river  was  a  long  hedge, 
which  had  been  torn  from  a  part  of  it  yet  adjoining  to  the  garden  hedge, 
and  had  been  removed  above  forty  yards  downward,  together  with  some 
large  trees  that  were  in  it  and  the  land  that  it  enclosed. 

The  tossing,  tearing,  and  shifting  of  so  many  acres  of  land  below, 
was  attended  with  the  formation  of  stupendous  chasms  above.  One  that 
struck  me  much,  ran  perpendicular  to  the  river.  Around  it,  as  around 
a  grave  at  a  burial,  stood,  the  day  after,  the  numerous  congregation  to 


DREADFUL   PHENOMENON  AT  THE   BIRCHES.  59 

which  the  substance  of  the  following  sermon  was  preached ;  except 
about  two  hundred  hearers,  who  descended  into  it  to  be  out  of  the  crowd, 
and  made  me  fear,  lest  the  abrupt  sides,  pressed  by  the  surrounding  mul- 
titude, should  give  way  and  bury  some  of  them  alive  ;  but  the  ground 
happily  stood  firm  as  a  rock. 

At  some  distance  above,  near  the  wood  which  crowns  the  desolated 
spot,  another  chasm,  or  rather  a  complication  of  chasms,  excited  my 
admiration.  It  is  an  assemblage  of  chasms,  one  of  which,  that  seems  to 
terminate  the  desolation  on  the  north-east,  runs  some  hundred  yards  to- 
ward the  river  and  Madeley  Wood ;  it  looked  like  the  deep  channel  of 
some  great  serpentine  river  dried  up,  whose  little  islands,  fords,  and 
hollows,  appear  without  a  watery  veil. 

This  long  chasm  at  the  top  seems  to  be  made  up  of  two  or  three  that 
run  into  each  other.  And  their  conjunction,  when  it  is  viewed  from  a 
particular  point,  exhibits  the  appearance  of  a  ruined  fortress,  whose 
ramparts  have  been  blown  up  by  mines  that  have  done  dreadful  execu- 
tion, and  yet  have  spared  here  and  there  a  pyramid  of  earth,  or  a  shat- 
tered tower,  by  which  the  spectators  can  judge  of  the  nature  and  solidity 
of  the  demolished  bulwark. 

The  strangeness  of  this,  and  some  other  parts  of  the  prospect,  vanishes 
daily  ;  for  many  thousands  of  people,  by  walking  again  and  again  over 
the  ruins,  have  trampled  in  and  partly  closed  numbers  of  the  small  aper- 
tures that  at  first  were  several  feet  deep ;  and  by  climbing  up  the 
accessible  places  of  the  larger  chasms,  and  ransacking  them  in  search 
of  fossils,  they  have  caused  the  loosed  earth  and  stones  to  come  down. 
Add  to  this  that  the  brittle  stone,  which  in  a  great  measure  forms  that 
stratum  of  earth,  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  dissolve  into  a  kind  of  infer- 
tile marl,  when  it  is  exposed  to  the  open  air.  This,  together  with  the 
natural  crumbling  of  the  pyramids,  has  already  rendered  the  chasms  in 
some  places  considerably  less  deep  than  they  were  at  first. 

Fortunately  there  was  on  that  spot  but  one  house,  inhabited  by  two 
poor  countrymen  and  their  families.  It  stands  yet,  though  it  has  removed 
about  a  yard  from  its  former  situation.  The  morning  in  which  the  deso- 
lation happened,  Samuel  Wilcocks,  one  of  the  countrymen,  got  up  about 
four  o'clock,  and  opening  the  window  to  see  if  the  weather  was  fair,  he 
took  notice  of  a  small  crack  in  the  earth,  about  four  or  five  inches  wide ; 
and  observed  the  above-mentioned  field  of  oats,  heaving  up  and  rolling 
about  like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  The  trees,  by  the  motion  of  the  ground, 
waved  all  as  if  they  had  been  blown  with  the  wind,  though  the  air  was 
calm  and  serene.  And  the  river  Severn,  which  for  some  days  had  over- 
flowed its  banks,  was  very  much  agitated,  and  seemed  to  run  back  to  its 
source.  The  man  being  astonished  at  such  a  sight,  rubbed  his  eyes, 
supposing  himself  not  quite  awake  ;  but  being  soon  convinced  that  de- 
struction stalked  about,  he  alarmed  his  wife,  and  taking  their  children  in 
their  arms,  they  went  out  of  the  house  as  fast  as  they  could,  accompa- 
nied by  the  other  man  and  his  wife.  A  kind  Providence  directed  their 
flight ;  for  instead  of  running  eastward  across  the  fields  that  were  just 
going  to  be  overthrown,  they  fled  westward,  into  a  wood  that  had  little 
%share  in  the  desolation. 

When  they  were  about  twenty  yards  from  the  house,  they  perceived 
a  great  crack  run  very  quick  up  the  ground  from  the  river.    Immediately 


60  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES. 

the  land  behind  them,  with  the  trees  and  hedges,  moved  toward  the 
Severn,  with  great  swiftness  and  uncommon  noise,  which  Samuel  Wil- 
cocks  compared  to  a  large  flock  of  sheep  running  swiftly  by  him. 

It  was  then  chiefly  that  desolation  expanded  her  wings  over  the  de- 
voted spot,  and  the  Birches  saw  a  momentary  representation  of  a  partial 
chaos ; — then  nature  seemed  to  have  forgotten  her  laws  ; — the  opening 
earth  swallowed  a  gliding  barn ; — trees  commenced  itinerant ;  those  that 
were  at  a  distance  from  the  river,  advanced  toward  it,  while  the  sub- 
merged oak  broke  out  of  its  watery  confinement,  and  by  rising  many 
feet  recovered  a  place  on  dry  land ; — the  solid  road  was  swept  away, 
as  its  dust  had  been  in  a  stormy  day  ; — then  probably  the  rocky  bottom 
of  the  Severn  emerged,  pushing  toward  heaven  astonishing  shoals  of 
fishes,  and  hogsheads  of  water  innumerable ; — the  wood,  like  an  em- 
battled body  of  vegetable  combatants,  stormed  the  bed  of  the  overflowing 
river ;  and  triumphantly  waved  its  green  colours  over  the  recoiling  flood ; 
— fields  became  movables  ;  nay,  they  fled  when  none  pursued  :  and  as 
they  fled,  they  rent  the  green  carpets  that  covered  them  in  a  thousand 
pieces.  In  a  word,  dry  land  exhibited  the  dreadful  appearance  of  a  sea 
storm !  Solid  earth,  as  if  it  had  acquired  the  fluidity  of  water,  tossed 
itself  into  massy  waves,  which  rose  or  sunk  at  the  beck  of  Him  who 
raised  the  tempest.  And,  what  is  most  astonishing,  the  stupendous  hol- 
low of  one  of  those  waves,  ran  for  near  a  quarter  of  a  mile  through 
rocks  and  a  stony  soil,  with  as  much  ease  as  if  dry  earth,  stones,  and 
rocks,  had  been  a  part  of  the  liquid  element. 

Some  hours  after  the  desolation  had  happened,  I  met  S.  Wilcocks 
on  the  ruins,  and  asked  him  many  questions,  to  which  he  returned  very 
few  satisfactory  answers,  ingenuously  acknowledging  he  was  so  terrified, 
and  so  intent  upon  securing  himself  and  his  family,  that  he  could  not 
make  any  observations.  He  seemed  then  persuaded  that  the  overthrow 
was  caused  by  an  earthquake,  protesting  before  several  witnesses,  that  a 
shock  of  one  had  been  felt  in  the  house  two  nights  before :  and  if  he 
denies  it  now,  his  testimony  is  inconsistent,  and  consequently  not  worthy 
to  be  depended  upon. 

Soon  after  the  river  was  stopped,  Samuel  Cookson,  a  farmer,  who 
lives  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  below  the  Birches,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  river,  was  much  terrified  by  a  gust  of  wind  that  beat  against  his  win- 
dow, as  if  shot  had  been  thrown  against  it :  but  his  fright  greatly  increased 
when,  getting  up  to  see  if  the  flood,  that  was  over  his  ground,  had  abated, 
he  perceived  that  all  the  water  was  gone  from  his  fields,  and  that  scarce 
any  remained  in  the  Severn.  He  called  up  his  family  ;  ran  to  the  river ; 
and  finding  that  it  was  dammed  up,  he  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  alarm 
the  inhabitants  of  Buildwas,  the  next  village  above,  which  he  supposed 
would  soon  be  under  water. 

He  was  happily  mistaken.  Providence  just  prepared  a  way  for  their 
escape.  The  Severn,  notwithstanding  a  considerable  flood,  which  at 
that  time  rendered  it  doubly  rapid  and  powerful,  having  met  with  two 
dreadful  shocks,  the  one  from  her  rising  bed,  and  the  other  from  the 
intruding  wood,  could  do  nothing  but  foam  and  turn  back  with  impetu- 
osity. The  ascending  and  descending  streams  conflicted  some  time* 
about  Buildwas  bridge.  The  river  sensibly  rose  for  some  miles  back, 
and  continued  rising  till,  just  as  it  was  near  entering  into  the  houses  at 


DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES.  61 

Buildwas,  it  got  vent  through  the  fields  on  the  right ;  and  after  spreading 
far  and  near  over  them,  collected  all  its  might  to  assault  its  powerful 
aggressor,  I  mean  the  grove,  that  had  so  unexpectedly  turned  it  out  of 
the  bed  which  it  had  enjoyed  for  countless  ages.  Sharp  was  the  attack, 
but  the  resistance  was  yet  more  vigorous ;  and  the  Severn,  repelled 
again  and  again,  was  obliged  to  seek  its  old  empty  bed,  by  going  the 
shortest  way  to  the  right ;  and  the  moment  it  found  it  again,  it  precipi- 
tated therein  with  a  dreadful  roar,  and  for  a  time  formed  a  considerable 
cataract :  then  with  inconceivable  fury  (as  if  it  wanted  to  be  revenged 
on  the  first  thing  that  came  in  its  way)  it  began  to  tear  and  wash  away 
a  fine  rich  meadow  opposite  to  the  grove ;  and  there,  in  a  few  hours, 
worked  itself  a  new  channel  about  three  hundred  yards  long,  through 
which  a  barge  from  Shrewsbury  ventured  three  or  four  days  after. 

Although  the  old  English  oaks  and  the  travelling  wood  got  the  day,  it 
was  not  without  considerable  loss  ;  for  some  of  the  trees,  which  stood  in 
the  first  rank,  were  so  undermined  by  the  impetuous  onsets  of  the  Severn, 
that  they  fell  across  the  stream.  But  the  others  stood  their  ground  in 
the  very  middle  of  the  old  channel,  and  flourished  as  if  they  had  been 
in  their  native  place,  till  the  proprietor  ordered  them  to  be  cut  down  and 
barked. 

While  the  underwood  still  grows  there  in  peace,  (such  is  the  vicissi- 
tude of  sublunary  things  !)  an  unfortunate  tree,  that  grew  secure  at  a 
considerable  distance  from  the  shore  in  the  opposite  meadow,  is  now  ex- 
actly in  the  middle  of  the  river,  where  it  leans  downward,  with  the  earth 
washed  from  its  roots,  ready  to  be  carried  away  by  the  first  flood. 

But  let  us  see  what  passed  down  the  river.  When  its  course  was 
obstructed,  the  fall  below  was  as  quick  as  the  flood  above.  Although 
the  flooded  fields  refunded  their  waters  into  the  Severn,  it  fell  near  two 
yards.  This  draining  of  the  overflowed  meadows  was  so  sudden,  that 
many  fishes  which  sported  over  them  had  not  time  to  retire  into  the  bed 
of  the  river,  and  were  caught  on  dry  land  ;  as  were  also  several  eels, 
that  worked  themselves  from  the  obstructed  channel,  through  the  cracks 
in  the  new-planted  grove ;  or  more  probably  crept  out  of  the  roots  and 
rubbish  that  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  river  when  it  was  forced  up. 

How  fatal  was  that  day  to  the  finny  tribes,  that  securely  wantoned  in 
their  enlarged  province !  What  a  striking  emblem  did  they  afford  us  of 
the  sudden  destruction  which  will  one  day  overtake  the  shoals  of  im- 
penitent sinners,  who  swim  with  the  tide  of  sinful  customs,  frisk  about  in 
the  stream  of  worldly  vanity,  or  are  immersed  in  the  dregs  of  sensual 
pleasure !  Those  fishes  that  had  got  out  of  the  river  were  left  panting 
on  the  grass  :  while  those  that  remained  in  the  rocky  bed  of  the  river 
were  buried  in  its  ruins ;  and  if  any  escaped  that  danger  it  was  only  to 
meet  a  greater — to  be  caught  in  such  a  net  as  had  never  been  drawn 
over  them  before,  an  earthen  and  wooden  texture,  made  with  the  spread- 
ing roots  of  twenty  large  oaks. 

While  some  of  the  spectators  picked  up  eels  and  fishes  on  dry  ground, 
others  of  a  different  taste  looked  for  curious  fossils  among  the  ruins  of 
the  rock,  which  in  the  morning  formed  the  channel  of  the  Severn ;  and 
a  great  many  were  found  bearing  the  impression  of  a  flying  insect,  not 
unlike  the  butterfly  into  which  silk  worms  are  changed.  Some  of  the 
most  perfect  might  be  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  British  museum,  where 


G2  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES. 

they  would  be  a  curious  monument  of  the  phenomenon  that  brought  them 
to  light. 

Although  the  astonished  watermen  were  as  busy  in  securing  their 
vessels  as  the  frightful  fishes  in  securing  themselves,  the  endeavours  of 
some  were  as  ineffectual ;  a  few  of  their  barges  having  overset  below  : 
for  when  the  river,  which  they  had  so  often  cursed,  was  dammed  up,  some 
of  their  loaded  vessels,  being  suddenly  deserted  by  the  water,  were  left 
leaning  upon  one  side  of  the  muddy  slope  of  the  shore  ;  and  the  stream, 
at  its  quick  return,  finding  them  in  that  unfavorable  position,  entered  into 
and  sunk  them. 

In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  desolation  was  begun  and  com- 
pleted.  The  quantity  of  ground  that  is  damaged,  cracked,  removed,  or 
turned  into  chasms  and  heaps  of  ruins,  is  eight  fields,  which  were  at  first 
supposed  to  contain  about  thirty  acres,  but  measure  only  eighteen  and  a 
quarter,  the  property  of  the  same  gentleman  ;  who  has  also  sustained  a 
considerable  loss  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  by  the  ground  that  has 
been  washed  away,  which  being  taken  into  the  account,  together  with  the 
river,  makes  in  all  twenty-two  acres  and  a  quarter. 

But  much  more  land  has  probably  been  stirred  :  for  some  of  the  specta- 
tors, seeking  a  shorter  way  home  through  a  wood  in  Madeley  parish, 
which  bounds  the  desolated  spot  north-east,  found,  four  or  five  hundred 
yards  above  the  highest  chasm,  a  long  abrupt  cut,  which  runs  partly 
parallel  to  the  river,  by  which  it  is  evident  that  the  wood  has  sunk  down- 
ward near  a  yard  ;  and  that  a  quantity  of  ground,  double  of  what  was  at 
first  apprehended,  has  been  affected  by  the  general  convulsion. 

As  I  suppose  the  curious  reader  will  be  glad  to  have  a  more  particular 
account  of  the  chasms,  &c,  than  I  can  give  him  upon  a  bare  inspection, 
I  have  prevailed  upon  a  friend  to  take  the  following  measures : — 

"  The  great  chasm  next  to  Madeley  parish  begins  just  under  a  wood, 
at  the  top  of  the  overthrow;  and  runs  toward  the  river  from  north  to 
south-east.  The  length  of  it  is  three  hundred  and  ninety-six  yards.  Its 
breadth  and  depth  are  unequal.  The  greatest  breadth  is  forty-two  yards, 
and  the  greatest  depth  ten.  It  contains  several  pyramids  or  towers.  The 
only  complete  one  is  about  five  feet  diameter  at  the  top,  where  the  grass 
continues  fresh. 

"  From  that  long  chasm  another,  which  may  be  called  a  cross  chasm, 
runs  out  at  the  top  westward.  In  one  part,  it  is  fifty-four  yards  long, 
and  fourteen  wide.  Near  seventeen  yards  of  the  length  are  about  thir- 
teen yards  deep. 

"  A  second  cross  chasm  connected  with  the  preceding,  and  running 
also  from  east  to  west,  is  ninety-four  yards  long,  and  in  one  place  thirty- 
eight  broad  and  eight  deep.  Four  remarkable  pyramids,  eminences,  or 
towers,  remain  in  this  chasm ;  one,  covered  with  grass,  is  about  four  feet 
diameter  on  the  top ;  another  is  only  one  ploughed  furrow,  wide  at  the 
top,  about  four  feet  long  :  the  others  are  not  complete. 

"  A  third  cross  chasm,  next  to  the  dwelling  house,  runs  likewise  from 
east  to  west.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  long.  The  widest 
part,  opposite  to  the  place  where  the  barn  stood,  is  twenty-eight  yards. 
That  building  advanced  thirty-five  yards  in  this  chasm  toward  the  river, 
before  it  was  swallowed  up. 

"  From  the  middle  of  this  chasm,  another  runs  out  toward  the  river 


DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES.  63 

from  north  to  south,  and  forms  the  gigantic  grave,  around  which  the  ser- 
mon was  preached.  It  is  forty  yards  long,  twenty-two  wide,  and  nine 
deep,  taking  the  greatest  depth,  which  gradually  decreases  southward, 
where  the  whole  terminates  in  a  point. 

"All  these  cross  chasms  would  make  one  uninterrupted  vacancy,  like 
that  of  a  large  quarry  or  marl  pit,  were  it  not  for  the  above-mentioned 
pyramids  and  towers,  and  for  two  smaller  and  two  larger  spots  of  land, 
which  not  only  stood  their  ground  when  all  around  them  gave  way, 'but 
are  supposed  to  have  risen  perpendicularly  some  feet.  If  the  vacuum 
were  filled  with  water,  they  would  exhibit  the  appearance  of  four  islands 
rising  out  of  a  little  lake. 

"  The  bed  of  the  river  has  been  filled  up  two  hundred  and  ninety  yards 
in  length.  At  the  upper  part  of  the  new  channel  there  is  on  the  right 
shore  a  quantity  of  earth  removed  from  the  left,  with  some  wood  grow- 
ing upon  it.  And  about  the  midway  on  the  left  shore,  there  is  a  part  of 
the  meadow  that  was  before  on  the  right ;  and,  what  is  more  surprising, 
that  part  is  now  raised  near  two  feet  above  the  rest  of  the  meadow. 

"  The  turnpike  road,  which  ran  partly  parallel  to  the  river,  is  damaged 
three  hundred  and  twenty-one  yards  in  length.  The  part  of  it  which  is 
next  to  Buildwas,  has  been  removed  forty  yards  southward." 

An  incredible  multitude  of  people  of  all  ranks  have  come,  and  gentle- 
men continue  to  come  from  far  and  near  to  see  this  phenomenon.  For 
two  or  three  Sundays  especially,  the  desolated  spot  swarmed  with  specta- 
tors, to  the  number  of  several  thousands.  Had  they  been  armed  and 
drawn  up,  the  place  would  have  looked  not  only  like  the  stage,  where 
destruction  had  just  acted  a  dreadful  part;  but  like  a  field  of  battle,  where 
the  demon  of  war  was  just  going  to  murder  men  enow  to  fill  up  one  of 
the  yawning  graves,  I  mean,  one  of  the  newly  formed  chasms. 

That  all  this  was  owing  to  an  earthquake,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt.  From  the  stony  bed  of  the  river  to  the  highest  chasm,  the  soil 
(some  feet  below  the  surface)  is  exactly  of  the  same  rocky  nature.  This 
is  evident  from  the  similar  quality  of  the  rock  shattered  under  the  river, 
and  of  those  which  have  been  rent  at  the  formation  of  the  chasms  ;  and 
from  the  very  same  kind  of  fossils,  which  are  found  in  the  ruins  of  both. 
It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  stratum  of  slippery  earth,  which  forms 
the  surface  of  the  field  of  oats,  could  by  slipping  have  rent  the  rock  that 
bore  it,  and  occasioned  so  amazing  an  overthrow.  If  the  weight  of  the 
rising  ground  could  have  caused  such  a  desolation,  Madeley  Wood  on  the 
same  side  of  the  river,  and  equally  washed  by  it,  would  have  slipt  much 
sooner  than  the  Birches :  as  having  a  far  greater  pressure,  and  being 
much  steeper,  undermined  by  coal  pits,  embowelled  by  stone  pits,  and 
every  where  very  subject  to  little  slips,  accidents  from  which  the  Birches 
have  always  been  remarkably  free. 

Among  the  spots  of  ground  which  have  been  forced  up,  there  are 
four  under  the  wood  which  have  been  raised  some  feet.  Now,  as  those 
spots  are  quite  at  the  top  of  the  overthrow,  they  could  not  be  pressed 
upward  by  the  weight  of  the  lower  ground.  Beside,  large  chasms  being 
before  and  behind  them,  it  cannot  be  conceived  how  they  could  have 
been  raised  by  pressure  ;  as  it  is  impossible  that  huge  masses  of  dry 
earth  and  solid  rock  should  be  forced  up  by  being  pressed  between  a 
double  vacuum. 


64  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES. 

Moreover,  if  it  had  been  a  slip,  occasioned  by  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  giving  way  to  the  pressure  of  the  high  ground,  all  the  land  would 
have  moved  one  way,  namely,  from  the  wood  to  the  river ;  but  it  has 
moved  in  every  direction ;  many  hundred,  not  to  say  thousand,  tons  of 
the  earth  have  gone  east  toward  Madeley  Wood :  witness  the  bridge  that 
is  buried  east,  and  the  brook  that  is  pounded  north-east.  A  great  deal  is 
gone  west  also ;  witness  many  of  the  cracks  toward  Buildwas  bridge, 
and  many  masses  of  earth  which  hang  west.  Although  it  is  evident, 
that  the  grand  motion  has  been  southward,  yet  the  remaining  part  of  the 
road,  and  the  stile  in  the  field  of  oats,  to  this  day  hang  remarkably  north. 
And  although  most  of  the  cracks  run  parallel  to  the  river,  not  a  few  run 
perpendicular  to  it ;  and  among  these,  the  remarkable  chasm  near  which 
the  following  sermon  was  preached :  a  chasm  this,  which  could  not  be 
formed  but  by  the  ground  moving  east  or  west,  and  not  toward  the  river. 
This  appears  likewise  by  part  of  a  ploughed  field,  which  has  been  torn 
from  the  rest,  and  carried  several  yards  to  the  south-west,  as  the  direc- 
tion of  the  furrows  evidently  demonstrates. 

From  these  observations  we  may  conclude  that  it  was  an  earthquake 
accompanied  by  a  considerable  eruption  of  air  :  and  this  appears  from 
the  sudden  gust  of  wind  that  shook  Samuel  Cookson's  windows,  and 
affected  a  yew  tree,  which  seems  to  have  been  blasted  as  well  as  two 
young  trees,  whose  leaves  have  also  turned  yellow.  They  stand  at  the 
end  of  the  long  chasm,  just  in  the  way  from  it  to  the  house  where  the 
sudden  blast  terrified  the  farmer  at  the  time  of  the  desolation. 

This  sentiment  is  confirmed,  not  only  by  the  accident  of  the  house  at 
Buildwas,  which  unaccountably  moved,  cracking  in  several  places,  and 
partly  sunk  in,  two  days  before  ;  but  by  another  singular  earthquake  that 
was,  it  seems,  both  felt  and  heard  a  little  after  at  Hennington,  in  Shiffnal 
parish  ;  though  the  earth  did  not  open  there  as  it  did  at  the  Birches. 

It  seems,  the  matter,  which  was  the  second  cause  of  our  pheno- 
menon, operated  near  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  consequently  could 
not  cause  those  violent  shocks  and  convulsions,  which  are  felt  far  and 
near,  when  she  is  affected  in  her  inmost  bowels. 

Perhaps  also  the  confined  matter  that  struggled  for  a  vent,  finding  one 
soon,  and  working  itself  out  gradually  when  it  had  found  it,  at  once 
caused  the  earthquake  to  last  longer  upon  the  desolated  spot,  and  pre- 
vented its  being  felt  at  a  greater  distance. 

But  whatever  the  second  or  natural  cause  of  our  phenomenon  was,  it 
is  certain  that  the  first  or  moral  cause  of  it  is  two-fold ;  on  our  part 
aggravated  sin  ;   and  on  God's  part  warning  justice. 

The  design  of  the  following  discourse  was  to  point  out  that  moral 
cause  to  inconsiderate  spectators  in  general ;  and  in  particular  to  excite, 
in  the  hearts  of  my  parishioners,  an  unfeigned  gratitude  for  our  preserva- 
tion, and  a  salutary  fear  of  the  Almighty,  who  equally  fulfils  his  provi- 
dential will  by  storms  or  inundations,  consumptions  or  fevers,  famine  or 
pestilence,  slips  or  earthquakes. 

Should  the  reader  wish  to  know  why  I  preached  on  that  occasion  upon 
the  ruins,  I  will  ingenuously  tell  him  by  what  accidents  and  reasons  I 
was  induced  to  take  that  step.  The  day  the  earth  opened  at  the 
Birches,  as  I  considered  one  of  the  chasms,  several  of  my  parishioners, 
whom  curiosity  had  brought  to  the  awful  spot,  gathered  around  me.     I 


DKEADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES.  65 

observed  to  them,  that  the  sight  before  us  was  a  remarkable  confirmation 
of  the  first  argument  of  a  book  called,  "  An  Appeal  to  Matter  of  Fact ; 
or  a  rational  Demonstration  of  Man's  fallen  and  lost  Estate,"  which  I 
had  just  published,  as  a  last  effort  to  awaken  to  a  sense  of  the  fear  of 
God,  the  careless  gentlemen  of  my  parish,  to  whom  it  is  dedicated. 
Having  a  few  copies  about  me,  which  I  was  going  to  present  to  some  of 
them,  I  begged  leave  to  read  that  argument :  and,  as  I  read,  I  enlarged 
a  little  upon  the  following  passages  : — 

"  Does  not  the  natural  state  of  the  earth  cast  a  light  upon  the  spiritual 
condition  of  its  inhabitants  ?  Amidst  a  thousand  beauties  that  indicate 
what  it  was  when  God  pronounced  it  '  very  good,'  and  (as  the  original 
imports  also)  '  extremely  beautiful,'  can  an  impartial  inquirer  help  taking 
notice  of  a  thousand  striking  proofs,  that  a  multiplied  curse  rests  upon 
this  globe ;  and  that  man,  who  inhabits  it,  is  now  disgraced  by  the  God 
of  nature  and  providence  1 

"  Here  deceitful  morasses,  or  faithless  quicksands,  obstruct  our  way ; 
there  miry,  impassable  roads,  or  inhospitable  sandy  deserts,  endanger 
our  life.  In  one  place  we  are  stopped  by  stupendous  chains  of  rocky 
mountains,  broken  into  frightful  precipices  or  hideous  caverns ;  and  in 
another  we  meet  with  ruinous  valleys,  cut  deep  by  torrents,  whose  tre- 
mendous roar  stuns  the  astonished  traveller,  &c. 

"  Nor  does  heaven  alone  dart  destructive  fires ;  earth — our  mother 
earth,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  frequently  to  corrupt  the  atmosphere  by 
pestilential  vapours,  borrows  the  assistance  of  the  devouring  (or  of  the 
fluid)  element,  to  terrify  and  scourge  her  guilty  children.  By  sudden 
frightful  chasms,  and  tbe  mouths  of  her  burning  mountains,  she  vomits 
clouds  of  smoke,  sulphureous  flames,  and  calcined  rocks ;  she  emits 
streams  of  melted  minerals  ;  and  as  if  she  wanted  to  ease  herself  of  the 
burden  of  her  inhabitants,  suddenly  rises  against  them  ;  and  in  battles  of 
shaking,  at  once  crushes,  destroys,  and  buries  them  (or,  as  in  the  present 
case,  their  fields  and  buildings,  their  bridges  and  roads,  their  woods  and 
rivers)  in  heaps  of  ruins. 

"  When  these  astonishing  scenes  are  past,  they  may  indeed  entertain 
us  like  a  bloody  battle  that  is  seen  at  a  distance  ;  they  may  amuse  our 
imagination  when  in  a  peaceful  apartment  we  behold  them  beautifully 
represented  by  the  pen  of  a  Virgil,  or  the  pencil  of  a  Raphael.  But  to 
be  in  the  midst  of  them,  as  thousands  are  sooner  or  later,  is  inexpressibly 
dreadful.  It  is  actually  to  see  the  forerunners  of  Divine  vengeance, 
and  to  hear  the  shaking  of  God's  destructive  rod.  It  is  to  behold  at 
once  a  lively  emblem,  and  an  awful  pledge,  of  that  fire  and  brimstone, 
storm  and  tempest,  which  the  righteous  Governor  of  the  world  will  rain 
upon  the  ungodly  ;  when  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great 
noise ;  the  elements  shall  melt  away  with  fervent  heat ;  and  the  earth, 
with  the  works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burnt  up. 

"  Now  as  reason  loudly  declares  that  the  God  of  order,  justice,  and 
goodness,  could  never  establish  and  continue  this  fearful  course  of 
things,  but  to  punish  the  disorders  of  the  moral  world  by  those  of  the 
natural,  we  must  conclude  that  man  is  guilty,  from  the  alarming  tokens 
of  Divine  displeasure,  which  (sooner  or  later)  are  so  conspicuous  in 
every  part  of  the  habitable  globe,"  and  which  are  now  so  clearly  seen, 
so  sensibly  felt  in  this  ruinous  spot. 
Vol.  IV.  5 


3t>  DREADFUL  PHENOMENON  AT  THE  BIRCHES. 

I  concluded  my  reading  and  remarks  by  thanksgiving  and  prayer ; 
beseeching  the  Preserver  of  men  to  bless  the  dreadful  phenomenon  be- 
fore us,  not  only  to  the  awakening  of  those  who  were  then  present,  but 
of  all  the  impenitent  in  the  land ;  that  when  they  should  hear,  they 
might  fear  and  turn  to  the  Lord,  instead  of  provoking  him  by  their  cry- 
ing  sins  to  stop  our  rivers,  overthrow  our  roads,  cut  off  our  harvest, 
carry  away  our  lands,  sink  our  buildings,  and  bury  us  in  such  immense 
and  fearful  graves,  as  had  been  instantaneously  dug  around  us  thai 
morning. 

Perceiving  that  seriousness  sat  upon  all  faces — remembering  the 
apostolic  precept,  "  Preach  the  word :  be  instant  in  season  and  out  ot 
season,"  which  is  abundantly  confirmed  by  these  words  of  our  Church 
in  the  communion  service  :  "  It  is  very  meet,  right,  and  our  bounden 
duty,  that  we  should,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places,  give  thanks  to 
almighty  God  ;"  hoping  al§o  that  curiosity  might  bring  some  of  the 
most  profane  to  hear  a  sermon  and  join  in  thanksgiving  on  so  extraordi- 
nary an  occasion  ;  and  flattering  myself  that  the  sight  of  the  ruins  would 
fix  the  attention  of  the  most  trifling  auditors,  and  add  solemnity  to  the 
devotion  of  the  most  serious  ;  I  told  the  people  then  present,  that  if  they 
would  come  again  the  next  evening  to  the  same  .place,  I  would  endea- 
vour to  echo  back  and  improve  the  loud  call  to  repentance,  which  God 
had  given  us  that  day. 

They  readily  consented :  and  when  I  came  at  the  time  appointed,  to 
my  vast  surprise  I  found  a  great  concourse  of  people,  and  among  them 
several  of  my  parishioners,  who  had  never  been  at  church  in  all  their 
lives  ;  to  whom,  after  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  suitable  to  the  uncommon 
circumstances,  I  then  preached  a  sermon  ;  of  which  (so  far  as  I  can 
recollect)  the  reader  may  find  the  substance,  with  some  additions,  in  the 
following  pages. 

May  it  have  a  better  effect  upon  him  than  it  had  upon  some  gentlemen 
that  heard  it !  Whether  they  would  also  preach  in  their  way  a  lecture 
to  drunken  colliers,  wagoners,  and  bargemen  ;  whether  they  would  give 
me  to  understand,  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  no  ordinary  nor 
extraordinary  calls  should  ever  make  them  regard  the  public  worship 
of  almighty  God ;  or  whether  they  would  show,  on  the  margin  of  the 
newly  formed  chasms,  (those  uncommon  and  dreadful  graves,)  their 
approbation  of  the  heathenish  maxim  mentioned  by  St.  Paul :  "  Let  us 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die  ;"  I  do  not  pretend  to  say.  But  instead  of 
prayer  books,  they  pulled  out  their  favourite  companion,  a  bottle ;  and 
imparted  the  strong  contents  to  each  other  as  heartily  as  I  did  the  awful 
contents  of  the  text  to  the  decent  part  of  the  congregation.  Gentle 
reader,  receive  them  as  cordially  as  they  did  their  stupifying  antidote, 
and  I  ask  no  more. 

John  Fletcher, 

Madelev,  July  6,  1773. 


THE   SUBSTANCE   OF  A   SERMON 

PREACHED   ON   THE    OCCASION. 


"  If  the  Lord  make  a  new  thing,  and  the  earth  open  her  mouth,  and  swallow 
them  up,  with  all  that  appertain  unto  them,  and  they  go  down  alive  into  the  pit  ■ 
then  ye  shall  understand  that  these  men  have  provoked  the  Lord.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  as  he  made  an  end  of  speaking  all  these  words,  that  the  ground  clave 
asunder  which  was  under  them  :  and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed 
them  up,  and  their  houses,  and  all  the  men  that  appertained  unto  Korah,  and  all 
their  goods.  They,  and  all  that  appertained  to  them,  went  down  alive  into  the 
pit,  and  the  earth  closed  upon  them,  and  they  perished  from  among  the  congre- 
gation. And  all  Israel  that  were  round  about  them  fled  at  the  cry  of  them  :  for 
they  said,  Lest  the  earth  swallow  us  up  also,"  Num.  xvi,  30-34. 

Our  inconsideration  requires  the  loudest  calls ;  and  our  hardness  of 
heart  the  heaviest  blows.  When  we  were  warned  by  the  loud,  peni- 
tential cries  of  a  giddy,  dying  young  man,*  upon  whom  God  had  laid 
his  hand  with  uncommon  severity ;  crowds  of  thoughtless  hearers  at- 
tended the  church  at  his  burial.  I  preached  to  them  from  these  alarm- 
ing words  of  Isaiah  :  "  When  thy  judgments  are  in  the  earth,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  world  will  learn  righteousness.  Lord,  when  thy  hand  is  lifted 
up  they  will  not  see,  but  they  shall  see."  Many  of  you  saw,  and  some 
felt,  on  that  awful  occasion.  But  alas  !  the  relentings  of  the  most  ceased 
with  my  warning,  or  vanished  with  the  next  morning's  dew.  Nay, 
instead  of  learning  righteousness,  too  many,  by  stifling  their  convictions, 
hardened  themselves,  turned  the  savour  of  life  into  the  savour  of  death, 
and  learned  to  sin  with  less  remorse  than  ever.' 

What  can  be  done  to  awaken  our  stupid,  drowsy,  dead  consciences  ? 
Must  God  lift  up  his  hand  in  a  more  conspicuous  manner?  In  order  to 
turn  our  hearts,  must  he  now  subvert  our  fields,  or  turn  the  course  of 
our  river  1  But  why  do  I  ask  the  question  ?  Has  he  not  wrought  the 
double  wonder  at  once  1  O  ye  ungodly  colliers,  that  poison  the  bowels 
of  the  earth  with  your  impure  and  impious  breath,  see  what  destruction 
he  has  brought  upon  the  solid  element  in  which  you  get  a  maintenance. 

*  A  blooming  dancer,  under  twenty  years  of  age,  whom  I  loudly  warned  on 
Saturday  evening  to  "  prepare  for  death  and  judgment,"  and  who  distinguished 
himself  among  the  nimblest  of  the  company,  while  some  cried,  "  Play  away — 
dance  away,"  &c.  The  next  week,  far  from  growing  wiser,  he  procured  money 
by  wrong  methods  to  go  every  evening  to  a  show,  against  the  will  and  entreaties 
of  his  parents.  And  this  he  continued  to  do  till,  putting  one  day  his  knee  to  the 
ground,  the  unseen  point  of  a  nail  made  an  insignificant  wound  in  it,  not  unlike 
the  prick  of  a  pin.  The  show  man,  to  whom  he  mentioned  this  accident,  by  an 
unfortunate  application  inadvertently  poisoned  his  trifling  wound,  and  spoiled  his 
dancing  for  ever.  Terrible  symptoms  soon  followed,  with  excruciating  pains, 
which  carried  him  off"  the  Saturday  following.  The  circumstances  of  his  death, 
his  solemn  warnings  to  some  of  his  companions  on  his  death  bed,  and  his  affect- 
ing cries  for  mercy,  which  were  heard  for  a  considerable  distance,  struck  a 
transitory  awe  upon  many  young  people,  and  brought  them  to  hear  the  funeral 
sermon,  which  I  referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  this. 


6S-  SERMON. 

Ye  profane  watermen,  whose  wickedness  overflows  all  the  dikes  of  hu- 
man and  Divine  Jaws  oftener  than  the  Severn  does  its  banks,  see  what 
a  curse  has  overtaken  the  river  on  which  you  earn  your  bread !  And  ye 
sinners  of  all  ranks  and  occupations,  see  the  finger  of  a  sin-avenging 
God,  laid  upon  this  dismal  spot ;  and  by  the  desolation  you  behold  here, 
judge  of  that  which  our  iniquities  would  long  since  have  brought  upon 
all  the  earth,  if  Jehovah  had  not  the  patience  and  long  suffering  of 
a  God. 

However,  the  axe  of  his  vengeance  is  not  thrown  by ;  it  still  is  laid  at 
the  root  of  the  tree  ;  nay,  it  is  lifted  high,  to  strike  a  blow,  general  as 
our  wickedness,  repeated  as  our  crimes,  fearful  as  our  imprecations. 
But  punishment  is  God's  strange  work :  and  his  Son,  whom  we  put  to 
open  shame,  and  crucify  afresh  by  our  sins,  is  not  yet  weary  of  inter- 
ceding for  us.  Yesterday,  when  the  destroyer  asked  leave  to  bury  us 
in  heaps  of  ruins,  as  he  did  Job's  feasting  sons  and  daughters ;  or  to  bring 
in  an  unexpected  flood  upon  us,  as  he  did  upon  the  world  of  the  ungodly 
in  the  days  of  Noah  ;  our  compassionate  Mediator  interposed,  and  said, 
"  Though  they  cumber  the  ground  like  barren  fig  trees,  let  them  alone 
this  day,  this  year  dso,  till  I  shall  dig  about  them.  If  they  bear  fruit, 
well ;  and  if  not,  then  after  that  thou  shalt  cut  them  down." 

And  now,  sinners,  see  with  grateful  astonishment  the  prevalence  of 
our  Lord's  prayer !  We  are  spared  !  But  tremble  with  godly  fear  at  the 
literal  fulfilment  of  his  declaration  :  to  make  us  bring  forth  fruit  meet  /or 
repentance,  he  actually  digs  about  us  at  a  most  alarming  rate.  What 
trenches ! — to  rouse  our  souls  he  tosses  our  grounds :  to  stop  us  in  our 
sinful  career,  he  absorbs  our  highway  ;  and  to  water  in  our  hearts  the. 
withered  plant  of  God's  fear,  he  dams  up  our  navigable  river. 

Nay,  he  does  more  still.  The  Gospel  mentions  those  who  take  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence ;  few  of  us,  alas !  seem  to  be  of  that 
happy  number  ;  in  general  we  act  as  if  we  would  storm  the  kingdom  of 
darkness.  We  put  on  the  whole  armour  of  Satan  ;  we  take  up  the  shield 
of  unbelief,  the  helmet  of  presumption,  the  girdle  of  deceit,  the  breastplate 
of  unrighteousness,  and  the  sword  of  the  evil  spirit,  the  word  of  a  lying 
world.  Thus  equipped,  with  undaunted  confidence  we  tread  upon  the 
Divine  mercies,  and  go  on  from  sin  to  sin,  from  the  follies  of  childhood 
to  the  vanity  or  profligacy  of  youth,  and  if  we  are  not  killed  in  the  field 
of  intemperance,  we  crown  all  by  the  worldly  mindedness  and  obduracy 
of  old  age.  Nothing  turns  us,  nothing  stops  us.  But  now  the  angel  of 
the  Lord  stands  with  a  drawn  sword  in  our  way,  as  he  did  in  that  of 
Balaam.  We  seem  determined  to  possess  ourselves  of  Tophet ;  and  to 
carry  hell,  as  it  were,  sword  in  hand  :  but  God  fortifies  it  against  our 
desperate  assaults.  See,  sinners,  see  these  newly-formed  mounts,  and 
stupendous  chasms  !  Are  they  not  ramparts  of  his  raising,  and  ditches  of 
his  sinking,  to  make  you  desist  from  your  mad  enterprise  ?  And  if,  with 
curses  in  your  mouths,  stolen  goods  in  your  hands,  revenge  in  your  hearts, 
or  unpardoned  sin  upon  your  consciences,  you  force  your  way  through 
these  uncommon  bulwarks,  to  the  chambers  of  death :  will  you  not 
doubly  deserve  to  be  devoured  by  the  sword,  which  has  been  so  dread- 
fullv  brandished  over  this  desolated  spot  ? 

If  impenitency  is  the  fixed  object  of  our  choice  ;  if  still  shutting  our 
ears  to  all  ordinary  and  extraordinary  calls,  and  tossing  Christ's  easy 


SERMON.  69 

yoke  from  off  our  necks,  we  equally  harden  our  hearts  against  the  yearn- 
ing bowels  of  God's  mercy,  and  the  terrible  warnings  of  his  justice ;  shall 
we  not  make  our  dangerous  case  desperate  ?  Is  it  not  enough  to  have 
paid  no  attention  to  the  whispers  of  his  grace,  must  we  also  slight  the 
thunders  of  his  power?  Shall  the  dreadful  peal  that  was  rung  .here  yes- 
terday only  lull  us  asleep  on  the  brink  of  destruction  ?  By  rendering  oui 
obstinacy  more  inexcusable,  shall  the  disregarded  terrors  of  the  Lord 
have  no  other  effect,  than  that  of  accidentally  fitting  us  for  the  aggra- 
vated punishment  of  those  relentless  cities,  where  Christ  wrought  his 
mighty  works  in  vain  ?  Shall  we  secure  to  ourselves  the  torments  of  that 
Jezebel,  to  whom  God  gave  time  to  repent,  and  who  nevertheless  re- 
pented not  ?  Is  not  the  hell  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  terrible  enough  for  us  ? 
Must  we  also  rush  into  that  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  ?  Or  do  we  flatter 
ourselves  that,  because  the  scale  of  Divine  patience  yet  preponderates,  no 
hills  of  guilt,  no  mountains  of  iniquity  can  possibly  turn  the  scale  of  right- 
eous vengeance  ? 

If  any  are  in  that  fatal  error,  permit  me  to  undeceive  them,  by  pro- 
ducing the  unhappy  witnesses  mentioned  in  my  text,  Dathan  and  Abiram, 
with  their  wives,  children,  and  servants.  And  that  we  may  improve  at 
once  God's  alarming  severity  toward  them,  and  the  riches  of  his  long 
suffering  toward  us,  inquire  we, 

First,  into  their  crime,  and  our  imitation  of  it.     Consider  we,  in  the 

Second  place,  What  new  thing  the  Lord  did  to  destroy  them  from  off 
the  earth.     Let  us, 

Thirdly,  Improve  the  sight  of  this  dreadful  phenomenon,  by  which 
he  warns  us  to  repent,  lest  the  earth  swallow  us  up  also.  And  then  you 
will  give  me  leave  to  conclude  by  a  suitable  address  to  several  classes 
of  hearers. 

And  thou,  mighty  God,  who,  in  the  midst  of  judgment,  didst  yesterday 
remember  mercy,  remember  it  now.  Second  by  thy  blessing  the  strokes 
of  thy  rod,  and  the  truths  of  thy  Gospel.  Gracious  Lord  of  the  harvest! 
give  the  increase  to  the  seed  that  shall  be  sown  in  a  field  which  thou  hast 
so  strangely  ploughed  up.  And  while  thy  feeble  messenger  calls  upon 
this  multitude  to  turn,  "  turn  thou  us,  O  good  Lord,  and  so  shall  we  be 
turned."  The  work  is  worthy  of  Omnipotence,  worthy  of  thee.  Take 
then  to  thyself  thy  great  power  and  reign.  It  is  thy  prerogative  to  break 
rocky  hearts,  as  thou  hast  broken  those  rocks  :  and  to  turn  the  stream 
of  human  affections,  as  thou  hast  turned  that  of  yonder  river.  Once 
more,  great  God,  make  bare  thy  powerful  arm  :  and  to-day  work  here 
as  gloriously  in  the  moral,  as  thou  didst  yesterdav  in  the  natural  world. 

1.  Inquire  we  then,  first,  what  was  Dathan  and  Abiram's  crime? 
Had  they  committed  your  excesses,  O  ye  who  are  "mighty  to  drink  Jvine, 
and  men  of  strength  to  mingle  strong  drink ;"  and  who  (while  your 
indignant  neighbours,  perhaps  your  own  relations,  or  creditors,  starve) 
continue  adding  surfeiting  to  feasting,  or  drunkenness  to  thirst  ?  No : 
they  left  that  crime,  I  shall  not  say  to  brutes,  (because  many  of  them 
are  not  brutish  enough  to,  commit  it,)  but  to  you  who  make  it  your  chief 
delight  to  turn  your  heated  mouths  into  smoking  chimneys,  your  over- 
loaded stomachs  into  stewing  pots,  and  your  enormous  bellies  into  moving 
hogsheads. 

Had  they  contrived  to  meet  the  bottomless  pit,  by  driving  perpendicu- 


70  sermon. 

lar  ways  toward  ihc  centre  of  the  earth,  with  mouths  full  of  prayers  for 
other  people's  damnation  and  their  own  ?  No  :  they  left  that  diabolical 
iniquity  to  you,  impious  colliers,  who  send  as  many  horrid  imprecations 
toward  heaven,  as  if  you  wanted  to  rend  the  roof  of  your  pits  over  your 
heads,  or  to  kindle  the  sulphur  of  Divine  vengeance  about  your  ears. 

Had  they  endeavoured  to  accumulate  gold"  by  cheating,  stealing,  or 
oppression  ?  No  :  although  they  were  Jews,  they  probably  detested  those 
crimes,  in  the  commission  of  which  so  many  nominal  Christians  are 
grown  brazen-faced  and  grey-headed.  Had  they  violated  matrimonial 
engagements  by  seducing  their  neighbours'  wives,  or  by  fixing  upon  their 
daughters  an  indelible  mark  of  infamy  ?  No  :  they  regarded  the  seventh 
commandment ;  and  my  text  speaks  of  their  wives  and  children,  not  of 
their  whores  and  bastards.  Or  had  they  learned  Atheism  of  Pharaoh  ? 
Did  they  say  like  him,  01  like  our  modern  infidels,  "Who  is  the  Lord  ? 
I  know  not  the  Lord  !"  Who  is  the  Messiah  ?  I  will  not  bow  to  the 
Messiah  !  No  :  on  the  contrary,  they  were  ambitious  of  ministering  to 
the  Lord,  and  offering,  instead  of  Aaron,  victims  that  typified  the  expia- 
tory sacrifice  of  the  Lamb  of  God. 

What  was  then  their  crime  ?  "  They  had  provoked  the  Lord,"  says 
my  text.  But  how  ?  By  slighting  his  servants,  exalting  themselves,  and 
setting  a  bad  example  before  their  neighbours.  "  Moses  sent  to  call 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  who  said,  We  will  not  come  up."  By  this  lordly 
refusal,  in  which  they  persisted  to  the  last,  they  countenanced  lawless 
liberty,  encouraged  the  contempt  of  God's  ministers,  stamped  the  neglect 
of  his  ordinances,  and  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity.  A  com- 
plication of  crimes  this,  which  was  so  much  the  more  heinous,  as  their 
rank  was  more  eminent,  and  their  influence  over  the  inferior  part  of  the 
congregation  greater  than  that  of  other  Israelites. 

I  grant  that  we  cannot  exactly  commit  their  transgression :  Moses 
and  the  tabernacle  are  no  more  :  but  have  we  not  our  places  of  worship? 
And  has  not  one  greater  than  Moses  promised,  that  where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together  in  his  name,  there  he  is  in  the  midst  of  them  ? 
They  despised  Moses  the  servant,  and  we  despise  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God.  Does  this  extenuate  our  crime?  Certainly  not,  if  the  apostle 
seated  the  case  justly :  hear  him,  Heb.  x,  28,  29  :  "  He  that  despised 
Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy :  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  sup- 
pose ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son 
of  God,  and  done  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  For  we  know  him  that 
hath  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  and  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord." 

But  let  us  consider  a  moment  our  partial  imitation  of  Dathan's  crime. 
How  many  are  there  among  us  who,  when  the  book,  the  providence, 
the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  call  upon  us  to  forsake  our  sins,  and  come  out 
of  Babylon,  that  we  may  not  partake  of  her  plagues,  show  the  invincible 
obstinacy  of  Abiram  !  How  many,  who,  when  they  are  entreated  to  haste 
to  Mount  Sion,  and  to  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  New  Jerusalem, 
return,  by  their  haughty  or  careless  behaviour,  the  answer  of  rebellious 
Dathan,  "  We  will  not  come  up  :"  or  that  of  those  more  civil  rebels, 
who  made  light  of  a  solemn  invitation  to  the  Gospel  feast,  and  said, 
"  Pray  have  me  excused  !" 

Numbers  of  us  pay  as  little  regard  to  the  form  as  to  the  power  of 
godliness.     We  are  even  void  of  religious  decency :  the  return  of  th 


SERMOJV.  71 

Lord's  day  invites,  the  bells  call,  our  baptismal  vow  binds,  our  Christian 
name  reminds,  the  canons  of  the  Church  bid,  the  law  of  the  land  com- 
pels, the  fourth  commandment  enjoins,  conscience  urges,  the  day  of 
judgment  rushes  on,  and  greedy  death  stalks  about :  all  say,  "  Remember 
the  Sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy,  and  go  up  to  the  house,  to  the  table  of 
the  Lord."  To  give  the  utmost  solemnity  to  the  general  invitation,  a 
multitude  of  ministers  and  congregations  alternately  lift  up  their  voices, 
and  say,  "  Serve  the  Lord  with  gladness,  and  come  before  his  presence 
with  a  song.  O  go  your  way  into  his  gates  with  thanksgiving,  and  into 
his  courts  with  praise  :"  but  what  answer  do  most  of  us  return  ?  Alas ! 
the  very  answer  that  cost  Dathan  and  Abiram  their  lives.  Our  conduct 
speaks  their  insplent  language  :  "  We  will  not  come  up."  You  may 
celebrate  the  Lord's  praises,  explain  his  law,  preach  his  Gospel,  adminis- 
ter his  sacraments  if  you  please  ;  but  those  means  of  grace  are  nothing 
to  us.  We  will  neither  seek  the  Lord  in  his  appointed  ways,  nor  edify 
our  ignorant  neighbours  by  setting  them  a  good  example  :  "  We  will  not 
come  up."  Poor  enthusiasts  may  worship  God  in  the  face  of  the  sun  ; 
but  we  people  of  fashion,  we  men  of  parts  and  learning,  we  busy  trades- 
men,  we  votaries  of  pleasure,  we  self-righteous  moralists,  and  we  immoral 
pretenders  to  morality,  are  all  above  paying  our  Creator  a  public  homage : 
"  We  will  not  come  up."  If  God  will  bless  us,  let  him  wait  upon  us  in 
our  own  houses,  or  in  the  fields  of  vanity  :  we  give  him  leave  ;  but  in- 
deed we  are  so  slothful,  or  so  busy ;  so  proud,  profane,  or  virtuous,  that 
we  neither  will,  can,  nor  need  be  at  the  trouble  of  going  to  his  temple. 
"  We  will  not  come  up."  I  repeat  it,  neglecters  of  God's  worship,  this 
is  the  plain  language  of  your  conduct;  and  if  you  know  what  passes  in 
your  breasts,  you  will  find  it  is  the  secret  whisper  of  your  hearts. 

O  ye  Christian  Dathans,  ye  lofty  Abirams,  ye  who,  like  those  proud 
Israelites,  are  in  your  respective  parishes,  "  princes  of  the  assembly, 
famous  in  the  congregation,  men  of  renown,"  the  eyes  of  this  populous 
neighbourhood  are  upon  you,  especially  the  eyes  of  your  poor  illiterate 
colliers,  wagoners,  and  watermen.  Do  you  not  consider  that  they  mind 
your  examples  rather  than  God's  precepts  ?  Are  you  not  aware  that 
they  follow  you  as  a  bleating  flock  follows  the  first  wandering  sheep  ? 
Because  they  cannot  read  the  sacred  pages,  or  even  tell  the  first  letters 
of  the  alphabet ;  think  you  they  cannot  read,  Secret  contempt  of  almighty 
God,  on  the  sleeves  on  which  they  sometimes  see  you  laugh  at  godli- 
ness ?  And  suppose  ye  they  cannot  make  out,  Open  pollution  of  the  Sab- 
baths, when  they  see  the  remarkable  seats  which  you  so  frequently 
leave  empty  at  church  ?  Do  you  not  know,  that  the  lessons  of  practical 
Atheism,  which  you  thus  give  them  in  the  free  school  of  bad  example, 
they  learn  without  delay,  practise  without  remorse,  and  teach  others 
with  unwearied  diligence  ?  Alas  !  the  pattern  of  indevotion,  which  you 
set  in  the  house  of  God,  carries,  before  you  are  aware,  its  baneful  influ- 
ence through  a  hundred  private  houses.  O  !  how  many  are  now  num- 
bered among  the  dead,  who  have  taken  to  the  ways  of  destruction  by 
following  you  !  How  many  are  yet  unborn,  upon  whom  a  curse  will  be 
entailed,  in  consequence  of  the  spreading  plague  of  irreligion,  which 
their  parents  have  Caught  from  you  !  And  shall  not  their  blood  be  more 
or  less  "  required  at  your  hands  ?  Shall  not  I  visit  for  these  things,  saith 
the  Lord  ?    Shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as  this  ?" 


72  SERMON. 

Many  of  you,  indeed,  do  not  carry  profaneness  so  far  as  to  say  with 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  "  We  will  not  come  up."  You  will  come  to  the 
house  of  prayer ;  but  alas  !  do  you  not  turn  it,  so  far  as  it  lies  in  you, 
into  a  house  of  vanity,  by  behaving  as  if  your  employment  there  was  to 
see  and  be  seen  ?  Or  do  you  not  consider  it  as  a  house  of  intrigue, 
rather  than  a  spiritual  infirmary,  when  you  come  to  gaze  upon  the 
person  who  captivates  your  affections,  rather  than  to  wait  upon  the 
heavenly  Physician,  who  wounds  by  repentance,  and  heals  by  a  pardon, 
"  that  the  bones  which  he  hath  broken  may  rejoice  ?" 

But,  if  you  do  not  turn  the  church  into  a  house  of  vanity  or  intrigue, 
do  you  not  esteem  it  the  house  of  dulness,  a  dormitory,  a  temple  of 
sleep,  rather  than  the  house  of  God  ?  In  a  word,  when  you  say,  Our 
bodies  shall  come  up  ;  do  not  your  wandering  minds  too  often  reply,  in 
imitation  of  the  rebels  mentioned  in  my  text,  "  We  will  rove  over  the 
earth,  we  will  not  come  up.  Or,  if  we  do,  it  shall  be  only  to  draw  near 
to  God  with  our  lips,  while  our  hearts  are  from  him,  his  ways,  his  ordi- 
nances, and  his  people?" 

So  long  as  our  practice  speaks  this  dreadful  language,  is  it  surprising 
that  so  few  should  be  the  better  for  going  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  ? 
And  that  the  least  hint  given  by  the  sons  of  vanity,  that  we  are  wanted 
at  an  idle  dance,  an  indecent  play,  a  gaming  table,  a  midnight  revel,  a 
bloody  sport,  &c,  should  find  many  of  us  ready  to  say,  We  will  do  our- 
selves the  honour  of  waiting  upon  you  ;  "  we  will  go  up  !"  On  such 
occasions  as  these,  when  the  inflexibility  of  Dathan  would  be  a  virtue, 
how  few,  alas  !  stand  out  as  he  did  !  How  very  few  reply,  with  the  un- 
shaken resolution  of  Abiram,  "We  will  not  come  up  !" 

II.  We  have  seen  the  crime  of  those  men,  and  our  partial  imitation 
of  it :  consider  we  next  the  dreadful  punishment  which  was  inflicted  upon 
them,  and  which  we  have  so  narrowly  escaped.  They  would  not  come 
up,  therefore  Moses  rose  up,  and  went  unto  them  ;  and  the  elders  of 
Israel  followed  him.  And  so  will  some  messenger  of  Divine  vengeance 
come  down  to  us,  if  we  persist  in  not  going  up  to  the  house  of  prayer, 
to  implore  Divine  mercy.  For  "  how  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect 
so  great  salvation,"  and  to  the  last,  slight  the  Saviour  in  his  word,  his 
service,  his  ambassadors,  and  the  sacramental  pledges  of  his  dying  love? 

A  crowd  of  spectators  accompanied  the  man  of  God,  and  when  he 
had  bid  them  depart  "from  the  tents  of  those  wicked  men,"  he  wrapt 
himself,  by  a  strong  faith,  in  the  mantle  of  Divine  power,  as  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul  did  afterward,  when  the  one  was  going  to  punish  lying 
apostates  with  sudden  death,  and  the  other  to  strike  the  sorcerer  Elymas 
with  blindness.  His  pastoral  rod  became  "  a  rod  of  iron,"  stretched 
out  to  break  in  pieces  "  vessels  of  dishonour,"  that  had  "fitted"  them- 
selves "  for  destruction  ;"  and  lest  the  spreading  plague  of  their  rebellion 
should  bring  spiritual  death  upon  myriads,  as  an  experienced  surgeon 
cuts  off  a  mort'fied  limb,  that  the  infection  may  not  destroy  the  whole 
body,  or  rather,  as  a  minister  of  that  God,  who  resisteth  the  proud,  and 
is  a  "  consuming  fire  to  the  wicked ;"  he  prepared  to  cut  those  danger- 
ous men  off  from  the  congregation,  and  sternly  spoke  the  words  of 
my  text. 

"  If  these  men  die  the  common  death  of  all  men,  then  the  Lord  has 
not  sent  me  ;  but  if  the  Lord  make  a  new  thing,  and  the  earth  open  her 


SERMON.  73 

mouth,  and  swallow  tnem  up,  with  all  that  appertain  unto  them,  and 
they  go  down  alive  into  the  pit,  then  shall  ye  understand  that  these  men 
have  provoked  the  Lord.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  had  made  an  end 
of  speaking  these  words,  that  the  ground  clave  asunder  that  was  under 
them ;  and  the  earth  opened  her  mouth,  and  swallowed  them  up,  and 
their  houses,  and  all  their  goods :  they,  and  all  that  appertained  unto 
them,  went  down  alive  into  the  pit,  and  the  earth  closed  upon  them,  and 
they  perished  from  among  the  congregation.  And  all  Israel  that  were  ■ 
round  about  them  fled  at  the  cry  of  them,  for  they  said,  Lest  the  earth 
swallow  us  up  also." 

What  a  strange  punishment  was  this,  and  how  wonderfully  adapted  to 
their  crime  !  Their  throat,  like  yours,  O  profane  cursers  and  Swearers, 
was  an  open  sepulchre  ;  they  had  opened  their  mouths  against  Heaven, 
and  now  the  earth  opens  her  mouth  against  them,  and  swallows  them 
up  as  the  grave.  They  had  made  a  rent  in  the  congregation,  and  now 
God  rends  the  earth  under  their  feet.  They  had  endeavoured  to  draw 
sinners  into  the  gulf  of  destruction,  and  now  they  plunge  into  it  them- 
selves, in  the  presence  of  those  whom  they  had  seduced.  What  a  dread- 
ful emblem  was  this  of  the  perdition  of  ungodly  men,  when  they  shall 
hear  those  dreadful  words :  "  Depart,  ye  cursed,"  and  shall  sink  into 
the  bottomless  pit — the  pit  dug  for  the  ungodly,  "  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels ;"  the  pit,  out  of  which  "the  smoke  of  their  torment  shall  ascend 
for  ever  and  ever." 

A  circumstance  mentioned  in  my  text  deserves  our  peculiar  attention. 
Dathan  and  Abiram  cried  as  they  disappeared ;  but,  alas !  like  the  fool- 
ish virgins,  they  cried  too  late.  Those  who  had  inclined  to  their  rebel- 
lion, far  from  running  to  their  help,  fled  at  their  cry.  And  so  will  your 
gay  companions  flee  at  your  groans,  O  ye  impenitent  sinners.  When 
you  are  just  falling  from  a  death  bed  into  a  noisome  grave,  they  will  flee 
from  the  room  where  you  shall  be  executed,  lest  the  executioner  (whe- 
ther it  be  small  pox,  or  a  fever)  lay  hold  on  them  also  ;  or  lest  the  ghastly 
image  of  death,  reflected  from  your  pale  face,  force  reflection  upon  their 
thoughtless  minds,  or  spoil  the  diversion  they  are  going  to  pursue.  Again : 

They  cried  in  the  jaws  of  destruction,  but  probably  not  to  God.  They 
that  do  not  remember  him  in  the  days  of  their  prosperity,  too  often  for- 
get him  when  sorrow  comes  upon  them  as  pangs  upon  a  woman.  Hence 
it  is  that  we  hear  so  many  crying,  "  0  dear !  O  dear!"  And  so  few  say- 
ing in  earnest,  as  the  blind  beggar,  "  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me."  But 
suppose  they  had  said,  O  Lud  !  or  O  Lord !  through  mere  fright,  as  too 
many  of  us  do  upon  every  frivolous  occasion  through  mere  surprise, 
would  this  have  saved  them  ?  No  :  for  when  the  Lord  by  his  prophet  did 
spread  forth  his  hands,  they  regarded  not ;  and  now  that  the  day  of  ven- 
geance is  come,  to  speak  after  the  manner  of  men,  "  he  laughs  at  their 
calamity,  and  mocks  when  their  fear  cometh,"  Prov.  i,  26. 

God  is  love,  rather  than  vindictive  justice  :  nor  hath  he  "any  pleasure 
that  the  wicked  should  die."  Hence  it  is  that  the  "  ministration  of  right- 
eousness," or  righteous  mercy,  "  exceeds  in  glory."  Nevertheless,  says 
St.  Paul,  "  the  ministration  of  condemnation  is  glorious.  The  wrath  of  man 
worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God ;"  yet,  when  that  wrath  is  wisely 
overruled,  or  justly  punished,  it  turns  to  God's  praise.  Every  rational 
being  must  then  answer  the  end  of  his  existence  by  glorifying  the  author 


74  SERMON. 

of  it  one  way  or  another.  We  must  all  reflect  honour  upon  our  Master, 
either  as  a  gracious  rewarder  of  those  that  diligently  seek  him,  or  a  just 
punisher  of  those  that  obstinately  offend  him.  Thus,  while  the  blessed 
show  forth  in  heaven  the  praises  of  his  holiness  and  mercy ;  the  wicked 
in  hell  display  those  of  his  holiness  and  justice.  Therefore,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  latter,  as  well  as  the  salvation  of  the  former,  is  the  proper 
theme  of  heavenly  songs.     Take  an  instance  of  it. 

No  sooner  had  St.  John  seen  in  a  prophetic  vision  the  dreadful  fall  of 
Babylon,  than  he  heard  the  heavenly  host  shouting,  "  Hallelujah  !  salva- 
tion, and  glory,  and  power  to  our  God!  True  and  righteous  are  his  judg- 
ments, for  he  hath  judged  the  great  whore,  which  corrupted  the  earth 
with  her  fornication,  and  hath  avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her 
hands.  And  he  heard  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  and  the  voice  of  many  thunderings,  saying,  Hallelujah  ! 
for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth."  Yes,  he  reigneth  justly  to  smite, 
us  with  an  iron  sceptre  through  the  loins  of  them  that  hate  him,  and  rise 
against  him,  as  well  as  to  hold  out  to  thee  a  golden  sceptre  of  mercy, 
thou  humble  mourner,  who  tremblest  at  his  word,  and  fleest  for  refuge 
to  the  shadow  of  Jesus'  wings. 

There  is  then  the  song  of  Moses,  who  overthrew  Pharaoh  and  all  his 
host  in  the  Red  Sea,  as  well  as  "  the  song  of  the  Lamb  who  loved  us, 
and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood  ;"  and  it  is  your  preroga- 
tive, O  ye  servants  of  the  Most  High,  to  sing  both  those  songs  alternately : 
to  shout  God's  justice,  as  well  as  his  mercy,  and  celebrate  the  destruc- 
tion of  incorrigible  criminals,  as  well  as  the  salvation  of  penitent  believers. 
We  may  then,  without  uncharitableness,  join  David  in  the  136th  Psalm, 
and  say,  "  O  give  thanks  to  the  God  of  all  gods,  who  only  doth  great 
wonders ;  who  smote  Egypt  with  the  first  born,  for  his  mercy  endureth 
for  ever  :  yea,  and  slew  mighty  kings,  for  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever," 
&c.  The  capital  punishment  of  a  murderer  is  a  capital  kindness  shown 
to  thousands.  Were  the  king  to  reprieve  all  criminals,  his  mercy  to 
them  would  be  cruelty  to  millions.  And  although  charity  "  rejoiceth  not 
in  iniquity,"  yet  she  may,  consistently  with  herself,  rejoice  in  the  sup- 
pression of  triumphant  wickedness ;  and,  in  order  to  this,  she  may  acqui- 
esce in  the  exemplary  punishment  of  obstinate  and  daring  offenders;  as 
Moses  did  in  the  destruction  of  Dathan  and  Abiram ;  and  St.  Peter  in 
that  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira. 

And  now,  although  we  cannot  all  sing  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  yet 
(glory  be  to  God!)  we  may  all  consider  the  patience  of  our  offended 
Creator,  who  upon  these  ruins  invites  us,  guilty  as  we  are,  to  repent  and 
live ;  to  celebrate  his  sparing  mercy  in  fear,  and  rejoice  in  him  with 
reverence. 

The  earth,  in  the  days  of  Moses,  "  opened  her  mouth,"  and  dreadfully 
swallowed  up  two  families.  The  earth  yestei'day  opened  her  mouth, 
probably  far  wider,  and  yet  the  only  two  families  that  lived  here  were 
suffered  to  make  their  escape.  Hallelujah  !  praise  the  Lord  !  Multi- 
tudes of  fishes  have  perished  on  dry  ground,  and  myriads  of  land  insects 
in  the  water ;  and  yet  we,  sinful  insects  before  God,  have  neither  been 
drowned  in  yesterday's  flood,  nor  buried  in  these  chasms.  Hallelujah! 
God's  tremendous  axe  has  been  lifted  up :  some  of  yonder  green  trees 
have  been   struck;  and  we,  who   are   dry  trees,  we,  cumberers  of  the. 


SERMON.  75 

ground,  are  graciously  spared.  Hallelujah  !  the  houses  of  Dathaii  and 
Abiram,  with  all  that  appertained  unto  them,  descended  into  the  pit  of 
destruction ;  and  we,  who  are  loaded  with  mountains  of  sins,  stand  yet 
on  firm  ground  with  all  our  friends.  Hallelujah  !  God,  who  might  have 
commanded  the  earth  to  swallow  up  a  thronged  play  house,  the  royal 
exchange,  a  crowded  cathedral,  the  parliament  house,  or  the  king's 
palace,  has  graciously  commanded»an  empty  barn  to  sink,  and  give  us 
the  alarm.  Hallelujah  !  he  might  have  ordered  such  a  tract  of  land  as 
this  to  heave,  move,  and  open  in  the  centre  of  our  populous  cities,  but 
mercy  has  inclined  him  to  fix  upon  this  solitary  place.  Hallelujah ! — 
he  might  have  suffered  the  road  and  the  river  to  be  overthrown,  when 
c  jrsing  drivers  passed  with  their  horses,  and  blaspheming  watermen  with 
their  barges,  but  his  compassion  made  him  strike  the  warning  blow  with 
all  possible  tenderness.  "O  that  men  would  therefore  praise  the  Lord 
for  his  goodness,  and  declare  the  wonders  that  he  does  -for  the  children 
of  men  !" 

To  excite  our  thankfulness,  let  us  observe,  that  if  God  had  permitted 
the  Severn,  swelled  as  it  is  by  the  late  flood,  to  be  dammed  up  a  little 
below ;  if  Lincoln  hill  had  run  upon  Bental  Edge,  part  of  which  lately 
fell  into  the  river  ;  if  those  two  high  and  steep  hills,  between  which  the 
Severn  is  so  remarkably  confined,  had  met  by  such  an  accident  as  befel 
yonder  grove  yesterday,  how  dreadful  the  consequence  might  have  been' 
This  country  would  have  been  submerged,  and  the  devastation  migln 
have  affected  all  the  western  part  of  the  kingdom.  But,  happily  for  us, 
the  river  was  stopt  over  against  that  flat  meadow,  where  it  could  work 
itself  a  new  channel,  without  spreading  ruin  through  a  hundred  villages, 
and  washing  away  the  harvest  of  a  thousand  fields.  Thus,  though  de- 
struction hath  thrust  sore  at  us,  yet  God  was  our  help,  and  we  have  the 
greatest  reason  to  sing  with  David,  "  The  right  hand  of  the  Lord  hath 
the  pre-eminence,  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  bringeth  mighty  things  to 
pass ;  he  hath  chastened  and  corrected  us,  but  he  hath  not  dealt  with  us 
according  to  our  sins,  he  hath  not  given  us  over  unto  death." 

And  now  "  what  shall  we  render  unto  God"  for  all  these  deliverances; 
and  above  all,  for  preservation  from  the  horrors  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
and  from  the  billows  of  the  "  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire  and  brimstone?" 
Shall  we  not  lay  aside  the  cup  of  excess,  to  take  that  of  thanksgiving  ? 
Shall  we  not  loudly  bless  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  thus  redeemed  our 
life  from  destruction?  Dathan  and  Abiram,  while  they  sunk  into  the 
deep,  rent  the  heavens  with  a  shriek  of  horror :  may  we  be  ready  to 
rend  it  with  a  shout  of  wonder,  while  I  endeavour  more  particularly  to 
consider  and  improve,  in  the  third  part  of  this  discourse,  the  new  thing 
which  the  Lord  hath  done  in  the  earth  ! 

III.  I  should  speak  out  of  character  if  I  expatiated  upon  the  pheno- 
menon before  us  as  a  philosopher,  and  not  as  a  divine.  My  design  is  to 
benefit  you  by  stirring  up  your  hearts  to  gratitude  and  repentance :  not 
to  entertain  you  by  solving  philosophical  problems,  or  proposing  a 
variety  of  conjectures.  In  a  point  of  moral  improvement,  what  signifies 
it  whether  this  desolation  was  caused  by  a  slip  or  an  earthquake  ?  Ruin 
is  ruin,  whatever  be  the  instrument  of  it.  And  a  rod  is  a  rod,  whether 
it  be  cut  from  the  lofty  birch,  or  only  torn  from  the  lower  osier. 

If  God  permitted  this  island  suddenly  to  rush  into  the  sea  by  a  slip. 


76  SERMON. 

or  be  overturned  into  it  by  an  earthquake ;  where  would  be  the  differ- 
ence  with  respect  to  us  ?  Did  it  matter  to  the  drowning  world  whether 
God  had  caused  the  deluge  by  breaking  up  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep,  and  opening  the  windows  of  heaven  ;  or  only  by  suspending  the 
attraction  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  to  raise  a  universal  tide  ?  When  the 
waves  of  the  Red  Sea  returned  upon  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host,  what  did 
it  signify  to  that  multitude  of  dying  pursuers,  whether  the  second  cause 
of  their  destruction  was  the  west  wind,  or  only  the  abating  of  the  strong 
east  wind,  by  which  the  Lord  made  the  sea  to  go  back  all  night  1 

When  God  does  a  new  thing  in  the  earth,  unwise  philosophers  make 
it  their  business  to  exclude  his  Divine  agency.  Our  polite  towns  swarm 
with  disciples  of  Epicurus,  who  fancy  that  God  sitteth  somewhere  above 
the  circle  of  the  heavens,  and  has  committed  the  government  of  the 
material  world  to  I  know  not  what  inferior  deity,  that  they  call  nature. 
Nor  do  they  probably  know  themselves  that  goddess,  about  whom  they 
make  so  much  ado. 

Should  the  most  judicious  of  them  say,  that  by  nature  they  under- 
stand the  assemblage  of  those  stated  laws,  according  to  which  our  wise 
Creator  preserves,  and  generally  rules  the  material  world ;  I  reply : 
can  any  thing  then  be  more  irrational  than  the  exclusion  of  God's  im- 
mediate agency  from  the  works  of  nature  ?  Who  could  help  smiling  at 
the  simplicity  of  a  man,  who  should  affirm  that  the  king's  signing  a 
death  warrant  is  not  a  royal  act,  merely  because  he  does  it  according  to 
the  law  of  his  kingdom  ?  And  who  can  help  wondering  at  the  preju- 
dice of  those  who  suppose,  that  what  God  does  according  to  the' law  of 
his  natural  government,  is  not  his  own  work  ? 

If  we  believe  those  men,  God  made  Aaron's  dry  rod  to  blossom  once, 
but  nature  makes  vegetables  blossom  every  year.  God  appointed  the 
peculiar  death  of  Dathan  and  Abiram,  but  nature  fixes  the  exit  of  the 
rest  of  mankind.  How  wild  is  the  conceit !  If  God  has  so  little  to  do 
in  the  universe,  and  nature  so  much,  let  us  build  temples  to  that  power- 
ful goddess.  To  her  let  us  pray  for  rain  or  fair  weather,  for  health  and 
length  of  days  :  and  when  we  have  asked  of  God  the  pardon  of  our 
sins,  let  us  say  to  nature,  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 

O  ye  injudicious  philosophers,  (I  had  almost  said,  ye  baptized  in- 
fidels,) let  the  prophets  teach  you  true  wisdom.  They  rationally  main- 
tain, that  God  is  the  first  cause  of  all  tilings,  except  moral  evil.  Hear 
their  own  words  :  "  God  clothes  the  grass  of  the  field  :  God  sendeth  the 
springs  into  the  rivers :  he  bringeth  forth  grass  for  the  cattle,  and  green 
herb  for  the  service  of  man ;  from  the  things  creeping  innumerable, 
which  are  in  the  great  and  wide  sea,  to  that  leviathan,  whom  God  hath 
made  to  take  his  pastime  therein,  all  wait  upon  him  that  he  may  give 
them  meat  in  due  season.  He  feedeth  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry : 
he  sendeth  forth  his  commandment  upon  earth  :  he  maketh  summer  and 
winter  :  he  giveth  snow  like  wool :  he  scattereth  his  hoar  frost  like 
ashes :  he  casteth  forth  his  ice  like  morsels  :  he  sendeth  out  his  word, 
and  melteth  them  :  he  causeth  the  wind  to  blow,  and  the  waters  to  flow; 
as  for  his  judgments,  the  heathens,"  (and  God  grant  that  none  of  us  may 
verify  the  saying  !)  "  the  heathens  have  not  known  them." 

But  let  us  hear  God  himself  speaking  in  Isaiah.  "  I  am  the  Lord, 
and  there  is  none  else  :  there  is  no  God  beside  me.     I  [not  nature]  form 


SERMON.  77 

the  light  and  create  darkness  :  I  make  peace  and  create  evil.  [I  create 
natural,  to  punish  moral  evil.]  I  the  Lord  do  all  these  things,"  Isaiah 
xlv,  5-7.  Hence  it  is  that  one  of  the  prophets  indirectly  reproves 
Atheistical  naturalists,  and  says  :  "  Shall  there  be  [natural]  evil  in  the 
city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it,"  to  bring  about  some  spiritual  good? 
Amos  iii,  6.  Have  the  Birches  been  overthrown,  and  the  Lord  hath 
not  done  it  ?  The  Lord,  is  he  not  the  God  here  as  well  as  in  all  the 
earth  1 

He  is,  he  is  :  he  ordered  the  other  day  the  fall  of  the  projecting  part 
of  the  hill,  which  you  call  Bental  Edge.  Above  a  year  ago  he  com- 
manded an  earthquake  to  alarm  this  part  of  the  county.  Some  of  you 
felt  it  in  your  beds,  and  others  heard  it  in  your  pits.  The  shock  reached 
Shrewsbury,  and  struck  consternation  into  its  gay  inhabitants,  one  of 
whom  lost  her  senses  on  the  awful  occasion.  Foolish  virgins  heard  then 
the  midnight  cry  :  "  Behold  !  the  bridegroom  cometh  !"  Careless  sinners 
felt  the  terrible  alarm  :  "  Behold  !  the  Judge  is  at  the  door!"  And  stub- 
born  offenders  thought  that  Divine  vengeance  pursued  them  in  a  chariot 
moving  upon  rumbling,  thundering  wheels.  But  Omnipotence  only 
threatened  to  give  the  blow  which  it  began  to  strike  here  yesterday. 
Mighty  God,  if  thou  strike  again,  strike  in  mercy ;  remembering  that 
we  are  but  dust ;  and  help  us  to  consider  this  blow  that  we  may  all  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  take  refuge  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  where 
only  we  can  be  secure. 

Our  phenomenon  has  several  parts.  Each  of  them  will  afford  us 
some  important  instruction. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  behold  there  how  these  words  of  my  text,  "  The 
earth  opened  her  mouth,"  have  had  another  awful  accomplishment. 
She  horribly  yawns  in  our  sight,  and  forms  sepulchres  wide,  long,  and 
deep  enough,  not  only  to  take  in  Dathan,  Abiram,  and  their  families, 
but  to  bury  this  immense  congregation.  Hundreds  of  you  now  stand  in 
one  of  them,  and  cover  but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  its  bottom.  Glory 
be  to  God  for  not  suffering  it  to  shut  its  mouth  over  you,  as  the  enormous 
fish  did  over  the  disobedient  prophet ! 

O  ye  earthly  minded,  shall  our  mother  earth,  of  which  you  are  so 
fond,  open  her  mouth ;  and  shall  you  stand  in  her  very  jaws,  without 
being  able  to  understand  her  language  ?  Here  she  fell  in  labour  yester- 
day :  in  her  throes  she  removed  a  road,  a  wood,  a  river ;  and  was  deli- 
vered of  those  mounts.  Her  convulsions  are  over,  but  she  keeps  a  thou- 
sand mouths  open ;  and  each  of  them  speaks  to  an  attentive  heart,  and 
says,  "  O  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  your  parent's  word  :"  I  stand  ready 
to  receive  you ;  but  are  you  ready  to  return  to  me,  and  sink  into  the 
cold  bosom  whence  you  were  taken  ?  But,  ready  or  not  ready,  you 
must  come ;  and  your  putrid  remains  must  be  mingled  with  my  sordid 
dust. 

Sinners,  take  the  uncommon  warning ;  prepare  for  dissolution  and 
judgment.  Dathan  and  Abiram  are  not  the  only  men  who,  to  alarm  our 
fears  and  hasten  our  repentance,  have  descended  alive  into  the  grave. 
Did  you  never  hear  of  Lima,  the  metropolis  of  Peru,  which  was  totally 
buried  by  a  dreadful  earthquake  1  Have  you  never  read  dismal  accounts 
of  Port  Royal,  that  rich  trading  town  in  Jamaica  ?  and  of  Catana,  that 
large  flourishing  city  in  Sicily,  which  have  shared  the  horrible  fate  of 


78  SERMON. 

Lima?     And  is  not  the  dire  overthrow  of  Lisbon   still  fresh   in  the 
memory  of  all  Europe  1 

If  earthquakes  are  not  terrible  enough  to  make  us  stand  in  awe  before 
God ;  do  you  not  know  that  to  the  tremours  of  the  earth  he  can  add 
deluges  of  fire?  Has  he  not  done  it  already?  Do  not  Moses  and 
St.  Jude  inform  us  that  "  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Adma  and  Zeboim, 
suffered  vengeance  from  heaven  ?"  And  has  not  the  world  shuddered 
in  barely  hearing  of  those  broad  and  deep  rivers  of  liquid  fire,  which 
from  time  to  time  break  out  of  burning  mountains,  carrying  villages 
before  them,  and  after  flowing  several  miles,  cover  large  towns  with  fiery 
vengeance  ?  In  our  days  the  ruins  of  two,  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii, 
have  been  discovered  near  Mount  Vesuvius.  Nor  is  this  an  idle  tale, 
invented  to  frighten  weak  minds.  I  have  walked  myself  in  the  streets 
of  one  of  those  unhappy  cities,  which  the  king  of  Naples  has  partly 
brought  to  light  by  removing  part  of  the  stratum  of  earth  and  ashes 
under  which  it  lay  buried :  and  I  have  reached  the  theatre  or  play 
house  of  the  other,  by  descending  many  fathoms  through  a  well  sunk 
in  a  rocky  cinder,  that  was  once  the  fiery  fluid  with  which  the  whole 
city  was  filled  and  covered. 

To  past,  we  may  add  future  events  of  this  alarming  nature  :  for,  when 
they  are  clearly  foretold  in  Scripture,  they  are  as  certain  as  if  they  had 
already  happened.  Thus  our  Lord  speaks  of  earthquakes  that  shall 
happen  in  divers  places ;  and  St.  John  gives  us  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  two,  in  his  prophetic  visions : — "  The  same  hour  there  was  a 
great  earthquake,  and  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell  ;  and  in  the  earth- 
quake were  slain  seven  thousand  men ;  and  the  remnant  were  affright- 
ed, and  gave  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven,"  Rev.  xi,  13.  Here  we  see 
the  design  of  such  direful  phenomena ;  namely,  to  frighten  men  out  of 
their  impiety,  and  to  make  them  give  glory  to  the  God  of  heaven,  for  his 
mercy,  power,  and  justice.  Again  :  "  A  mighty  angel  took  up  a  stone 
like  a  great  mill  stone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea,  saying,  Thus,  with  vio- 
lence, shall  that  great  city  Babylon  be  thrown  down,  and  shall  be  found 
no  more  at  all,"  Rev.  xviii,  21.  And  thus,  O  thus,  may  our  sins  (the 
Babylon  within)  be  cast  this  day,  as  the  prophet  expresses  it,  into  the 
depth  of  the  sea,  into  the  ocean  of  God's  mercy,  and  the  streams  of  the 
Redeemer's  blood  !  So  shall  they  be  found  no  more  at  all  :  and  an 
uncommon  or  a  common  grave  shall  find  us  its  willing  and  cheerful 
prey.  For  whether  we  shall  be  buried  alive,  as  Dathan  and  many  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Lisbon,  or  dead,  as  the  people  we  last  committed  to  the 
earth,  we  must  all  return  to  the  dust. 

If  we  be  ready  for  that  awful  change,  it  will  not  matter  whether  we 
are  let  into  a  grave  six  feet  long,  or  into  one  as  enormous  as  this  chasm  ; 
nor  yet  will  it  signify,  whether  we  are  covered  by  a  spadeful  of  mould, 
after  a  minister  has  said  over  us,  "  Earth  to  earth,  ashes  to  ashes,  dust 
to  dust ;"  or  whether  Divine  Providence  takes  upon  itself  the  minister's 
office,  and  commands  an  earthquake  to  do  that  of  the  sexton.  In  either 
case  we  must  equally  moulder  away. 

Should  we,  on  the  contrary,  be  unprepared,  unconverted,  our  bodies 
must  not  only  become  the  noisome  prey  of  corruption  and  worms,  but 
Dur  souls  must  be  that  of  insulting  fiends  ;  for  Tophet,  the  great  fiery 
grave,  is  prepared  of  old  ;  and  thither  the  poor  cursing  drunkard,  though 


SERMON.  79 

ever  so  meanly  buried,  follows  the  rich  uncharitable  glutton  in  all  his 
funeral  pomp.  •'  Wo,  therefore,  unto  them  that  draw  iniquity  with  the 
cords  of  vanity,  and  sin  as  it  were  with  a  cart  rope  :  for  hell  has  enlarged 
herself,  and  opened  her  mouth  without  measure :  and  their  glory,  and 
their  multitude,  and  their  pomp,  and  he  that  rejoiceth  in  wickedness, 
shall  descend  into  it."  Merciful  Lord !  keep  us  from  fathoming  the 
horrors  of  that  bottomless  chasm,  by  the  line  of  our  own  experience. 

Impenitent  sinners,  who  stand  fearless  on  its  brink,  I  tremble  for  you. 
What  shall  I  say  to  move  you  to  repentance  1  And  how  shall  I  entreat 
you  to  give  up  your  sins  ?  By  the  miraculous  grave  of  Dathan,  by  the 
dying  shriek  of  Abiram,  by  these  tremendous  chasms,  by  the  common 
grave  into  which  you  may  suddenly  drop,*  and,  above  all,  by  the  grave 
of  Jesus  Christ,  I  beseech  you,  loathe,  cast  away,  bury  your  iniquities : 
so  shall  they  not  be  your  eternal  ruin  ;  and  the  end  of  these  astonishing 
graves  shall  be  answered.  Grant  me  this  reasonable  request ;  or  rather 
grant  it  to  God,  who  makes  it  by  this  amazing  visitation ;  and  when  the 
earth  opens  her  mouth,  as  at  this  day,  hear  the  voice  of  Providence,  and 
harden  not  your  hearts. 

2.  As  our  crimes  are  multiplied,  so  is  our  danger,  and  so  are  God's 
warnings.  What  is  become  of  the  barn  that  stood  by  that  house  yester- 
day ?  Has  it  made  itself  wings  to  fly  away,  as  riches  frequently  do  ? 
No  :  it  moved  without ;  and  hastening  like  you,  sinners,  toward  destruc- 
tion, it  did  not  stop  till  it  sunk  into  the  pit,  where  you  see  the  remains 
of  its  crushed  roof.  So  sunk  Dathan's  house !  So  shall  one  day  sink 
the  wicked  and  their  cruel  habitations  !  They  will  not  know  the  day  of 
their  visitation ;  and  ere  long  their  place  shall  know  them  no  more. 

Come  hither,  ye  that  do  not  build  the  tower  of  your  hopes  upon  the 
rock  ;  ye  that,  scorning  the  Redeemer's  inestimable  merits,  or  his  holy 
precepts,  make  the  sand  of  your  Pharisaic  righteousness,  or  of  your 
Antinomian  faith,  your  loose  foundation :  so  shall  your  expectation  of 
heaven  perish,  if  you  persist  in  your  error.  The  sure  word  of  prophecy 
has  passed  his  lips :  "  Every  one  that  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man  who  built  his 
house  upon  the  sand  :  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and 
the  winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house ;  and  it  fell,  and  great  was 
the  fall  of  it." 

Thus  our  Lord  ended  his  sermon  on  the  mount,  where  he  invites  us 
to  behold  how  kindly  our  heavenly  Father  feeds  the  fowls  of  the  air, 
which  neither  sow,  nor  gather  into  barns.  And  as  the  wise  man  bids 
the  sluggard  go  to  the  ant,  for  a  pattern  of  diligence,  I  am  not  above 
pointing  you,  for  an  example  of  vigilance  and  speedy  escape,  to  some 
watchful  fowls,  which  roosted  yesterday  in  that  building.  At  the  first 
appearance  of  danger,  they  took  the  providential  hint,  flew  out,  and  were 
all  preserved.  And  shall  you,  careless  sinners,  be  less  diligent  about 
your  escape  out  of  this  transitory  world,  than  those  irrational  creatures 

*  A  woman,  thirty-five  years  of  age,  passing  before  a  looking  glass  the  day 
after  she  heard  this  sermon,  was  surprised  to  see  an  unusual  paleness  upon  her 
face.  She  called  her  husband,  told  him  she  was  a  dying  woman,  and  actually 
died  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  She  heard  me  on  the  Friday,  and  I  buried  her  on 
the  Monday  following.  Another  middle-aged  person,  that  was  also  among  my 
hearers,  followed  her  to  the  grave  the  next  day  in  the  next  parish.  How  soon 
may  we  be  cal  ed  to  give  an  account  of  what  we  speak  or  hear,  write  or  read. 


80  SERMON. 

were  about  theirs  out  of  the  transitory  barn  ?  The  crowing  of  a  cock 
roused  a  fallen  apostle  :  when  lie  heard  it  "  he  went  out  and  wept  bit- 
terly." And  shall  not  the  timely  flight  of  more  than  one  fowl  make 
you  pray  with  David,  "  0  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a  dove !  for  then 
would  I  fly  away  and  be  at  rest  ?"  With  the  wings  of  prayer  and  faith 
I  would  fly  to  him,  who  says,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  travail  under 
a  sense  of  your  danger,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  as  well  as  safety  : 
"  for  God  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life  and  everlasting  rest." 

But  I  should  not  do  justice  to  this  part  of  my  subject,  if  I  kept  from 
you  a  just  observation  of  the  gentleman  who  rents  this  ground.  "  How 
uncertain,"  said  he,  yesterday,  "  is  every  thing  below !  and  how  easily 
can  God  blast  our  best-concerted  schemes !  We  hope  to  secure  our 
money  by  withdrawing  it  from  the  fluctuating  stocks  ;  we  think  to  rescue 
it  from  the  dangers  that  accompany  navigation,  by  laying  it  out  on  a  land 
estate  :  but  now  we  see  that  when  God  commands,  a  solid  building  can 
sink  on  the  land,  as  easily  as  a  leaky  ship  can  founder  at  sea." 

O  ye  that  make  it  your  grand  business  to  add  house  to  house,  and 
field  to  field  ;  ye  that  say,  like  the  rich  farmer  in  the  Gospel,  "  My 
barns  are  full :  soul,  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry ;"  own 
the  truth  of  that  observation.  If  ye  will  not  believe  that  God  can  say  to 
each  of  you,  "  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee  ;" 
confess  at  least,  upon  the  fact  of  which  you  are  now  witnesses,  that  he 
can  say,  "  Thou  fool,  to-morrow  thy  barns  or  houses  shall  be  required 
of  thee."  And  upon  such  a  consideration  begin  to  pay  a  proper  regard 
to  our  Lord's  command :  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon 
earth,  where  moth  and  rust  do  corrupt ;  where  the  thieves  break  through 
and  steal ;"  where  fire  consumes  and  water  submerges,  and  where  earth- 
quakes subvert  and  overthrow  :  "  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven,"  where  all  blessings  are  as  permanent  as  God  himself. 

3.  Now  the  barn  has  disappeared,  consider  those  fields ;  with  hard 
labour  and  great  expense  they  have  been  lately  stocked  and  improved. 
That  fallow  was  nearly  ploughed  ;  but  God's  plough  has  come  across 
that  of  the  husbandmen.  See  the  difference  of  the  furrows  !  Here  is 
one  that  looks  like  a  valley  !  How  soon  could  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
plough  up  all  the  earth  with  the  same  implement  of  destruction  !  When 
these  fields  felt  it,  they  heaved,  they  moved,  they  tossed,  they  precipi- 
tated chiefly  toward  the  stream  of  yonder  river.  And  yet,  sinners,  when 
all  the  curses  of  God's  broken  law  are  levelled  at  your  corrupt  hearts, 
and  all  the  vials  of  his  righteous  wrath  are  going  to  burst  over  your 
guilty  heads,  you  do  not  flee  to  the  stream  of  the  Redeemer's  blood  :  you 
are  insensible  and  motionless ;  nay,  some  of  you  heartily  challenge  the 
descending  storm ;  and  to  one  cold  prayer  for  salvation  you  breathe 
perhaps  ten  fervent  wishes  for  eternal  death  and  endless  torments  ;  in  a 
word,  for — damnation. 

Among  the  sentences  which  open  the  service  of  our  Church,  we  find 
this  Divine  command  :  "  Rend  your  heart,  and  not  your  garments  ;  and 
turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God,"  &c  ;  but  how  few  people  obey  it  after 
hearing  it  a  thousand  times !  God  yesterday,  for  the  first  time,  com- 
manded these  fields  to  rend  the  rocks  in  their  bowels  ;  to  tear  the  green 
carpets  that  cover  the  surface  ;  and  to  turn  some  south,  others  east  and 


SERMON.  81 

west :  and  he  was  obeyed.  Thus  the  word  jf  the  Lord  which  is  per- 
petually  slighted  by  the  generality  of  mankind,  was  instantly  submitted 
to  by  the  inanimate  creation.  O  my  fellow  sinners,  let  us  regard  the 
word  of  his  patience  ;  or  that  of  his  power,  which  yesterday  cut  per- 
pendicularly  some  of  these  rocks  without  any  instrument,  and  will  cut  us 
asunder  in  the  day  of  his  wrath,  and  appoint  us  our  portion  where,  in- 
stead of  music,  "there  will  be  weeping,  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

When  these  fields  fled,  and  tumbling  one  upon  another  in  their  flight, 
carrying  along  with  them  the  hedges  that  bind,  and  the  stately  oaks  that 
crown  them,  did  they  not  sensibly  demonstrate  the  truth  of  such  scrip- 
tures as  these  :  "  The  time  is  short :  it  remains  that  they  who  rejoice  be 
as  though  they  rejoiced  not ;  and  they  that  buy  as  though  they  possessed 
not ;  for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passes  away  ;  but  the  word  of  God 
abideth  for  ever."  And  yet,  infatuated  mortals,  we  despise  that  sure 
foundation,  and  build  our  happiness  upon  earth,  a  deceitful  basis,  that 
passes  away  as  certainly,  though  not  so  swiftly,  as  the  river  that  flows 
in  our  sight,  or  the  clouds  that  fly  over  our  heads. 

But  I  mistake, — yesterday  these  solid  fields  flowed  as  if  they  had  been 
water  :  and  as  they  flowed,  they  washed  those  trees  and  bushes  along  as 
visibly  as  the  current  of  the  Severn  carries  down  your  barges  and  cora- 
cles :  and  more  sensibly  than  the  stream  of  time  carries  into  eternity  the 
king  upon  the  throne,  and  the  beggar  on  the  dung  hill. 

All  things  under  the  sun  are  in  a  fluctuating  condition ;  all  move  to- 
ward ruin  or  restoration  in  a  future  state :  but  in  general  we  take  no 
notice  of  our  critical  and  awful  circumstances.  As  mischievous  insects, 
busy  in  fretting  a  bale  of  goods  shipped  for  the  other  hemisphere,  reach 
the  Indies  before  they  are  sensible  that  the  ship  has  set  sail ;  so  thou- 
sands of  busy  mortals  are  landed  on  the  eternal  shore  before  they  have 
considered  that  the  earth  is  but  the  great  ship,  where  the  inhabitants  of 
a  whole  kingdom  are  wafted  together  into  eternity. 

"  Love  not  the  world,  (says  St.  John,)  neither  the  things  that  are  in 
the  world  \  for  the  world  passeth  away,  and  the  lust  thereof :  but  he  that 
does  the  will  of  God  abideth  for  ever."  Now  this  passing  away  of  the 
world  is  as  great  a  mystery  to  unbelievers.,  as  the  host  of  guardian  angels 
was  to  the  frighted  young  man  in  Dothan,  before  the  Lord  had  opened 
his  eyes,  that  he  might  see  the  mountain  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of 
fire  round  about  Elisha.  But  as  the  prophet's  servant  was  formerly 
favoured  with  a  sight  of  his  master's  cherubic  guard,  so  were  the  people 
of  that  house  permitted  yesterday  to  behold  "  the  world  [literally]  passing 
away  with  the  things  that  are  in  the  world."  And  these  solid  ruins  tes- 
tify that  they  did  not  see  "  the  idle  fabric  of  a  vision  which  leaves  not  a 
wreck  behind  them,"  but  an  awful  reality  which  ought  to  leave  the  most 
lasting  impression  upon  all  our  hearts.  Believers,  if  you  do  not  see  these 
fields  and  buildings  in  motion,  let  your  faith  supply  the  want  of  that  sight ; 
and  let  this  wreck  add  strength  to  your  faith. 

But  need  we  walk  by  faith  to  see  the  transitoriness  of  the  world  and 
of  all  that  it  contains  1  Is  not  sight  sufficient  to  give  us  the  alarm  ? 
Look  which  way  you  please,  and  you  see  that  all  things  evidence  the 
winged  despatch  of  the  universe.  Consider  the  heaven,  and  you  behold 
planets  continually  moving  ;  sun  and  moon  rising  and  setting  ;  days  and 
nights  growing  longer  or  shorter ;  seasons  pushing  one  another  on  : 

Vol.  IV.  6 


82  SERMON. 

clouds  formed,  driven,  and  dispersed  :  winds  rising,  whistling,  and  falling : 
and  the  weather  as  unfixed  as  the  gilded  cock  that  shows  its  variations. 
Look  at  the  earth,  and  you  discover  a  perpetual  rotation  of  droughts 
and  land  floods,  frost  and  thaw,  sowing  and  reaping,  gathering  and  con- 
suming. Slow  ages  measure  the  duration  of  forests,  quicker  years  that  ot 
trees,  rapid  months  that  of  leaves,  weeks  or  days  that  of  the  insects  which 
live  upon  them.  And  the  impetuous  stream  of  time  sweeps  days,  weeks, 
months,  years,  and  ages  away  ;  as  they  themselves  do  all  that  is  limited 
to  the  circle  of  their  duration. 

Read  the  history  of  the  world,  and  you  will  find  it  nothing  but  a  nar- 
rative of  the  building,  enlarging,  and  destruction  of  cities:  the  rise,  ag- 
grandizing, and  fall  of  empires.  Peruse  the  weekly  publications,  and 
you  will  find  them  full  of  the  changes  and  chances  which,  like  so  many 
billows,  toss  the  court  and  the  exchange,  the  Church  and  the  state.  Cast 
your  eyes  over  that  skeleton  of  parochial  history  which  we  call  a  regis- 
ter :  a  perpetual  rotation  of  births,  marriages,  and  burials,  makes  the 
whole  of  the  dry  performance. 

Elderly  sinner,  your  name  is  perhaps  in  two  pages  already,  and  your 
envious  competitor  would  not  be  sorry  to  see  it  in  the  third.  Your  youth 
is  gone,  your  beauty  fades,  your  strength  decays,  grey  hairs  steal  in 
upon  your  temples,  and  wrinkles  mark  you  out  in  the  forehead,  as  a 
prey  almost  ready  for  the  grave.  While  all  your  friends  tell  one  ano- 
ther "  how  fast  you  break,"  and  how  "  strangely  you  are  altered  ;"  will 
you  never  consider  it  yourself?  Will  you  mind  nothing  but  the  fall  of 
the  market,  and  the  changes  in  the  ministry,  or  in  the  fashion  ?  Shall 
a  greedy  heir  see  your  name  written  in  the  register  of  burials,  before  it 
be  written  in  the  book  of  life  ?  And  when  the  world  passes  away  ;  when 
all  things  around  you  are  in  motion,  will  you,  to  the  last,  be  as  he  that 
"  lieth  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  or  as  he  that  sleepeth  on  the  top  of 
a  mast  ?" 

If  you  say  that  I  carry  matters  too  far,  with  respect  to  the  transiton- 
ness  of  the  world  ;  and  if  you  oppose  to  my  reflections  the  solidity  of 
rocks,  and  the  stability  of  the  earth  ;  before  all  these  witnesses,  I  appeal 
to  matter  of  fact,  and  aver,  without  fear  of  being  contradicted,  that  yes- 
terday the  rocks  rent  and  shifted  here,  as  the  sails  of  a  ship  do  in  a 
violent  storm  ;  while  the  earth  streamed  like  yonder  river,  and  rolled 
about  like  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Up  then  !  for  "  this  is  not  your  rest." 
If  you  will  find  a  solid  rock,  seek  the  "  Rock  of  Ages" — the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  :  if  you  will  inhabit  a  permanent  city,  set  out  for  the  New  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  if  you  will  dwell  on  a  truly  stable  earth,  "  look  for,  and 
hasten  unto  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness." 

4.  But  has  God  laid  his  hands  upon  the  fields  only  ?  Has  he  not  done 
a  new  thing  in  the  vegetable  creation  also?  Have  not  these  stately 
trees,  has  not  that  whole  w.rod  (although  fastened  to  the  earth  by  liga- 
ments innumerable)  moved  as  fast  as  if  the  roots  had  been  the  wheels 
of  a  flying  chariot?  Another  instance  this  of  the  transitoriness  of  the 
most  steadfast  things  in  the  world  ! 

Some  of  those  itinerant  oaks  that  stand  as  upright  and  green  as  ever, 
though  they  have  been  violently  shaken,  and  carried  into  the  midst  of  the 
river,  represent  you,  righteous  men,  whom  the  Scriptures  call  "  trees  of 


SERMON.  83 

righteousness,"  and  compare  to  trees  planted  by  the  water  side,  that 
bring  forth  their  fruit  in  due  season,  and  whose  leaf  shall  not  wither. 
In  the  midst  of  the  most  uncommon  concussions  and  dreadful  alarms, 
like  those  upright  oaks,  you  may  steadily  lift  up  your  heads  to  heaven  ; 
"  confessing  that  you  are  strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  earth  ;"  witnessing 
that  the  Christian  is  well,  wherever  Providence  casts  his  lot ;  and  expo 
riencing  that  God  "delivers  obedient  Israel  out  of  all  his  troubles." 

May  not  others  of  those  oaks  which  bend  forward,  and  hang  down 
their  lofty  heads,  represent  you,  uncgnverted  men,  who  bend  under  the 
weight  of  threescore  years  spent  in  iniquity,  and  are  just  ready  for  a 
final  overthrow  ?  And  may  we  not  also  gather  instruction  from  those 
that  lie  flat  upon  the  ground,  or  across  the  stream,  with  their  branches 
broken,  and  their  roots  turned  up  1  May  we  not  learn  from  them  "  how 
transgressors  shall  be  rooted  out  of  the  earth  ?"  Yes,  sinners,  whose 
hearts,  harder  than  oak,  yield  to  no  tender  entreaty,  no  solemn  warning, 
no  awful  threatening ;  if  you  persist  in  your  impenitency,  a  fit  of  sickness, 
perhaps  a  terrible  accident,  will  turn  up  your  roots.  .  Nor  will  your 
strong  constitutions,  and  green  strength,  avert  the  descending  stroke. 
You  may  as  easily  be  extirpated  in  the  spring  of  your  days,  as  some  of 
those  trees  were  in  this  fine  month ;  and  on  the  sweet  morn  that  yester- 
day dawned  upon  them.  It  behooves  you  then  to  remember  the  saying 
of  the  wise  man:  "Where  the  tree  falls  there  it  lies."  If  you  fall 
among  the  wicked,  you  must  lie  with  them  ;  not  across  the  gentle  stream 
of  the  Severn,  but  across  the  fiery  stream  of  Divine  indignation,  which 
will  run  against  your  stubborn  spirits  as  that  river  beats  upon  those 
vanquished  oaks. 

In  the  meantime  you  may  flourish  as  the  crab  tree  did,  that  was  yester- 
day in  the  opposite  meadow,  and  is  now  battered  in  the  middle  of  the 
river ;  you  may  even  as  much  surpass  your  neighbours  in  honours, 
riches,  and  impiety,  as  those  fallen  trees  did  the  bushes  that  grew  under 
their  shade ;  but  take  care  that  your  impious  stateliness  be  not  the 
occasion  of  your  aggravated  ruin.  By  rising  high,  and  spreading  wide 
the  branches  of  your  wickedness,  you  may  draw  the  lightning  of  Divine 
vengeance  the  sooner ;  as  a  lofty  oak  that  towered  some  years  ago  on 
that  very  spot.  Hundreds  in 'this  congregation  may  remember  that  it 
was  even  more  suddenly  blasted  by  fire  from  the  clouds  than  some  of 
yonder  trees  were  overthrown  by  the  heavings  of  the  earth  or  the  onsets 
of  the  river.  We  were  then  spared  as  we  are  now,  and  God,  by  shat- 
tering to  pieces  one  of  the  tallest  oaks  at  the  Birches,  showed  what  he 
could  have  done  then,  and  what  he  will  one  day  do  to  the  great  men  of 
the  world,  who  lift  up  their  Atheistical  foreheads  against  Heaven  :  yea, 
and  you  too,  abject  sinners,  who  are  brambles  in  point  of  human  gran- 
deur— and  yet  cedars  in  point  of  diabolical  wickedness. 

5.  But,  withdrawing  our  attention  from  the  trees,  let  us  fix  it  upon  the 
road.  What  a  strange  alteration — what  a  dreadful  overthrow  is  here ! 
Toward  Madeley,  it  is  blocked  up  by  bushes,  hedges,  and  enormous 
clods,  promiscuously  tumbled  on  the  ruins  of  a  bridge.  Nearer  us  it 
is  forced  up,  shattered  as  the  craggy  sides  of  a  volcano,  sunk  in,  con- 
tracted, or  inclining  on  one  side  ;.  while  toward  Buildwas  it  has  totally 
disappeared ;  having  been  carried  away  in  ruinous  heaps,  to  a  consider- 
able distance. 


34  SERMON. 

And  shall  we  reap  no  benefit  from  this  new  thing  that  the  Lord  has 
done  in  the  earth  ?  Shall  nobody  take  this  occasion  to  deplore  the  pro- 
faneness  of  the  great,  who  bring  a  curse  upon  roads  by  the  pleasure 
journeys  they  take  on  the  days  of  sacred  rest,  which  they  should  keep 
holy  with  their  families  in  the  house  of  God  ? 

Shall  no  well  wisher  to  our  Church  and  country  take  this  opportunity 
of  lamenting  the  uncommon  wickedness  of  wagoners  and  drivers  of 
horses  ?  How  often  have  our  ears  been  struck  with  their  dire  impreca- 
tions :  and  our  eyes  with  their  savage,  unmerciful,  reeling  drunkenness, 
or  stupid  insolence  !  As  I  might  ask,  which  of  these  subverted  fields  has 
not  been  yearly  polluted  by  the  impious,  uncharitable,  or  unchaste  actions 
or  expressions  of  wanton  reapers,  or  libidinous  hay  makers  ;  so  I  may 
inquire,  which  of  the  overthrown  bushes,  which  yesterday  formed  the 
hedges  of  yonder  subverted  grove,  has  not  been  witness  to  the  flagrant 
wickedness  of  the  men  that  travel  it. 

Incredible  as  the  assertion  may  appear,  I  can  testify  before  God,  that 
over  against  us  is  the  very  place  where  I  met  one  of  them  committing  a 
shameful  crime  in  the  middle  of  the  highway.  I  blushed  to  see  him  ; 
but,  as  great  a  stranger  to  faith  as  the  pack  of  horses  which  went 
before,  he  did  not  blush  before  God  and  angels.  Unclean  wretch,  if 
thou  art  hid  in  the  skirts  of  this  congregation,  and  if  shame  will  give 
thee  leave  to  look  back,  see  the  spot  which  thou  hast  defiled.  Behold  ! 
it  has  heaved  under  the  burden  of  that  crime  which  thou  hast  probably 
repeated.  The  holy  God,  who  overthrew  Sodom,  has  overthrown  it.  It 
hangs  on  one  side,  and  testifies,  that  if  thou  hast  not  repented,  thou  art 
at  this  moment  hanging  over  the  pit  of  destruction.  Before  thou  tallest 
in,  hide  thy  blushing  face  in  the  dust  at  Jesus'  feet :  flee  with  Mary 
Magdalene  to  the  "fountain  opened  for  sin  and  uncleanness ;"  or,  like 
filthy,  leprous  Naaman,  "  wash  seven  times,  yea,  seventy  times  seven," 
in  the  Jordan  of  his  precious  blood. 

Go,  sinner,  polluted  as  thou  art,  thou  mayest  yet  be  made  clean. 
Christ  himself  invites  thee  in  the  Gospel.  "  Come  unto  me,"  says  he, 
"  let  us  reason  together,  and  though  thy  sins  be  red  as  crimson,  or  black 
as  hell,  they  shall  be  made  white  as  snow."  Arise,  unchaste  prodigal, 
go  to  thy  merciful  Father  by  that  compassionate  Mediator.  "  He  is  the 
way," — a  highway  to  God,  a  sure  though  narrow  way  to  heaven  ;  a 
way  so  straight,  that  a  traveller  to  Sion,  though  a  fool,  need  not  mis- 
carry— a  royal  wav,  that  no  forces  of  hell  can  obstruct — a  way  ever- 
lasting, that  no  earthquakes  can  overthrow.  Only  remember,  that  it  is 
a  clean  way,  and  if  thou  attempt  to  pollute  it,  by  returning  to  thy  sins  as 
a  dog  to  his  vomit,  it  will  rise  like  yonder  road,  and  cast  thee  off'  with 
an  abhorrence  suitable  to  thy  filthiness,  and  the  purity  of  him  that  cast 
it  up.  "  Serve  then  the  Lord  in  fear,  and  kiss  the  Son,  with  holy  reve- 
rence, lest  you  perish  out  of  the  way,  if  his  wrath  is  kindled,  yea,  but  a 
little." 

6.  But  let  us  look  beyond  the  road,  and  consider  what  new  thing  the 
Lord  has  done  in  yonder  field  of  oats.  Yesterday  it  promised,  perhaps, 
as  fine  a  crop  as  any  in  the  county ;  and  to-day  how  strangely  is  it 
worked  by  the  destroyer's  tool !  How  unexpectedly  are  the  husband, 
man's  hopes  and  labour  cut  off!  What  deep  cuts  !  What  wide  gashes  ! 
How  much  wider  and  deeper  are  many  of  them  than  common  graves ' 


SERMON.  85 

Can  we  see  them,  and  not  thank  God  we  are  not  hewn  in  pieces  before 
the  Lord  by  the  destroyer,  as  wicked  Agag  was  by  Samuel  ? 

God  said  yesterday,  "  Sword,  ao  through  that  field  :"  and  that  over- 
throw instantly  ensued.  If  he  should  say  now,  "  Sword,  go  through 
that  congregation,"  how  swiftly  would  the  messenger  of  his  vengeance 
go  forth  !  How  soon  should  we  be  like  Sennacherib's  army,  dead 
corpses  on  these  ruins  !  And,  O  !  how  many  would  be  damned  souls  in 
hell !  Alas  !  as  many  as  are  sly  lovers  of  this  world,  like  lying  Ana- 
nias ;  as  many  as  have  scorned  to  make  "  their  robes  white  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,"  like  the  proud  Pharisee  ;  and  as  many  as  are  fast  asleep 
in  their  sins,  like  the  foolish  virgins ;  and  utterly  unprepared  for  death, 
like  the  rich  glutton. 

7.  But  what  appears  still  more  extraordinary  than  the  mangling  of 
this  field,  is  the  sudden  sinking  of  the  eminences,  and  rise  of  the  hollows 
that  were  in  it ;  in  a  word,  it  is  the  formation  of  those  mounts.  Tell 
us,  ye  that  prefer  the  name  of  philosopher  to  that  of  Christian,  what 
mighty  spur  pricked  that  dull  field,  when  it  is  thus  reared  up  ?  If  royal 
power  had  pent  under  it  a  herd  of  elephants,  could  they  have  heaved 
together  as  moles  so  as  to  form  that  shattered  mount  ?  O  confess  your 
ignorance ;  while  you  try  to  find  out  the  mysteries  of  the  natural  world, 
be  no  longer  ashamed  publicly  to  confess  the  God  of  nature,  and  humbly 
to  adore  the  God  of  grace. 

David  tells  you  who  is  the  author  of  that  phenomenon,  where  he  says : 
"  Behold  the  works  of  the  Lord,  what  desolations  he  has  made  in  the 
earth,"  to  punish  or  warn  its  sinful  inhabitants.  The  God  that  for- 
merly shook  Mount  Sinai,  and  continues  to  raise  Mount  Vesuvius,*  has 
formed  these  eminences  to  confound  your  unsanctified  wisdom,  and 
alarm  your  ungodly  fears. 

O !  may  a  salutary  dread  of  this  almighty  God  be  in  you  "  the  begin- 
ning of  true  wisdom !"  May  you  be  found  restored  to  his  favour  and 
imao-e,  when  he  shall  fulfil  this  awful  prophecy:  "Yet  once  more  I  shake 
not  the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven ;  which  signifies  the  removing  of 
those  things  that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that  are  made :  that  those 
things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may  remain,"  Heb.  xii,  26. 

In  that  awful  day,  foretold  by  St.  Peter,  and-  mentioned  by  Ovid,f 
when  the  "  visible  heavens,  and  this  accursed  earth,  which  are  reserved 
unto  fire,  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,"  where  will  you  hide  your  guilty- 
distracted  heads,  if  ye  persist  to  slight  your  Saviour,  and  to  represent  the 
love  of  God  and  man  as  rank  enthusiasm  ?  Will  you  cry  to  such  a  valley 
as  this  chasm  to  receive  you  ?  Or  will  you  call  on  such  a  hill  as  that 
mount  to  cover  you  ?  Are  ye  gods,  instantly  to  sink  the  one,  or  raise 
the  other  1  "  O  !  how  shall  you  escape,  if  you  neglect  such  great  sal- 
vation as  is  offered  you  in  the  Gospel !"     Rather,  seeing  you  have  no 

*  It  is  not  improbable  that  Vesuvius  was  once  a  plain,  or  an  inconsiderable 
eminence,  and  that  the  rocks,  ashes,  lava,  &c,  that  make  the  bulk  of  it,  have 
been  vomited  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  volcano,  which  grows  larger  and  wider  by 
the  additional  matter  that  comes  out  of  it  at  every  new  eruption. 

t  "  Esse  quoque  in  fatis  reminiscitur  affore  tempus, 
Quo  mare,  quo  tellus,  correptaque  regia  cceli 
Ardeat,  et  mundi  moles  operosa  laboret." 

Ovid    Metam.  lib.  i,  line  256. 


86  SERMON. 

chance  of  escape,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of 
Israel?" 

8.  But  leaving  the  newly-formed  mounts,  through  heaps  of  ruins,  go 
to  the  ancient  bank  of  the  Severn.  You  come  to  it,  but  the  river  is  gone. 
You  are  in  the  middle  of  her  old  bed,  nay,  you  cross  it  before  you  sus- 
pect that  you  have  reached  her  shore  :  you  stand  in  the  deepest  part  of 
her  channel,  and  yet  you  are  in  a  wood :  large  oaks  spread  their  branches 
where  bargemen  unfurled  their  sails :  you  walk  to-day  on  solid  ground, 
where  fishes  yesterday  swam  in  twenty  feet  of  water.  A  rock,  that 
formed  the  bottom  of  the  river,  has  mounted  up  as  a  cork,  and  gained  a 
dry  place  on  the  bank,  while  a  travelling  grove  has  planted  itself  in  the 
waters,  and  a  fugitive  river  has  invaded  dry  land.  Other  instances  these 
of  the  instability  of  all  below  :  new  prodigies  wrought  by  the  God  of 
nature,  toshow  us  our  need  of  standing  upon  a  rock  more  solid  than  that 
which  yesterday  rose  up  many  feet  without  pulleys,  and  burst  in  ten  thou- 
sand pieces  without  gunpowder ! 

O  !  ye  that  call  pleasant  groves  and  delightful  rivers  after  your  names, 
cast  your  eyes  upon  the  changes  wrought  yonder ;  and  may  the  confu- 
sion of  this  estate  make  you  remember  the  words  of  the  apostle  :  "  Set 
your  affections  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth,  and  seek 
those  things  which  are  above,  where  a  pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear 
as  crystal,  proceeds  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb :  and  where, 
on  either  side  of  the  river,  the  tree  of  life  bears  leaves  for  the  healing, 
and  twelve  manner  of  fruits  for  the  refreshing  of  the  nations."  Those 
paradisiacal  trees,  and  that  celestial  river,  will  not  jostle  together ;  nor 
will  earthquakes  overturn  the  "  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who  have  chosen 
the  one  thing  needful,  Mary's  good  part,  that  shall  never  be  taken  away 
from  you." 

When  we  behold  how  some  of  these  fields  arose,  while  others  fled  ; 
and  how  that  overflowing  river  was  dashed  out  of  its  rocky  channel,  and 
forced  upward,  may  we  not  apply  to  those  singular  events  the  sublime 
words  of  the  psalmist :  "  Thou  art  the  God  that  doth  wonders  :  thou  hast 
declared  thy  power  among  the  people.  The  waters  saw  thee,  O  Lord, 
the  waters  saw  thee  -and  were  afraid  ;  the  depths  were  troubled ;  the 
earth  was  moved,  and  shook  withal :  the  river  saw  thy  rod,  and  fled. 
Severn  was  driven  back."  These  fields  "  skipped  like  rams,  and  those 
little  hills  like  young  sheep.  What  ailed  thee,"  O  mighty  river,  "  that 
thou  fleddest  ?  Thou  Severn,  that  thou  wast  driven  back  ?"  Did  the  im- 
piety of  the  inhabitants  of  Madeley  Wood  and  Broseley  shock  thee  back 
to  thy  source  ?  Didst  thou  flee  with  horror  from  the  guilty  shores,  where 
obdurate  artists,  drivers,  and  wagoners,  so  frequently  echo  back  the 
imprecations  of  cursing  colliers  and  swearing  watermen  ?  Had  theii 
brutish  excesses,  loud  quarrels,  and  savage  fights,  which  chill  the  blood 
of  a  few  righteous  Lots  among  us,  frighted  thee  from  the  cruel  habita- 
tions that  line  thy  banks  ?  Or  restraining  thy  streams  to  sink  our  vessels, 
and  ruin  our  trade,  wilt  thou  break  the  staff  of  our  bread  and  dry  up  the 
stream  of  our  sins  ?  "  What  ailed  thee,  that  thou  fleddest  ?  Tremble,  thou 
earth,  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  at  the  presence  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 
who  is  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing"  new  prodigies,  and 
repeating  old  "wonders." 


SERMON.  87 

God  spake  formerly,  and  Jordan  turnrd  back.  He  spake  again  yes- 
terday, and  Severn  imitated  Jordan.  Did  not  the  dreadful  noise  of  her 
recoiling  waves  cry  to  us,  "  Impetuous  as  I  am,  when  God  commands  I 
turn."  Turn  ye  then  also,  sinners,  at  this  terrible  reproof.  When  ye 
hear  the  roar  of  a  turning  river,  will  ye  not  be  converted  1  When  its 
senseless  streams  flow  back  without  wind  or  tide,  will  ye  not  consider  ? 
When  its  rocky  bottom  mounts  toward  heaven,  will  ye  not  lift  up  vour 
hearts?  And  when  a  whole  grove  marches  to  obstruct  the  navigation 
that  maintains  you,  will  you  remain  rooted  in  your  sins  ? 

Forbid  it,  gracious  Redeemer !  Look  upon  us  in  mercy,  and  suffer  us 
not  to  do  "  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace,"  in  sight  of  so  many  prodigies. 
Let  them  rather  bring  to  our  remembrance  the  profusion  of  the  unnatural 
sweat  in  Gethsemane,  and  the  streams  of  thy  precious  blood  on  Calvary. 
Let  them  remind  us  of  the  tearing  of  thy  sacred  body,  the  breaking  of 
the  rocks  around  thy  cross,  the  rending  of  the  veil  in  the  temple  ;  and 
the  double  earthquake,  that  added  terror  to  thy  death,  and  triumph  to 
thy  resurrection. 

9.  If  our  Lord  taught  his  disciples  by  comparisons  and  parables,  taken 
from  natural  things  and  daily  occurrences,  I  hope  I  shall  not  be  deemed 
a  flighty,  enthusiastical  preacher,  for  concluding  this  head  of  my  dis- 
course by  grafting  one  or  two  moral  or  spiritual  observations  upon  the 
branches  of  our  phenomenon. 

(1.)  So  long  as  we  fight  against  God  by  our  sins,  the  multiplied  curses, 
which  this  world  groans  under,  will  point  out  and  begin  to  punish  our 
crimes. 

Hissing  currents  of  air  and  forked  streams  of  fire,  together  with  con- 
flicting, thundering  clouds,  have  frequently  spread  terror  over  every  part 
of  the  earth:  but  yesterday  God  changed  Ihe  scene  in  this  place,  and 
scourged  us  by  the  dissension  of  the  grosser  elements.  Streaming  lands 
and  bursting  rocks,  militating  with  an  impetuous  overflowing  river,  were 
commanded  to  show  us  the  dreadful  effects  of  sin.  We  contend  with 
one  another  in  ridiculous  quarrels,  or  unjust  law  suits  ;  and  God,  to 
frighten  us  into  harmony,  bids  the  jarring  elements  give  one  another 
battle  in  our  sight,  and  make  us  feel  the  fatal  consequence  of  discord. 
Let  not  this  dreadful,  though  indirect  reproof,  be  given  you  in  vain,  ye 
whose  quarrelsome  disposition  is  your  neighbourhood's  nuisance.  In 
these  fields,  which  yesterday  crushed  each  other,  or  tore  themselves,  but 
now  are  peaceful  and  tranquil,  for  the  mild  Jesus'  sake  drop  all  your 
animosities  ;  be  ready  to  fall  upon  the  neck  of  your  offending  or  offended 
neighbour ;  nor  let  it  be  said  that  contentions  are  sooner  over  in  the 
natural  than  in  the  moral  world. 

(2.)  My  last  observation  is  intended  for  you  "  who  believe  in  the  Son 
of  God,  and  love  one  another."  When  the  river  had  obeyed  the  God 
of  nature  in  quitting  her  bed  and  flowing  back  to  her  source,  she  soon 
received  orders  to  pursue  her  journey.  Though  her  bed  was  lost,  and 
her  way  obstructed,  she  submitted,  and  with  incredible  violence  tore  all 
before  her,  till  she  found  a  free  passage  again. 

So  should  you,  believers,  be  ever  ready  to  fulfil  the  Divine  commands. 
If  the  Severn,  at  a  moment's  warning,  left  the  deep,  favourite  part  of  her 
bed ;  should  you  not  be  ready  to  leave  your  houses,  vour  estates,  and 
this  world  itself  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel,  whenever  God  calls 


88  SERMON. 

you  to  that  important  act  of  self  denial  ?  And  should  you  not,  through  all 
difficulties  and  obstacles,  "  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
you  ;  looking  unto  Jesus,"  and  tending  as  incessantly  toward  the  New 
Jerusalem  and  heaven,  as  the  Severn  does  toward  Bristol  and  the  sea ! 

If  your  spiritual  adversaries  triumph,  if  this  is  a  day  of  "  rebuke  and 
blasphemy;"  nay,  if  it  is  "the  hour  and  the  power  of  darkness  ;"  yet 
despair  not ;  you  are  still  in  the  field  ;  the  day  is  not  lost.  Strengthen 
yourselves  in  the  Lord.  Once  more  grasp  the  shield  of  faith,  and  in  the 
name  of  Him  who  waded  forty  days  and  forty  nights  through  floods  of 
horrid  temptations  in  the  wilderness,  who  sweated  blood  in  an  agony  of 
prayer  in  Gethsemane,  who  passed  through  a  dreadful  desertion  upon  the 
cross,  and  (notwithstanding  all)  cried  at  last  with  a  loud  voice,  "  It  is  finish- 
ed," I  have  won  the  day :  in  his  name,  I  say,  attack  your  enemy  with 
recruited  courage,  and  the  Lord  will  enable  you  to  break  through  all, 
and  enter  in  triumph  into  the  heavenly  Canaan.  Thus  shall  you  be  like 
that  river,  which  yesterday  was  worsted,  and  for  awhile  retreated  before 
those  embattled  oaks  ;  but  to-day  flows  triumphant  in  a  wider  channel, 
and  bears  down  all  that  opposes  its  course. 

IV.  We  have  seen  what  new  thing  the  Lord  did  formerly  to  punish 
stubborn  offenders  ;  and  what  he  did  yesterday  to  alarm  the  flagitious 
part  of  the  country.  Permit  me  now  to  close  this  discourse  by  some 
addresses  suited  to  your  various  states  and  to  this  present  occasion. 

(1.)  Unconverted  sinners,  your  danger  is  most  imminent,  and  there- 
fore I  address  you  first.  You  stand  in  slippery  places.  The  stream  of 
your  iniquities  has  long  undermined  the  foundation  of  your  hopes.  Hills 
of  guilt  and  mountains  of  vengeance  wait  only  for  the  beck  of  the  Lord 
to  crush  your  impure  bodies  into  the  grave,  and  press  your  polluted  souls 
down  to  the  nethermost  hell.  Were  the  eyes  of  your  understanding 
open,  you  would  see  yourselves  as  near  the  brink  of  eternal  misery,  as 
you  are  the  margin  of  this  chasm.  But  alas !  instead  of  securing  your- 
selves by  a  penitential  flight  from  sin  and  a  believing  recourse  to  Christ, 
you  are  easy ;  you  sleep  ;  you  dream  of  heaven.  And  if  at  any  time 
your  consciences  are  disturbed,  instead  of  shaking  yourselves  like  Sam- 
son, you  go  to  sleep  again  ;  after  calling  the  faithful  watchmen  of  Israel 
enthusiastical  disturbers  of  your  peace. 

,.  O !  may  this  phenomenon,  seconded  by  the  Redeemer's  grace,  do 
what  neither  sermons  nor  sicknesses,  neither  public  nor  private  visitations 
have  yet  effectually  done !  May  your  conscience  awake  and  sleep  no 
more  !  May  each  of  you  take  the  alarm,  and  cry  out  as  the  trembling 
jailer,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 

If  this  be  your  important  question,  I  answer : — Be  all  as  intent  upon 
forsaking  your  sins,  as  Lot  was  upon  running  out  of  Sodom,  when  the 
dreadful  artillery  of  heaven  began  to  play  upon  it ;  and  when  a  thousand 
flashes  of  lightning  showed  him  his  way  to  the  mountain.  Go  all  to 
Christ  by  prayer,  with  as  much  haste  as  Noah  went  into  the  ark,  when 
the  lowering  sky  was  just  going  to  dissolve  in  ceaseless  showers  over 
the  condemned  world.  Leave  your  sinful  companions  with  as  much 
precipitation  as  the  Israelites  left  the  infatuated  Egyptians  groaning 
under  the  strokes  of  the  destroyer's  sword.  And  be  as  ready  to  run 
from  your  places  of  sinful  diversions,  as  the  frighted  rebels  were  to  start 
from  the  place  where  screaming  Dathan  was  swallowed  up  alive.     Nay 


SERMON.  89 

let  your  hurry,  if  it  be  possible,  be  a  thousand  times  greater.  Is  not 
damnation  more  dreadful  than  an  untimely  grave  ?  And  the  bottomless 
pit  ten  thousand  times  more  terrible  than  these  chasms  1 

U  careless  sinners,  had  you  seen  the  diligence  with  which  those  fright- 
ened families  yesterday  made  their  escape,  you  might  guess  at  the 
trembling  haste  with  which  you  should  now  make  yours,  out  of  an  infi- 
nitely greater  danger.  And  had  you  beheld  them  when  they  gladly  for- 
sook all  their  property  to  save  their  lives,  you  might  form  some  just  idea 
of  the  meaning  of  our  Lord's  prophetic  warning,  Luke  xxi,  and  Matt, 
xxiv  :  "  There  shall  be  great  earthquakes,  and  distress  of  nations,  with 
perplexity ;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear,  and '  for  looking  after 
those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth.  Then  let  him  that  is  on 
the  housetop  not  come  down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his  house  ;  neither 
let  him  that  is  in  the  field  return  back  to  take  his  clothes."  Follow  the 
important  advice,  sinners.  In  these  desolated  fields  begin  to  provide  for 
the  safety  of  your  souls  ;  and,  instead  of  returning  back  to  the  vanities 
of  this  wicked  world,  "  watch  and  pray  always,  that  you  may  be  ac- 
counted worthy  to  escape  what  shall  come  to  pass  ;  and  to  stand  before 
the  Son  of  man." 

The  merciful  Lord,  that  warned  the  old  world  by  Noah,  Lot  by  the 
angels,  and  those  families  by  the  man  who  first  saw  this  desolation,  warns 
you  now  by  me.  Nay,  he  who  warned  you  yesterday  by  him  ;  a  Jonah 
was  graciously  spared  to  preach  to  us.  When  warm  gratitude  loosed 
his  tongue,  did  not  many  of  you  hear  him  say,  "  O  !.  if  the  world  had 
seen  what  I  saw  this  morning,  they  would  have  been  frightened  out  of 
their  sins.  Surely  it  was  enough  to  break  the  hardest  heart,  and  make 
a  heart  of  stone  to  bleed.  What  a  mercy  was  it  that  we  fled  the  right 
way !  If  we  had  run  across  those  overthrown  fields,  we  should  have 
been  lost." 

O  do  as  he  did  :  escape  for  your  lives.  Stay  not  in  all  the  plain  of 
Sodom  :  flee  to  the  mountain  ;  to  Calvary  ;  to  the  Friend  of  sinners  ;  to 
a  dying  Jesus.  Flee  from  the  deceits  of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil,  and  your  own  evil  hearts.  Flee  the  right  way.  By  penitential 
faith  flee  upward,  heavenward.  If  you  go  to  the  world  for  comfort,  you 
will  be  ten  thousand  times  more  dreadfully  disappointed  than  the  people 
of  that  house  would  have  been  had  they  fled  for  shelter  into  the  mouths 
of  the  opening  earth. 

But  this  is  not  all,  flee  now.  "Now  is  the  day  of"  escape  and  "sal- 
vation." To-morrow  may  be  that  of  vengeance  and  final  ruin.  And, 
as  you  flee,  "  look  not  behind  you.  Remember  Lot's  wife,"  and  the 
Israelites  who  perished  ;  the  one  for  looking  back  toward  Sodom,  and 
the  others  for  going  back  in  their  hearts  toward  Egypt.  Above  all,  be 
not  ashamed  to  run  from  the  bottomless  pit ;  nor  blush  to  secure  a 
crown  of  glory. 

And  now  you  have  seen  the  mouth  of  the  earth  opened,  and  the  rocks 
rent,  imitate  the  repentance  of  our  Lord's  murderers,  who,  when  they 
had  seen  the  rocks  of  Calvary  rent  by  an  earthquake,  smote  upon  their 
breasts  and  returned.  But  to  that  penitential  gesture,  add  the  contrite 
publican's  prayer :  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !"  A  nd  may  the  mer- 
ciful God,  who  "justifies  the  ungodly"  that  repent  of  their  ungodliness, 
and  believe  in  Jesus  ;  and  who  permitted  the  publican  "  to  go  down  to  his 


90  SZIUION. 

house  justified,"  grant  you  to  return  home  justified  from  all  your  crimes, 
earnestly  praying  that  "  the  rest  of  your  life  hereafter  may  be  pure  and 
holy  ;  so  that  at  the  last  you  may  come  to  his  eternal  joy,  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord !" 

(2.)  A  word  to  you  who  will  neither  flee  yourselves  into  the  city  of 
refuge,  nor  suffer  others  to  make  their  escape  out  of  the  "  city  of  destruc- 
tion." If  yesterday  you  had  met  with  the  people  of  that  house,  running 
toward  yonder  wood  with  their  children  in  their  arms  ;  if  you  had  cursed 
them  for  fools  that  were  frighted  at  nothing ;  and  if  by  such  means  you 
had  prevailed  upon  them  to  go  back  and  run  into  the  jaws  of  these  opening 
and  closing  graves,  you  would  have  been  just  as  kind  to  their  bodies  as 
you  are  to  the  souls  of  your  friends  who  begin  to  run  out  of  their  sins, 
and  consequently  out  of  the  jaws  of  hell  and  destruction. 

Ye  laugh  at  them  :  ye,  perhaps,  curse  them  for  Methodistical  fools  ; 
and  "  wonder  why  they  make  so  much  ado  ;"  when  they  tell  you  in 
Scripture  language  that  they  "flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  and  run  for 
a  crown  of  life  :  far  from  hearing  reason,  to  cruel  mockings  ye  add  cut- 
ting detraction.  Ye  that  stand  infatuated  on  the  brink  of  eternal  ruin 
presume  to  call  them  fools  because  they  are  not  so  fool  hardy  as  your- 
selves :  3'e  that  spend  the  awful,  critical,  important,  irretrievable  moment 
allotted  you  to  make  your  escape,  in  passing  idle  jests,  in  catching  the 
butterfly  of  honour,  or  in  grasping  the  bubble  of  pleasure :  ye  not  only 
pretend  to  be  wise  ;  but  setting  yourselves  up  as  judges  of  others,  from 
the  scorners'  chair  ye  pass  sentence  of  madness  on  all  that  show  yet 
some  respect  for  common  sense,  Scripture,  and  matter  of  fact.  Was 
ever  any  thing  more  absurd  ?  And  if  folly  has  a  throne,  is  it  not  fixt  in 
your  own  hearts  ?  O  that  with  the  prodigal  son  you  might  come  at  last 
to  yourselves !  O  that  you  were  wise,  and  understood  in  time  what 
dreadful  injury  such  conduct  does  your  friends,  your  Saviour,  and  your 
souls ! 

(3.)  A  word  to  you,  also,  who  affect  to  pass  for  freethinkers,  though 
probably  you  never  allowed  yourselves  one  day  freely  to  think  on  your 
latter  end,  or  one  hour  candidly  to  weigh  the  evidences  of  Christianity. 
You  pretend  that  you  "  cannot  believe  the  Bible,  because  it  mentions  so 
many  uncommon  and  incredible  events."  But  let  me  encounter  you 
upon  this  spot,  and  your  argument  will  possibly  be  overthrown  as  these 
fields ;  and  the  idleness  of  your  objection  brought  to  light  as  the  shat- 
tered bottom  of  that  river. 

If  I  had  told  you  yesterday  that  you  would  walk  across  the  bed  of  the 
Severn  in  the  deepest  place  to-day  without  so  much  as  wetting  your  feet, 
with  supercilious  pity  in  your  looks  would  you  not  have  said,  "  We 
philosophers,  in  this  enlightened  age,  cannot  so  easily  be  the  dupes  of 
priestcraft.  I  would  as  soon  believe  that  Moses  made  the  Israelites  cross 
an  arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  dry  shod?" 

If  one  had  intimated  to  you,  that  the  tree  which  flourished  yesterday 
in  the  meadow  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  would,  like  the  sycamore 
mentioned  by  our  Lord,  be  planted  to-day  in  the  middle  of  the  river 
without  the  touch  of  a  human  hand  ;  that  a  multitude  of  spectators  would 
stand  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  Severn's  channel,  and  be  shaded  there 
by  stately  oaks,  suddenly  transplanted  by  an  invisible  power  ;  that  fields 
and  hedges,  a  building  and  a  road,  would  travel  of  their  own  accord : 


SERMON. 


91 


and  that  the  hollows  of  yonder  field  would  rise  into  mounts,  and  the 
mounts  sink  into  hollows";  would  you  not  have  said,  "  This  is  only  repe- 
tition of  the  absurd  tale  about  Joshua  crossing  Jordan  when  it  overflowed 
its  banks,  without  the  help  of  either  bridge  or  boat ;  this  is  the  wild 
story  of  David  about  Mount  Sinai  skipping  like  a  ram  and  little  hills  like 
young  sheep  ?" 

If  one  had  assured  you  that  Providence  would  make  bare  her  arm, 
and  that  you  would  find  fishes  suddenly  left  dry  in  overflowed  lands,  and 
barges  overset  for  want  of  water  in  the  channel  of  a  deep  river,  at  a 
time  when  profane  watermen  had  just  horribly  cursed  its  uncommon 
flood,  would  you  not  have  replied,  "  I  will  as  soon  believe  that  the  Nile 
was  turned  into  blood  by  a  touch  of  Moses'  rod,  or  that  a  stormy  sea 
was  suddenly  calmed  by  a  word  of  Jesus  Christ  ?" 

If  I  had  informed  you  that  the  rocky  bottom  of  the  Severn,  in  a  place 
where  it  was  near  twenty  feet  deep,  would  instantly  spring  up  and  rise 
many  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  water ;  and  that  a  great  river,  with- 
out  wind  or  tide,  would  flow  back  toward  her  source ;  would  you  not 
have  answered,  "  We  do  not  live  in  the  time  of  miracles ;  the  old  women 
who  believe  that  the  sun  forgat  his  going  down  in  the  days  of  Joshua, 
that  iron  swam  in  the  days  of  Elisha,  and  that  an  ass  spoke  in  the  days 
of  Balaam,  may  believe  such  absurdities  ?" 

If  one  had  declared  to  you,  that  the  wicked  watermen  and  profane 
drivers  of  horses  could  provoke  God  suddenly  to  dam  up  the  river,  over- 
throw their  road,  and  put  a  temporary  stop,  both  to  their  navigation  and 
travelling ;  would  you  not  have  said  with  a  shrewd  smile,  "  I  must  believe 
the  Bible,  if  God  does  such  a  thing?"  Well  then,  believe  it,  for  the  Lord 
has  done  it.  The  fact  is  indubitable ;  and  if  you  will  not  believe  me, 
believe  your  own  eyes,  believe  thousands  of  witnesses. 

In  some  hundred  years,  (if  this  Sodom  be  suffered  to  subsist  so  long,) 
when  all  these  apertures  shall  have  been  washed  by  rains  or  floods,  or 
trodden  in  by  the  feet  of  man  and  beast ;  sand  when  the  plough  shall  have 
levelled  these  heaps  of  ruins  into  fields  crowned  with  a  waving  harvest ; 
posterity  will  find  it  almost  as  hard  to  credit  what  you  now  see,  as  you 
do  to  believe  what  the  Israelites  formerly  saw  ;  and  some  future  disbe- 
lievers will  probably  wonder  at  your  supposed  credulity,  just  as  you  do 
at  our  believing  the  wonders  recorded  in  the  Bible. 

O  !  that  reason  and  experience  might  make  you  ashamed  of  your 
unbelief!  O!  that  human  and  Divine  testimony,  arguments  and  facts, 
spiritual  and  sensible  demonstration,  which  meet  to-day  before  you,  might 
turn  the  stream  of  your  infidelity,  as  the  Lord  turned  yesterday  the 
course  of  that  turbid  river !  O  !  that  you  would  bow  to  the  God  of  your 
fathers,  the  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Comforter  of  returning  sinners ! 
Trees  have  danced,  fields  have  run,  mounts  have  skipped,  and  "  the 
floods  have  clapped  their  hands  before  the  Lord ;"  God  has  answered 
you  by  water  and  earth  :  O  that  you  would  shout  with  the  perplexed 
Israelites,  when  God  answered  them  by  fire  !  "  The  Lord  he  is  the  God  ! 
The  Lord  he  is  the  God !"  O  that  you  might  cry  cut  in  a  transport  of 
faith,  as  unbelieving  Thomas,  when  he  had  seen  the  scars  in  the  hands 
and  side  of  his  risen  Saviour,  "My  Lord  and  my  God!" 

Those  earthen  pyramids,  which  the  invisible  hand  of  Providence  has 
suddenly  cut  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  will  soon  disappear ;  those 


92  SERMON. 

I 

disparted  rocks,  which  are  now  such  striking  instances  of  God's  power, 
will  one  day  decay;  but  if,  on  this  awful  occasion,  you  turn  from  your 
unbelief  to  your  Saviour,  and  continue  in  the  faith,  you  will  be  lasting 
monuments  of  his  restoring  grace,  and  eternal  objects  of  the  joy  with 
which  he  welcomes  returning  prodigals  to  the  open  arms  of  his  mercy, 
and  penitent  infidels  to  the  unsearchable  treasures  of  his  love. 

(4.)  And  ye  that  are  awakened  to  a  sight  of  your  spiritual  danger,  and 
behold  around  you  the  blind  leading  the  blind  into  the  pit  of  destruction, 
suffer  also  the  word  of  exhortation.  Imitate  the  warning  love  of  the 
illiterate  man  of  that  house,  who  gave  his  family  the  alarm,  and  excited 
them  by  his  words  and  example,  to  flee  from  the  impending  ruin.  Rouse 
your  relations,  your  friends,  your  neighbours,  your  very  enemies,  as  they 
can  bear  it.  Tell  them,  in  the  language  of  St.  Peter,  "  that  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  which  are  now,  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against 
the  day  of  judgment,  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  Declare  to  them, 
that  God  is  long  suffering  to  us-ward,  not  willing  that  any  should  perish, 
but  that  ah  should  come  to  repentance  :  and  yet  assure  them,  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  will  certainly  come,  and  that  it  will  come  as  unexpect- 
edly by  most,  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  and  as  suddenly  to  all,  as  this 
desolation  came  yesterday  morning. 

Then  shall  all  that  is  under  the  curse  pass  away ;  and  O !  with  what 
noise  !  If  the  removal  of  some  acres  of  land  and  a  river  was  yesterday 
so  dreadful ;  how  inconceivably  terrible  will  be  the  passing  away  of  all 
the  plains  and  mountains,  all  the  islands  and  continents,  all  the  rivers  and 
seas  in  the  universe  !  Lord,  give  us  the  helmet  of  salvation,  before  the 
coming  of  "  that  great  and  terrible  day." 

In  the  meantime,  whosoever  thou  art  that  fearest  God,  I  address  thee 
in  the  language  of  the  angels  to  Lot :  "  Hast  thou  here  any  beside  thy- 
self, son-in-law,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  daughters  ?"  Bring  them  out  of 
this  immense  Sodom,  this  wicked  world.  Say  to  them,  "  Up !  get  ye 
out  of  this  place,"  this  vale  of  sin,  tears,  and  misery  :  "  for  the  Lord 
will  destroy  it :  and  have  your  conversation  in  heaven,  whence  Jesus 
Christ  shall  be  revealed  with  ten  thousand  of  his  angels  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God ;  who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
glory  of  his  power."  And  if  thou  "seem  to  them  as  one  that  mocks  ;" 
or  if  they  say  of  thee,  as  the  Pharisees  did  of  our  Lord,  "  He  has  a  devil, 
and  is  mad  ;  why  hear  ye  him  ?"  Yet  do  not  give  them  up.  Consider 
that  "  charity  hopeth  all  things."  Mourn  for  them  in  secret  places  : 
and  remember,  that  many  who  had  stood  proof  against  the  most  rational 
exhortations,  have  at  last  been  sweetly  overcome  by  the  power  of  humble, 
warm,  persevering  prayer. 

(5.)  But  ye  want  perhaps  some  encouragement  yourselves,  ye  that 
tremble  at  God's  word,  and  at  this  desolation.  Ye  see  by  this  sample, 
what  terrible  destruction  will  one  day  come  upon  all  the  earth ;  and  ye 
desire  to  meet  the  general  overthrow,  not  only  with  calm  resignation,  but 
with  triumphant  joy.  In  order  to  this,  give  me  leave  once  more  to  point 
you  "  to  the  hills  whence  our  salvation  comes  ;  to  the  blood  of  sprink- 
ling, that  speaks  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel ;  and  to  Jesus,  the" 
once  crucified,  but  now  for  ever  exalted  "  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant." 

By  the  importunate  actings  of  a  penitential  faith  in  his  blood,  and  by 


sermon.  9y 

a  heart-felt  dependence  upon  his  infinite  merits,  flee  to  his  mediatorial 
protection,  as  the  man  slayer,  pursued  by  the  avenger  of  blood,  fled  to 
the  city  of  refuge.  And  if  the  burden  of  your  sins,  increased  by  the 
sense  of  your  natural  impotence,  render  your  hearts  so  heavy  that  you 
cannot  lift  them  up  to  heaven ;  do  as  a  lame  child,  who  escaped  yester- 
day out  of  this  overthrow.  Seeing  all  who  were  in  the  house  ready  to 
run  out  of  it  for  their  lives ;  and  conscious  that  he  could  not  save  him- 
self by  a  speedy  flight,  he  cried  out,  "  And  what  shall  I  do,  father  ?" 
Imitate  him,  poor  sinners,  who  are  spiritually  maimed,  halt,  blind,  and 
full  of  putrefying  sores  :  cry  to  the  Saviour  of  the  lost,  "  And  what  shall 
we  do,  Lord  ?  Without  thee  we  can  do  nothing  :  save  us,  O  Lamb  of 
God,  or  we  perish." 

And  O !  may  the  countryman's  pity  for  the  lame  child  be  an  emblem 
to  you  of  the  Redeemer's  compassion  for  every  distressed  soul  that  looks 
to  him  for  help !  "  I  will  carry  thee,  my  child,"  answered  the  father 
with  yearning  bowels,  as  he  took  him  up  in  his  arms  to  run  out  of  the 
house.  And  so  will  Christ :  hear  his  own  gracious  words  :  "  Can  a 
woman  forget  her  sucking  child,  that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on 
the  son  of  her  womb?  Yea,  she  may  forget,  yet  I  will  not  forget  thee. 
The  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed,  but  my  kindness 
shall  not  depart  from  thee.  Why  sayest  thou,  O  worm  Jacob,  My  way 
is  hid  from  the  Lord  ?  Hast  thou  not  heard  that  the  everlasting  God 
fainteth  not  ?  He  giveth  power  to  the  weak,  and  to  them  that  have  no 
might  he  increaseth  strength.  Even  youths  shall  be  weary.  But  they 
that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength." 

Only  beware  of  making  your  profession  of  dependence  upon  the  Lord 
an  occasion  of  indulging  spiritual  sloth.  Instead  of  saying,  like  Solo- 
mon's sluggard,  "  Yet  a  little  sleep,  a  little  slumber,  a  little  folding  of 
the  hands  to  sleep,"  do  as  the  lame  child  did,  when  he  was  carried  across 
yonder  field.  Having  then  an  opportunity  of  seeing  over  his  father's 
shoulder  what  passed  around  him,  far  from  composing  himself  to  sleep, 
he  earnestly  cried  out,  "  Run,  father,  run !  for  the  barn,  trees,  and 
hedges  go  faster  than  we." 

Run  also,  penitent  sinner,  run  the  race  of  obedience  that  is  set  before 
you  :  run  the  circle  of  all  the  good  works  prepared  for  you  to  walk  in  : 
run,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith  ;,and  as  you 
run,  pray  in  the  language  of  the  spouse  :  "  Draw  us  more  and  more, 
Lord,  and  we  will  run  faster  and  faster  after  thee."  Nor  be  satisfied 
with  running  to-day :  while  you  are  in  this  world  go  to  the  Father  by 
Christ :  believe,  obey,  and  take  up  your  cross  daily  :  a  life  of  holiness 
is  the  race,  and  heaven  is  the  prize.  Do  not  run  back  unto  perdition  : 
"  So  run  that  you  may  obtain  :"  endure  unto  the  end  of  the  race,  and 
you  shall  be  eternally  saved. 

(6.)  And  shall  I  forget  to  congratulate  you  on  this  occasion,  ye  happy 
believers,  whose  hearts  are  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  true  Paschal 
Lamb,  and  whose  faith  unfeigned  works  by  obedient  love  ?  No.  I  must 
remind  you  of  your  inestimable  privileges ;  it  is  your  prerogative  to 
glorify  God  in  the  fires,  and  shout  his  power  on  these  ruins.  Our  Lord 
himself  gives  you  leave  to  triumph,  not  only  when  the  powers  of  the 
earth,  but  those  of  heaven  shall  be  shaken.     "  When  these  things,"  says 


94  SERMON. 

he,  "  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads,  for 
your  redemption  draweth  nigh." 

The  destroyer  may  be  suffered  to  tempt  and  afflict  you,  as  severely 
and  as  long  as  he  did  the  patient  man :  but  ye  may  say  with  him, 
"  Though  God  slay  us,  yet  we  will  trust  in  him."  You  serve  an 
almighty  Protector.  "  Because  you  have  set  your  love  upon  the  Lord, 
therefore  will  he  deliver  you  from  the  noisome  pestilence ;  he  shall  de- 
fend you  under  his  wings  ;  his  faithfulness  and  truth  shall  be  your  shield 
and  buckler.  Ye  shall  not  be  afraid  for  any  terror  by  night,  nor  for  the 
sickness,  or  earthcuake  that  destroyeth  in  the  noonday.  A  thousand  shall 
fall  beside  you,  and  ten  thousand  at  your  right  hand ;  but  it  shall  not 
come  nigh  you,  to  overthrow  your  souls,  or  to  destroy  your  peace.  Yea, 
with  your  eyes  shall  ye  behold  and  see  the  reward  of  the  ungodly." 

So  long  as  ye  hear  your  Shepherd's  voice,  and  follow  his  steps,  he 
numbers  you  among  his  sheep,  and  none  shall  pluck  you  out  of  his  hand. 
Who  or  what  shall  harm  you,  if  you  are  followers  of  that  which  is  good? 
Were  those  fields  this  instant  to  reel  again  to  and  fro  like  a  drunken  man : 
did  the  earth  open  before  your  eyes  a  thousand  new  mouths  as  wide  as 
this  chasm,  and  burst  all  her  rocks  in  ten  thousand  pieces  under  your  feet : 
did  impetuous  rivers  bend  their  course  against  you,  and  roaring  seas  roll 
mountainous  waves  around  you  ;  you  would  experience  the  serenity  of 
mind  which  (even  a  poor  heathen  being  judge)  is  the  privilege  of  the 
just.*  "  The  wreck  of  the  world  would  crush  your  bodies  without  dis- 
turbing your  souls."  With  trembling  awe  you  could  in  that  extremity 
rejoice  in  God  your  Saviour,  and  say  with  David,  "  The  Lord'  is  our 
hope  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble  :  therefore  will  we  not 
fear  though  the  earth  be  moved,  and  though  the  hills  Le  carried  into  the 
midst  of  the  sea :  though  the  waters  thereof  rage  and  swell,  and  though 
the  mountains  shake  at  the  tempest  of  the  same.  The  kingdoms  are 
moved,  but  God  hath  showed  his  voice.  The  earth  itself  shall  melt 
away,  but  we  will  not  fear  what  roaring  storms,  bellowing  earthquakes, 
wicked  men,  and  raging  devils,  can  do  unto  us  :  for  "  the  Lord  of  hosts 
is  with  us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge." 

Yes,  O  ye  righteous,  who  walk  as  becomes  the  Gospel  of  his  grace, 
he  is  your  eternal  refuge,  and  will  be  your  exceeding  great  reward. 
The  power  that  yesterday  rent  these  rocks,  opened  these  fields,  and 
raised  these  mounts,  will  one  day  rend  your  tombs,  open  your  graves, 
raise  your  dust,  and  place  your  immortal  bodies  upon  Mount  Sion  that 
cannot  be  moved.  There  shall  you  shine  as  the  sun  in  the  innumerable 
company  of  angels,  and  in  the  assembly  of  just  men  made  perfect. 
There  brazen-faced  scoffers  and  rioters,  who  glory  in  their  shame,  will 
interrupt  your  devotions  no  more  :  and  there,  with  unutterable  transports 
of  joy  and  inexpressible  ravishments  of  love,  we  shall  meet  again,  to 
ascribe  the  glory  of  our  present  deliverance,  and  of  an  eternal  salvation 
"  to  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever." 

*  "  Si  fractus  illabatur  orbis, 
Impavidum  feriunt  ruinae." 


THE    NEW    BIRTH: 


A   DISCOURSE,   TRANSLATED   FROM  THE   FRENCH 


REV.   JOHN    FLETCHER. 


By  HENRY  MOORE. 


If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature :  old  things  are  passed  away ;  behold,  all  things 
are  become  new. — St.  Pavl. 


THE  NEW  BIRTH: 

A  DISCOURSE,   &c. 


"  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,"  John  iii,  3. 

The  corruption  of  the  Christian  world,  and  the  almost  general  luke- 
warmness  of  those  who  have  some  respect  for  religion,  render  it  impos- 
sible to  preach  openly  and  constantly  the  deep  truths  of  Christianity 
without  giving  general  offence. 

How  naturally,  having  made  some  efforts  toward  salvation,  do  we 
repose  ourselves  as  if  we  were  at  the  end  of  our  career !  ,  Perhaps  we 
even  think  ourselves  sure  of  the  prize  before  we  have  begun  the  race ! 
And  if  any  one  should  venture  to  show  us  the  folly  and  danger  of  such 
conduct,  we  regard  him  as  a  melancholy  person  who  considers  only  the 
dark  side  of  things,  and  who  takes  a  sorrowful  pleasure  to  make  us  view 
them  in  the  same  light  with  himself. 

This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  those  who  are  commissioned  to  show 
us  the  way  of  salvation,  are  afraid  to  dwell  upon  what  Jesus  Christ  has 
said  concerning  the  difficulties  of  the  way,  and  the  small  number  of 
those  that  walk  therein.  Indeed,  if  we  ourselves  be  in  the  broad  way 
that  leadeth  to  destruction,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  should  speak  but 
seldom  of  the  unfrequented  path  that  leads  to  life  ;  and  that  we  should 
but  feebly  and  sparingly  press  those  truths  by  which  at  length  worldlings 
must  be  either  convinced  or  confounded.  But  it  is  certain,  that  if  we  be 
more  sincere,  a  thousand  difficulties  will  rise  up  to  deter  us,  and  shake 
the  resolutions  which  we  have  formed  to  resist  the  torrent  of  prejudice 
and  ungodliness. 

We  fear  being  accused  of  want  of  charity  if  we  declare  as  strongly 
as  the  Scripture  does,  "  That  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  his."  We  are  afraid  of  being  charged  with  preaching  a 
new  doctrine,  if  we  declare  boldly  with  St.  James,  "  That  he  who  is  the 
friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of  God ;"  or  with  St.  Paul,  "  That  she 
who  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth."  And  we  find  by  sor- 
rowful experience  that  we  must  submit  to  be  counted  visionaries  and 
enthusiasts,  or  cease  to  declare,  with  the  same  apostle,  that  the  true 
Christian  is  a  man  who  "  glories  only  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  who,  being 
justified  by  faith,  has  really  peace  with  God  ;"  that  he  feels  the  peace 
of  God  in  his  soul,  as  a  seal  of  the  pardon  of  his  sins  ;  that  he  "  rejoices 
in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God ;"  and  that  be  "  glories  in  tribulation, 
because  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
given  unto  him."  For  it  is  certain  that  the  world  is  always  the  same, 
and  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  as  well  as  his  cross,  is  still  "  to  the  Jews 
a  stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness :"  that  it  still  exciles 
the  indignation  of  those  who  falsely  call  themselves  children  of  God,  and 
Vol.  IV.  7 


98  A   SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH. 

is  ridiculed  by  those  whom  the  foolish  wisdom  of  this  world  fills  with 
presumption.  Nevertheless,  as  among  those  who  reject  the  counsel  of 
God  in  giving  it  the  names  of  enthusiasm  and  dangerous  reverie,  there 
are  some  who  are  distinguished  by  their  good  desires,  and  by  some  sparks 
of  zeal  for  the  religion  of  our  fathers  :  and  as  among  those  who  fight 
against  God,  many  do  it  in  ignorance,  believing  that  they  do  him  ser- 
vice ;  let  us  strive  to  explain,  in  this  discourse,  one  of  those  essential 
truths  of  Christianity  upon  which  these  half  Christians  meditate  so 
rarely,  and  which  they  decry  so  often  ;  viz.  the  doctrine  of  our  regenera- 
tion, or  new  birth  in  Jesus  Christ. 

And  to  sustain  the  attention  by  the  order  of  the  matter  as  well  as  by 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  let  us  examine, 

First,  Upon  what  occasion  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  declared,  that 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Secondly,  What  we  are  to  understand  by  these  expressions,  "  To 
be  born  again  ;  to  be  regenerated." 

Thirdly,  What  are  the  reasons  upon  which  the  absolute  necessity 
of  our  regeneration  is  founded ;  and  how  easy,  and  yet  dangerous  it 
is  to  take  the  reformation  of  our  manners  for  the  regeneration  of  our 
souls. 

Lastly,  How  we  may  come  to  a  true  renovation,  without  which  no 
man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Reader,  if  you  love  the  truth,  and  if  you  have  respect  to  the  eternal 
Son  of  God,  whose  words  we  are  now  to  consider,  lift  up  to  him  a  mind 
disengaged  from  prejudice,  and  beseech  him  to  apply  to  your  heart  and 
mine,  the  profound  truths  of  our  text !  He  taught  them  himself  during 
the  days  of  his  flesh,  and  he  still  gives  the  knowledge  of  them  by  the 
unction  of  his  Spirit.  Yes,  Divine  Redeemer  !  let  thy  grace  teach  us, 
and  thy  word  shall  be  in  this  hour  also  a  light  unto  our  feet !  Deign  to 
show  us  the  path  which  conducts  to  thee,  and  give  us  the  will  and  the 
power  to  run  therein  and  follow  thee  in  the  regeneration,  until  we  enter 
in  by  thee  into  thy  kingdom :  for  thou  art  alone  the  path,  the  door,  the 
truth,  and  the  life  ! 


PART  FIRST. 

To  whom,  and  how  our  Saviour  preached  regeneration. 

The  evangelist  teaches  us  that  Nicodemus,  a  Jew,  as  remarkable  for 
his  attachment  to  his  religion  as  for  his  knowledge,  his  reputation,  and 
his  rank,  having  heard  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  concluded  that  he  was 
a  prophet  sent  of  God,  and  came  to  see  him  by  night ;  probably  to  put 
to  him  questions  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  all  the  pious 
Jews  then  attentively  waited  for.  Our  Lord,  knowing  that  the  ideas 
which  Nicodemus  had  of  his  kingdom  were  not  less  gross  than  those  of 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  took  this  occasion  to  undeceive  and  instruct  him. 
He  declares  to  him  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  of  a  nature  so 
spiritual,  that  a  man,  far  from  having  power  to  enter,  cannot  be  in  a 
state  even  to  see  it  without  a  real  conversion.  "  I  say  to  you,"  adds 
he,  "  that  evrpnt  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God." 


A   SERMON   ON  THE   NEW  BIRTH.  99 

As  if  he  had  said,  Do  not  deceive  thyself,  Nicodemus.  My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world.  Thou  hast  formed  false  ideas  of  it.  Few  of  man- 
kind can  see  it,  and  thou  canst  not  enter  into  it  thyself.  Thy  temper- 
ance and  moral  virtues,  thy  zeal  for  the  religion  of  your  fathers,  and  the 
exactness  with  which  thou  fulfillest  thy  exterior  duties,  have  not  yet  pre- 
pared thee  for  the  presence  of  God.  If  thou  be  not  delivered  out  of  the 
estate  in  which  thou  art  at  present,  know  that  thy  soul  will  always 
remain  encompassed  with  darkness  as  thick  as  that  which  envelopes  an 
infant  who  has  not  yet  seen  the  light.  Thou  rejoicest  in  a  life  animal 
and  earthly ;  but  thou  hast  lost  in  Adam  a  life  spiritual  and  Divine. 
Thou  hast  lost  the  life  of  God  out  of  thy  soul,  and  thou  canst  not  recover 
it  but  by  being  born  again.  Without  a  spiritual  birth  it  will  be  as  im- 
possible for  thee  to  see  God,  and  rejoice  in  the  brightness  of  his  face,  as 
for  an  infant  not  yet  born  to  discover  the  sun,  and  rejoice  in  his  light. 

This  doctrine,  altogether  strange  as  it  must  appear  to  the  natural  man, 
could  not  be  wholly  unknown  to  a  Jewish  doctor.  God  had  promised  to 
the  Israelites,  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophets,  that  "  he  would  put  a  new 
spirit  within  them  ;  that  he  would  take  away  the  heart  of  stone  out  of 
their  flesh,  and  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh  ;  that  he  would  circumcise," 
or  change  entirely,  "  their  hearts ;  that  they  might  love  him  with  all 
their  soul,  and  with  all  their  strength."  David  had  demanded  of  God 
with  torrents  of  tears,  "  that  he  would  create  in  him  a  clean  heart,  and 
renew  a  right  spirit  within  him."  And  Ezekiel  had  cried  to  all  the 
people,  "  Put  away  from  you  all  your  iniquities,  make  you  new  hearts 
and  new  spirits ;  for  why  will  you  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?"  We  may 
believe  that,  after  these  promises,  these  prayers,  these  declarations,  these 
menaces,  expressed  so  clearly  in  the  Old  Testament,  a  sincere  Jew  must 
have  some  idea  of  that  spiritual  change  which  distinguishes  the  faithful 
from  the  children  of  this  world.  But  as  in  the  present  day,  among  the 
people  of  God,  there  are  some  who  conscientiously  fulfil  many  moral 
duties,  and  walk  with  sincerity  in  the  exterior  ordinances  of  religion, 
without,  at  the  same  time,  knowing  by  experience  what  the  new  birth  is, 
so  it  was  in  the  times  of  our  Saviour.  Nicodemus,  notwithstanding  all 
his  virtue,  his  religion,  his  zeal,  his  sincerity,  and  his  love  for  instruction, 
was  not  yet  regenerated  :  and  consequently  he  augmented  the  number 
of  those  righteous  persons,  who  think  they  have  no  need  of  deep  repent- 
ance or  spiritual  renovation. 

Being  therefore  struck  with  astonishment  at  hearing  the  words  of 
Christ,  and  being  yet  so  blind  as  to  understand  them  in  a  gross  and 
literal  sense  :  "  How  can  a  man  be  born  again  ?"  cried  he,  "  when  he  is 
old  ;  can  he  enter  a  second  time  into  his  mother's  womb,  to  be  born  ?" 
"  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,"  replied  Jesus.  In  vain  would 
you  be  born  a  second  time  of  flesh  and  blood,  which  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  You  could  not  thereby  be  in  a  state  to  enter 
into  that  kingdom,  for  you  could  only  carry  out  of  your  mother's  womb 
a  nature  corrupt,  sensual,  and  earthly.  It  is  of  a  spiritual  birth  I  speak ; 
for  only  "  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  And  as  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  purely  spiritual,  I  repeat  to  thee  again,  "Verily,  verily, 
if  a  man  be  not  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  it." 
If  the  pure  waters  of  .grace,  of  which  those  of  baptism  are  emblematic, 
do  not  render  white  as  snow  those  sins  which  are  red  as  scarlet ;  and  if 


100  A  SERMON  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

the  powerful  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  do  not  renew  all  the  faculties 
of  his  soul,  causing  him  to  be  born  again  of  incorruptible  seed,  by  which 
he  may  recover  the  image  of  his  Creator,  and  become  thus  a  partakei 
of  the  Divine  nature,  he  shall  have  no  part  in  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light ;  the  entrance  of  that  kingdom  shall  be  shut  against  him 
for  ever.  , 

And,  as  if  it  were  not  sufficient  to  have  twice  declared  regene- 
ration absolutely  necessary  to  salvation,  and  to  have  supported  his 
second  solemn  declaration  by  the  word  (not  to  say  the  oath)  verily, 
repeated  also  twice,  the  Son  of  God,  seeing  surprise  painted  upon  the 
face  of  Nicodemus,  and  discovering  by  those  eyes  which  sound  the 
hearts  and  the  reins,  that  he  could  not  receive  his  doctrine,  because  he 
could  not  comprehend  by  what  operation  of  the  Spirit  a  soul  could  be 
regenerated  ;  the  Son  of  God,  I  say,  prays  him,  as  with  tenderness,  not 
to  be  astonished  if  he  should  say  to  all  those  who  were  present,  as  well 
as  to  him,  "Ye  must  be  born  again."  And  fearing  lest  that  which  is 
mysterious  in  the  renewing  of  the  soul,  should  cause  him  to  reject  what 
he  had  said  as  absurd  and  impossible,  with  a  patience  and  wisdom  truly 
admirable,  he  strives  to  make  him  see  the  possibility  of  feeling  the  effects 
of  the  grace  which  regenerates,  and  at  the  same  time  the  impossibility 
of  describing  exactly  its  operations. 

How  great  brevity  and  force  are  united  in  the  reasoning  of  our  Saviour! 
"  The  wind,"  says  he,  "  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the 
sound  thereof,  but  thou  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it 
goeth ;  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  As  if  he  had  said, 
You  do  not  doubt  but  the  wind  is  something  real :  meantime  you  can 
neither  paint  it  nor  describe  it  to  a  man  who  could  neither  feel  nor  hear 
it ;  much  less  could  you  say  whence  it  ariseth,  or  whither  it  goeth.  In 
like  manner  a  sinner  who  is  regenerated,  into  whose  soul  God  has 
breathed  the  breath  of  spiritual  life,  knows  that  the  clouds  of  his  under- 
standing are  dissipated :  that  God  has  called  him  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvellous  light,  and  that  the  Sun  of  righteousness  has  risen  upon 
him.  He  discovers  with  transports  of  holy  joy  the  happy  revolution  it 
has  made  within  him.  He  sees  that  he  has  passed  from  death  unto  life ; 
and  he  feels  that  he  is  the  child  of  God,  because  he  has  "  the  Spirit  of 
adoption,  which  cries  in  his  heart,  Abba,  Father !"  Because  the  conso- 
lations of  the  Lord,  as  a  spiritual  zephyr  (if  I  may  so  express  myself) 
refresh  his  soul ;  and  because  he  was  made  partaker  of  a  power  which 
was  before  unknown  to  him,  and  of  a  felicity  which  "  eye  hath  not  seen, 
which  ear  hath  not  heard,"  and  which  has  never  elevated  the  heart  of 
the  man  who  is  not  regenerated.  But  although  he  feels  these  changes 
in  himself,  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  paint  them,  or  describe  how  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  wrought  them.  No,  he  cannot  make  a  man,  whose 
eyes  the  Lord  has  not  opened,  see  this  kingdom  of  God  which  is  esta- 
blished in  his  soul.  He  cannot  make  him  taste  these  waters  springing  up 
into  life  eternal,  this  happiness  unutterable,  which  inundates  the  heart 
of  a  believer.  It  is  the  pearl  of  great  price,  the  concealed  treasure,  and 
the  "  new  name  which  none  knoweth  but  he  who  receiveth  it."  It  is  the 
word  of  life,  the  hidden  manna,  which  each  must  see,  which  each  must 
touch  with  his  own  hands,  which  each  must  taste  with  his  own  mouth. 
It  is  the  "mystery  of  the  faith  preserved  in  a  pure  conscience."     It  is 


A   SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  101 

the  seed  incorruptible,  without  which  no  man  can  be  born  of  God,  nor 
see  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

An  answer  so  positive  might  have  satisfied  Nicodemus,  but  his  incre- 
dulity forced  him  to  cry  out,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?"  How  true  it 
is,  that  the  natural  man,  though  he  should  be  just,  sincere,  temperate, 
and  in  some  sort  religious,  "  cannot  comprehend  the  things  of  the  Spirit 
of  God !"  How  true  it  is,  that  "  they  are  foolishness  to  him,"  and  that  he 
regards  them  always  as  things  impossible,  unless  God  reveals  them  to 
him  as  he  does  not  to  the  world.  Be  not  then  surprised  at  their  be- 
haviour to  whom  we  often  announce  the  profound  truths  of  Christianity. 
The  virtuous  Nicodemus  himself  cried  out,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?" 
The  half  Christians  may  also  cry  out,  This  is  carrying  things  too  far ; 
this  is  yielding  to  enthusiasm ;  this  is  to  lose  ourselves  in  the  clouds. 
The  best  way  to  stop  the  mouths  of  these  unbelievers  is  to  answer  them 
as  our  Lord  answered  Nicodemus :  "  Art  thou,"  said  he,  "  a  teacher  in 
Israel,  and  knowest  not  these  things  ?  That  which  we  know  we  declare, 
and  that  which  we  have  seen  we  testify :"  but,  blinded  by  your  false 
wisdom,  "  you  receive  not  our  testimony."  If  I  have  spoken  to  you  of 
things  material  and  terrestrial,  of  the  properties  of  the  wind  which  you 
feel,  and  which  you  hear  blowing  every  day  upon  the  earth,  and  ye 
believe  not,  being  neither  able  to  understand,  or  render  a  reason  for  it, 
how  could  you  believe  and  comprehend  my  discourse  if  I  should  speak 
to  you  of  spiritual  and  heavenly  things  ;  of  the  secret  operations  of  re- 
generating grace,  the  particularities  of  that  second  birth,  without  which 
no  man  can  see  the  Lord  ?  It  is  thus  that  Jesus  Christ  confounds  the 
ignorance  and  incredulity  of  this  teacher  in  Israel,  who  knew  not  yet 
that  which  he  should  teach  to  others.  Thus  he  gives  him  to  understand, 
and  us  with  him,  that  religion  does  not  consist  in  speculative  dissertations 
upon  the  doctrines  which  it  proposes,  but  in  an  experimental  knowledge 
of  its  mysteries,  in  an  unshaken  faith  in  the  promises  of  God ;  in  the 
joyful  anticipation  of  that  good  which  this  faith  procures  for  us,  and  in 
the  living  and  powerful  sentiments  which  lead  instantly  to  the  practice 
of  all  the  duties  of  a  new  life.  Reader,  do  you  desire  to  profit  by  these 
instructions  of  the  Son  of  God  1  If  you  believe  that  he  who  cannot  lie  or 
deceive,  has  declared  that  you  must  be  born  again  in  order  to  enter  his 
kingdom,  do  not  lose  a  moment  in  vain  speculations.  Fall  upon  your 
knees  before  him  who  can  soften  your  heart,  and  cause  the  scales  to  fall 
from  your  eyes.  Demand  of  him  that  he  may  enable  you  to  see  and 
feel  the  absolute  necessity  of  regeneration,  and  that  you  may  receive  the 
grace  to  seek  it  with  tears  of  sincere  repentance.  This  is  that  which 
Nicodemus  did.  Notwithstanding  the  repugnance  which  he  at  first  felt 
to  receive  the  doctrine  of  regeneration,  being  convinced  by  the  words  of 
our  Saviour,  he  at  length  devoted  himself.  He  believed,  and  became  a 
new  creature ;  for  the  Gospel  teaches  us,  that  he  who  dared  not  come 
to  Jesus  but  by  night,  and  had  spoken  to  him  only  to  make  objections, 
confessed  him  openly,  (and  by  consequence  his  doctrine,)  even  when  all 
his  disciples  had  abandoned  him.  O  let  us  be  strengthened,  that  we  may 
be  as  ready  to  imitate  his  faith,  as  the  worldlings  are  to  object  with  him 
"  How  "an  these  things  be  ?" 


I  02  A  SERMON  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH. 


PART  SECOND. 

What  are  we  to  understand  by  these  expressions,  "  To  be  born  again ;  to 
be  regenerated  V 

Although  our  Saviour  refused  to"nswer  an  unprofitable  question  of 
the  Jewish  doctor,  upon  the  manner  of  a  soul  being  regenerated,  it  is 
nevertheless  not  impossible  to  explain  what  is  the  state  of  a  soul  that  is 
born  again,  and  in  what  regeneration  doth  consist.  In  general  we  may 
say,  it  is  that  great  change  by  which  a  man  passes  from  a  state  of 
nature  to  a  state  of  grace.  He  was  an  animal  man  ;  in  being  born 
again  he  becomes  a  spiritual  man.  His  natural  birth  had  made  him 
like  to  fallen  Adam,  to  the  old  man,  against  whom  God  had  pronounced 
the  sentence  of  death,  seeing  it  is  the  wages  of  sin.  But  his  spiritual 
birth  makes  him  like  to  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  new  man,  "which  is 
created  according  to  God  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness."  He 
was  born  "  a  child  of  wrath,"  proud,  sensual,  and  unbelieving ;  full  of 
the  love  of  the  world,  and  of  self  love  ;  a  lover  of  money,  and  of  earthly 
glory  and  pleasure,  rather  than  a  lover  of  God.  But  by  regeneration 
he  is  become  a  "  child,  and  an  heir  of  God,  and  a  joint  heir  with 
Christ."  The  humility,  the  purity,  the  love  of  Jesus,  is  shed  abroad  in 
his  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  which  is  given  to  him,  making  him  bear 
the  image  of  the  "  second  Adam."  He  is  "  in  Christ  a  new  creature  : 
old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all  things  are  become  new."  All  the 
faculties  and  powers  of  his  soul  are  renovated.  His  understanding, 
heretofore  covered  with  darkness,  is  illuminated  by  the  experimental 
knowledge  which  he  has  of  God,  and  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  His 
conscience,  asleep  and  insensible,  awakes  and  speaks  with  a  fidelity 
irreproachable.  His  hard  heart  is  softened  and  broken.  His  will,  stub- 
born and  perverse,  is  softened,  yields,  and  becomes  conformable  to  the 
will  of  God.  His  passions,  unruly,  earthly,  and  sensual,  yield  to  the 
conduct  of  grace,  and  turn  of  themselves  to  objects  invisible  and  hea- 
venly ;  and  the  members  of  his  body,  servants  more  or  less  to  iniquity, 
are  now  employed  in  the  service  of  righteousness  unto  holiness.  Hence 
his  soul,  his  body,  his  spirit,  run  with  equal  rapidity  into  the  straight 
path  of  obedience,  and  all  that  is  within  him  cries  out,  "  God  forbid  that 
I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  my  Saviour,  by  which 
I  am  crucified  unto  the  world,  and  the  world  unto  me.  I  know  no  man 
after  the  flesh.  I  live  not,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  the  life  I  live  is 
by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for  me." 

Such  is  the  prodigious  change  which  a  living  faith  produces  in  the 
soul  of  a  repentant  sinner.  Such  is  the  change  which  the  apostle  calls 
"  a  new  creation,  a  resurrection  from  the  dead,  a  passing  from  death 
unto  life,  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  unto  every  one  that  believeth, 
and  by  which  he  is  raised  with  Christ,  and  walks  in  newness  of  life." 

But  to  be  more  particular.  We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  when 
our  Lord  said  to  Nicodemus,  "  A  man  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God 
without  being  born  again,"  he  m^ant  to  compare  the  spiritual  birth  of  a 
child  of  God  with  the  natural  birth  of  a  child  of  Adam  :  thus,  to  have 
just  ideas  of  the  first,  it  is  needful  to  consider  the  second,  and  to  rise  from 
that  which  is  visible  and  material,  to  that  which  is  invisible  and  celestial. 


A  SERMON  OX  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  103 

An  infant  which  is  not  yet  born,  feels  neither  the  air  nor  the  fluids  by 
which  it  exists.  It  understands  not :  the  organs  of  sense  are  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  act.  It  discovers  nothing  ;  its  eyes  being  closed  to  the  light,  and 
all  sorts  of  objects.  It  is  true,  that  when  it  approaches  the  birth,  a  prin- 
ciple of  life  is  manifested,  and  some  feeble  movements  begin  to  distinguish 
it  from  a  mass  of  matter  ;  but  the  objects  which  surround  it  are  not 
the  less  unknown.  Although  it  is  in  the  world,  it  has  no  more  idea  of 
that  which  passes  therein,  than  if  the  world  did  not  exist ;  not  only  be- 
cause the  senses  are  not  yet  unfolded,  but  because  of  the  thick  veil 
which  surrounds  and  hinders  its  discovering  the  objects  that  are  so  near 
it.  So  it  is  with  the  man  who  is  not  regenerated.  In  God  "  he  lives, 
and  moves,  and  has  his  being."  But  he  is  not  sensible  of  his  presence, 
nor  of  that  Divine  breathing  which  nourishes  the  spiritual  life  of  those 
who  are  born  again.  The  things  of  God,  which  present  themselves  con- 
tinually to  the  minds  of  the  children  of  God,  make  no  impression  upon 
him.  God  calls,  but  he  understands  not  his  voice.  Christ  offers  him- 
self to  him  as  "  the  bread  that  cometh  down  from  heaven,"  but  he  cannot 
"  taste  that  the  Lord  is  good."  God  would  manifest  himself  to  him, 
"as  he  does  not  unto  the  world,"  but  the  eyes  of  his  understanding  are 
covered  with  so  thick  a  cloud  that  he  cannot  discover  him.  He  is  a 
"  stranger  and  foreigner,"  as  St.  Paul  declares ;  "he  is  alienated  from 
the  life  of  God  by  the  ignorance  that  is  in  him ;"  an  ignorance  that 
makes  him  insensible  of  its  existence.  He  may  have  some  beginnings 
of  spiritual  life  and  motion  before  he  is  regenerated.  He  may  feel  good 
desires,  and  make  efforts  to  turn  to  God  ;  but  his  spiritual  senses  are  not 
yet  unfolded,  and  the  veil  of  obscurity  still  covering  his  soul,  he  cannot 
see  the  Sun'  of  righteousness,  nor  the  day  of  life  eternal ;  he  is  not  yet 
born  of  God. 

Let  us  continue  the  parallel.  The  birth  of  an  infant  is  commonly 
accompanied  by  sorrows  inexpressible.  This  blessing  costs  sighs,  tears, 
and  even  piercing  cries.  "  In  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth  children," 
says  God  to  Eve,  after  she  had  simied  ;  and  this  sentence  is  also  more  or 
less  executed  in  a  spiritual  sense,  upon  all  sinners  who  enter  into  life  by 
regeneration.  If  Lydia  felt  the  sorrows  of  repentance  but  for  a  moment 
before  the  Lord  opened  her  heart ;  if  three  thousand  persons  were  prick- 
ed to  the  heart  during  the  preaching  of  St.  Peter,  and  were  immediately 
after  regenerated,  receiving  remission  of  sins  and  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  the  Scripture  teaches  us  that  David,  Hezekiah,  Manasseh,  and 
St.  Paul,  did  not  pass  so  soon  or  so  easily  from  death  unto  life.  But 
however  the  circumstances  may  differ,  it  is  certain  that  the  change  which 
accompanies  the  new  birth,  is  such  that  none  can  be  insensible  of  it  who 
have  experienced  it.  A  child  is  no  sooner  born,  than  he  exists  in  a 
manner  altogether  different.  He  breathes ;  he  feels  the  air  that  sur- 
rounds him  ;  and  by  an  alternate  motion  receives  it  in,  and  sends  it  forth 
continually.  All  his  coporeal  senses  are  affected  by,  and  employed  upon, 
their  proper  objects.  His  eyes  are  opened  to  the  light,  and  hence  he 
perceives  an  infinite  variety  of  new  things.  His  ears  are  struck  with  a 
thousand  different  sounds  ;  and  the  faculty  which  he  has  of  touching, 
tasting,  and  feeling,  discovers  to  him  every  moment  something  of  those 
material  things  that  are  under  the  sun.  Regeneration  causes  an  equal 
revolution  in  the  soul  of  a  sinner.     He  is  no  sooner  born  of  God,  than 


104  A   SESSION  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

he  becomes  sensible  of  the  presence  of  the  Supreme  Being.  He  can 
say  by  experience  with  David,  "  Thou  hast  beset  me,  before  and  behind, 
and  laid  thy  hand  upon  me."  He  renders  back,  without  ceasing,  to 
God,  by  prayer  and  praise,  the  breath  of  spiritual  life,  which  he  receives 
by  faith  ;  and  acquiring  every  moment  new  strength,  his  spiritual  senses 
are  unfolded,  exercised,  and  become  capable  of  discerning  spiritual 
objects. 

"  The  eyes  of  his  understanding  are  opened.  He  sees  [in  every 
place]  him  that  is  invisible.  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine 
into  the  darkness,  shines  into  his  heart,  and  enlightens  him  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
God  lifts  upon  him  the  light  of  his  countenance."  With  Abraham  he 
sees  the  day  of  the  Lord,  the  day  which  to  him  is  the  beginning  of 
eternal  life  ;  and  seeing  it,  he  rejoices  with  joy  unspeakable.  His  ears 
are  opened  as  well  as  his  eyes.  God  does  not  now  call  in  vain.  He 
understands,  he  knows  the  voice  of  his  Shepherd.  He  comes  to  him. 
"  He  tastes  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to 
come."  In  a  word,  his  spiritual  senses  are  all  in  action;  the  veil  is 
taken  away;  the  things  of  God  are  no  longer  mystery  or  foolishness. 
He  knows — he  comprehends  them.  He  feels  the  "  peace  which  passes 
all  understanding,  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  his  heart."  He  knows  that  he  is  born  of  God.  He  knows 
that  he  "  dwells  in  God,  and  God  in  him." 

This  is  your  state,  reader,  if  you  be  a  believer  ;  if  you  have  that  faith 
which  is  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen."  But  if  you  have  never  experienced  that  inward  change, 
"judge  yourself,  that  you  be  not  judged  of  the  Lord."  Be  deeply 
sensible,  and  confess  that  because  you  are  not  born  again,  you  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God.  Consider  the  reasons  which  prove  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  regeneration.  They  will  infallibly  convince  you,  if  you 
suffer  the  grace  of  God  to  make  you  feel  all  their  force  and  importance. 


PART  THIRD. 

Why  no  man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  God  without  being  born  again. 

It  is  certain,  from  the  testimony  of  sacred  Scripture,  that  before  the 
fall  of  Adam  our  nature  participated  of  a  holiness  and  a  goodness,  of 
which  we  have  not  any  remains  in  coming  into  the  world.  In  this  state 
of  spiritual  life,  man  loved  God  with  all  his  heart,  with  all  his  soul,  and 
with  all  his  mind.  He  served  him. with  all  his  strength  ;  he  gave  him 
thanks  for  all  things  ;  he  rejoiced  in  him  with  joy  unspeakable,  and  he 
had  a  constant  communion  with  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  which  he 
was  the  temple.  But  "  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and 
death  by  sin,  and  death  passed  upon  all  men,  because  all  have  sinned." 
Thus  we  are  born  "  children  of  wrath,"  not  only  destined  to  bodily 
death,  and  exposed  to  death  eternal,  but  already  spiritually  dead  in 
original  sin.  "  Conceived  in  sin,  and  shapen  in  iniquity,  we  are  alien- 
ated  from  the  life  of  God,"  having  only  carnal  and  earthly  affections, 
in  which,  St.  Paul  declares,  consists  the  death  of  our  souls.     And  as 


A   SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  105 

God  is  "  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living,"  it  is  clear  that 
before  we  can  call  "  Jesus  Lord,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  God  Father, 
by  the  Spirit  of  adoption ;"  before  we  can  experience  that  which  St. 
Paul  calls  the  "  life  of  God,"  we  must  feel  inwardly  the  power  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  receive  from  him  a  new  heart  and  a 
right  spirit ;  spiritual  and  heavenly  affections.  This  is  the  sacred  oil 
with  which  God  anoints  true  Christians.  It  is  the  want  of  this  oil,  of 
this  vivifying  grace,  which  causes  the  foolish  virgins  to  be  excluded 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  well  as  the  adulterers. 

But  again :  as  the  decrees  of  God  are  unchangeable,  the  heavens  shall 
be  shaken,  and  the  truth  of  God  fail,  before  a  child  of  Adam  shall  see 
the  face  of  God  without  sanctification  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  You  must  be  "  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,"  in 
order  to  prove  "  his  holy,  and  acceptable,  and  perfect  will."  It  ordains 
that  you  shall  "  put  off  the  old  man,  and  put  on  the  new  man,  created 
after  him  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness  ;"  and  he  declares  solemnly, 
by  the  mouth  of  his  Son,  that  none  shall  see  his  kingdom  without  being 
born  again.  Do  not  imagine  that  because  God  is  good,  he  will  cease  to 
be  true,  and  that  he  forgets  to  be  holy  and  just  because  he  is  patient. 
No,  his  mercy  does  not  make  him  the  father  of  lies,  and  you  should 
remember  that  though  "  heaven  and  earth  pass  away — his  word  shall 
not  pass  away." 

But  do  you  still  demand  why  nothing  that  is  impure  and  defileth,  shall 
enter  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  And  why  there  are  none  before  his  throne 
but  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and  saints,  whose  robes  are 
washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb?  The  reason  is 
clear :  sin,  that  leprosy  of  the  devil,  must  not  offend  him,  whose  eyes 
are  too  pure  to  see  evil.  Defilement  and  iniquity  cannot  dwell  with  the 
King  of  saints.  There  is  no  refuge,  no  dwelling  place  in  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem  for  vipers,  dogs,  or  swine.  The  proud,  the  passionate,  lying 
and  revengeful  persons ;  the  envious,  the  covetous,  the  sensual,  cannot 
enter  there :  and  if  they  could,  they  would  find  God  only  a  consuming 
fire.  "  Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ?  (says  David.)  He 
who  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart, 
(says  Jesus,)  for  they  shall  see  God."  Miserable  are  those  whose  hearts 
are  not  purified,  for  they  shall  never  see  him.  There  is  no  communion 
between  light  and  darkness,  between  Christ  and  Belial.  To  see  the 
face  of  God  in  righteousness,  we  must  be  cleansed  from  our  natural 
corruption,  and  become  partakers  of  the  nature  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
image  of  God. 

From  hence  it  appears,  that  regeneration  is  the  first  degree  of  salva- 
tion. Grace  is  the  only  way  to  glory,  and  holiness  the  one  foundation 
of  true  happiness.  If  we  do  not  learn  to  know,  in  this  world,  Jesus 
Christ,  who  saves  his  people  from  their  sins,  we  shall  hear  him  say  one 
day,  "  Depart  from  me,  I  know  you  not,  ye  workers  of  iniquity."  God 
will  receive  into  his  kingdom  only  those  whom  Christ  shall  sanctify  in 
soul,  body,  and  spirit.  As  on  the  one  side,  sin  is  the  seed  of  death,  and 
hell  begins  in  those  who  are  not  regenerated  ;  on  the  other,  holiness  is 
life  eternal,  and  heaven  is  already  opened  in  the  believing  soul.  "  He 
who  believeth  in  me  (saith  Jesus)  hath  eternal  life  ;"  he  has  the  earnest, 
the  seal,  and  the  foretaste  of  it.     And  as  hell  cannot  be  for  those  who 


106  A  SERMON  OX  THE   NEW  BIRTH. 

are  saved  from  their  sins  by  Jesus,  neither  can  paradise  be  for  those 
who  are  not  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature.  We  may  add,  that  it  is  as" 
preposterous  to  flatter  ourselves  with  the  hope  of  glory  without  having 
passed  through  regeneration,  as  to  hope  to  see  noon  day  without  the  in- 
tervention of  the  morning,  or  the  summer  of  the  year  without  the  spring. 

Moreover,  to  rejoice  in  the  pleasures  that  are  at  God's  right  hand  for 
evermore,  it  is  needful  to  have  senses  and  a  taste  to  correspond  thereto. 
The  swine  trample  pearls  under  their  feet.  Dogs  prize  an  ingot  of  gold 
no  more  than  a  flint.  The  elevated  discourse  of  a  philosopher  is  insup- 
portable to  a  stupid  mechanic  :  and  an  ignorant  peasant  introduced  into 
a  circle  of  men  of  learning  and  taste,  is  disgusted,  sighs  after  his  village, 
and  declares  no  hour  ever  appeared  to  him  so  long.  It  would  be  the 
same  to  a  man  who  is  not  regenerated,  if  we  could  suppose  that  God 
would  so  far  forget  his  truth  as  to  open  to  him  the  gate  of  heaven.  If 
his  heart  were  not  created  anew,  if  from  a  natural  he  were  not  changed 
to  a  spiritual  man,  however  blameless  he  had  been  in  his  life,  he  would 
be  as  incapable  of  those  transports  of  love  which  make  the  happiness  of 
the  glorified  saints,  as  a  horse  is  to  admire  the  lustre  of  a  diamond,  or  a 
swine  to  contemplate  with  delight  the  beautiful  water  of  a  pearl. 

He  is  ignorant  of  the  Jpnguage  of  the  heavenly  Canaan.  He  cannot 
expatiate  on  the  love  of  Jesus  with  the  heavenly  inhabitants.  It  would 
be  insupportable  for  him  now  to  meditate  one  hour  on  the  perfections  of 
God.  Wnat  then  shall  he  do  among  the  cherubim  and  seraphim,  and 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  who  draw  from  thence  their  trans- 
porting delights  ?  He  loves  the  pleasures  and  comforts  of  an  animal 
life  ;  but  are  these  the  same  with  the  exercises  of  the  spiritual  life  ?  Are 
they  not  rather  insupportable  to  him  ?  And  although  he  will  not  acknow- 
ledge it,  does  he  not  hate  God  in  his  heart  ?  Yes,  he  hates  him,  if  his 
actions  are  to  be  credited  rather  than  his  words.  He  cannot  employ 
himself  one  hour  in  prayer  to  Jesus  without  secretly  wishing  that  the 
burdensome  toil  were  concluded.  His  conversations,  his  readings,  his 
amusements,  as  void  of  edification  as  of  usefulness,  rarely  fatigue  him  ; 
but  one  hour  of  meditation  or  prayer  is  insupportable.  If  he  be  not 
born  again,  not  only  he  cannot  be  in  a  state  to  rejoice  in  the  pleasures 
of  paradise  any  more  than  a  deaf  man  to  receive  with  transport  the  most 
exquisite  music,  or  a  blind  man  to  admire  the  works  of  the  most  eminent 
painters ;  but  the  most  ravishing  delights  of  angels  would  cause  in  him 
an  insupportable  distaste.  Yes,  he  would  banish  himself  from  the  pre- 
sence of  God  rather  than  pass  an  eternity  in  prostrating  himself  before 
the  throne,  and  crying  day  and  night,  "  Holy,  holy,  hojy  is  the  Lord  of 
hosts  !  who  is,  and  who  was,  and  who  is  to  come  !" 

It  is  very  easy  for  such  a  one  to  say  with  the  crowd  of  worldlings, 
"  I  hope  that  God  will  be  merciful,  and  open  to  me  the  gate  of  heaven." 
But  it  is  not  so  easy  to  have  just  ideas  of  the  heaven  to  which  he  flatters 
himself  he  shall  go.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  he  would  consider  those 
words  of  our  Lord,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  They  prove 
clearly  that  paradise  consists  more  in  the  heavenly  dispositions  of  the 
hearts  of  the  faithful,  than  in  the  glorious  pomp  of  a  local  heaven.  We 
see  in  the  book  of  Job,  that  Satan,  intermingling  himself  with  the  saints, 
presented  himself  with  them  before  the  throne.  But  was  he  the  more 
happy?     No,  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  and  consequently  his  own  hell, 


A  SERMON  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH.  107 

was  within  him.  On  the  contrary,  we  may  easily  conceive  a  saint  in  a 
local  hell ;  an  Abednego  in  the  burning  fiery  furnace,  or  a  St.  John  in 
the  caldron  of  burning  oil,  yet  happy  by  virtue  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
within  them,  "even  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost."  We  conclude,  that  the  gate  of  heaven  must  be  opened  upon 
earth  by  regeneration,  and  by  the  love  of  God,  or  that  it  will  remain 
shut  for  ever  ;  and  that  a  local  paradise  would  only  be  a  sorrowful  prison, 
to  a  man  who  was  not  regenerated ;  because,  carrying  nothing  thither 
but  depraved  and  earthly  appetites  and  passions,  and  finding  nothing 
there  but  spiritual  "and  celestial  objects,  disgust  and  dissatisfaction  must 
be  the  consequence ;  and,  like  Satan,  his  own  mind  would  be  his  hell. 
Sinners  cannot  now  comprehend  this.  But  when  their  day  of  grace 
shall  be  past,  and  they  shall  be  given  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  they 
shall  terribly  feel  the  necessity  of  a  spiritual  birth,  in  order  to  be  deli- 
vered from  hell,  and  to  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but,  alas  !  it  will  be 
then  too  late. 

To  all  these  considerations,  permit  me  to  add  another,  which  arises 
from  the  nature  of  the  thing,  and  of  itself  claims  our  attention.  Good 
sense  cannot  but  dictate  to  us,  that  drunkards,  gluttons,  and  impure  per- 
sons ;  in  a  word,  all  the  servants  of  Belial  will,  in  that  great  day,  follow 
the  master  whom  they  now  serve.  And  is  it  not  also  clear,  that  the 
unjust,  the  extortioners,  the  covetous,  and  all  those  who  defend  the  in- 
terests of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  under  the  standard  of  mammon,  shall 
be  excluded  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  well  as  their  infernal  leader  ? 
And  can  we  doubt  that  the  worldlings,  whose  minds  are  more  occupied 
with  the  pleasures  and  comforts  of  this  life,  than  with  the  love  and  glory 
of  God,  will  have  their  portion  with  Satan,  who  is  the  god  of  the  world  ? 
Beside,  does  not  reason  convince  us,  that  a  depraved  soul,  loaded  with 
the  weight  of  its  own  sensuality,  will  precipitate  itself  into  the  abyss,  as 
a  stone,  pressed  by  its  own  weight,  falls  toward  the  centre  ?  And  is  it 
not  as  easy  to  conceive,  that  the  heaviest  and  dullest  of  the  feathered 
animals  should  soar  like  an  eagle  toward  the  sun,  as  to  imagine  that  a 
soul  that  never  had  its  conversation  in  heaven ';  that  a  soul  who  had 
never  received  by  regeneration  the  wings  of  a  firm  faith,  a  lively  hope, 
and  a  burning  love,  should  be  able  to  follow  Jesus,  and  ascend  to  heaven 
with  the  triumphant  army  of  the  sons  of  God  ?  We  may  then  conclude, 
that  our  Saviour's  words  are  founded  on  eternal  reason  and  justice,  and 
if  a  man  be  not  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 


PART   FOURTH. 

DIVIDED  INTO  TWO   SECTIONS. 

SECTION  I. 

How  dangerous  it  is  to  take  the  regularity  of  our  manners  for  the  regene- 
ration of  our  souls. 

Perhaps  some  one  will  say,  "  I  am  convinced  that  perjured  persons, 
debauchees,  murderers,  and  those  who  act  unjustly,  shall  never  see  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  without  being  born  again.     But  I  thank  God  I  am 


108  A  SERMON   ON   THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

not  of  this  number.  From  my  youth  J  have  lived  in  the  practice  of  tern- 
perance  and  justice  :  and  I  flatter  myself  I  am  also  no  stranger  to  reli- 
gion. I  constantly  attend  the  Church  :  I  read  the  word  of  God  :  I  pray 
and  communicate  regularly.  An*  not  these  indubitable  marks  of  my 
regeneration  ?  And  was  I  not  born  again  of  water,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  in  my  baptism  V 

Before  I  answer  this  question,  permit  me  to  ask  some  which  are  not 
less  important.  Have  you  peace  with  God  ?  Have  you  the  remission 
of  your  sins  ?  Has  God  revealed  his  Son  in  you  ?  When  you  examine 
yourself,  do  you  feel  that  Christ  is  in  you  the  hope  of  glory  ?  Have  you 
received  the  "  Spirit  of  adoption,  witnessing  with  your  spirit  that  you 
are  a  child  of  God  ?"  Have  you  ever  beheld  the  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, and  felt  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come  ?  Do  you  taste  the 
heaven  which  faithful  souls  enjoy  even  in  this  life,  "  the  love  of  God  shed 
abroad  in  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  given  unto  them  ?" 
Is  your  soul  athirst  for  the  living  God  ?  Does  it  pant  after  him  as  the 
thirsty  hart  after  the  brooks  of  water  ?  Do  you  count  all  things  as  dung 
and  dross  for  "  the  excellence  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  ?"  Are 
you  no  longer  conformed  to  this  evil  world,  but  do  you  live  as  a  stran 
ger  and  a  pilgrim  upon  earth  ?  Do  you  press  with  joy  toward  the  hea- 
venly Jerusalem  in  which  are  already  your  treasure  and  your  heart  ? 
Does  your  soul  ascend  to  God,  even  as  the  flame  toward  heaven  ?  Do 
you  celebrate  in  all  your  conversation  the  praises  of  him  "  who  has  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light  ?"  And  do  you  find  within 
you  the  humility,  the  patience,  the  disinterestedness,  the  renunciation  of 
the  world,  the  holy  joy,  the  tender  zeal,  the  constant  sweetness,  the 
desire  to  be  with  Christ,  the  modest  gravity,  the  unfeigned  love,  which 
characterizes  true  believers  ? 

If  these  questions  do  not  surprise  you  ;  if  the  Spirit  of  God  has  ena- 
bled you  to  sound  the  depths  which  they  contain ;  if  your  most  lively 
concern  be,  that  you  experience  those  .heavenly  dispositions  only  in  a 
low  degree  ;  and  if  it  b.e  your  most  vehement  desire  that  you  may  grow 
in  grace  every  moment,  until  you  feel  all  the  power  of  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus, — you  are  a  child  of  God,  you  are  born  again  !  Whether  as 
Samuel  you  have  walked  in  the  way  of  the  Lord  from  your  infancy,  or 
like  St.  Paul,  beheld  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  in  the  midst 
of  your  career,  it  imports  not :  "  All  is  yours,  for  you  are  Christ's,  and 
Christ  is  God's." 

But  if,  far  from  finding  in  your  heart  and  in  your  conversation,  these 
marks  of  a  new  and  spiritual  birth,  your  conscience  rises  against  you, 
and  you  are  forced  to  confess  that  you  feel  within  you  rather  the  natural 
than  the  spiritual  man,  being  more  occupied  with  earth  than  with  heaven  ; 
with  yourself  and  the  world,  than  with  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  the  glory 
to  which  he  calls  you ;  we  should  only  lay  a  stumbling  block  in  your 
way,  if  we  did  not  cry  to  you  in  the  words  of  our  Divine  Master,  "  Ye 
must  be  born  again,  or  you  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  We  mean 
not  by  this,  that  you  must  reform  your  life  even  as  scandalous  sinners. 
No,  you  live,  it  may  be,  according  to  the  strict  rules  of  justice  and  tem- 
perance. You  give  alms,  you  fulfil  the  exterior  duties  of  religion.  We 
may  believe  even  that,  with  Nicodemus,  you  do  all  this  in  the  integrity 
of  your  heart,  and  as  unto  God.     But  the  Lord  declares  that  although 


A  SERMON  ON  THE   NEW  BIRTH.  109 

you  have  the  form  of  godliness,  you  have  hitherto  denied  its  power.  He 
declares  that  your  righteousness,  which  does  not  exceed  that  of  the 
Pharisees,  will  never  introduce  you  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  Yes, 
were  you  a  second  Cornelius,  a  devout  man,  fearing  God  with  all  your 
housed  giving  much  alms  to  the  people,  seeking  God  with  fasting  and 
continual  prayer,  if  God  hath  not  accepted  you  in  the  Beloved ;  if  by 
faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus  you  have  not  received  remission  of  your  sins; 
if  the  Holy  Spirit  have  not  descended  upon  you  ;  if  God,  who  knoweth 
the  heart,  beareth  not  witness  to  you  as  to  him,  purifying  your  heart  by 
faith ;  your  baptism  has  not  saved  you.  And  although  you  may  not  be 
far  from  the  kingdom,  you  are  not  yet  possessed  of  it,  you  are  not  yet 
regenerated.  You  have  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  but  not  his  love.  You 
are  not  yet  a  child  of  God.  You  still  want  the  Spirit  of  adoption  in 
order  to  be  a  Christian ;  for  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  nor 
uncircumcision  availeth  any  thing,  but  a  new  creation  ;  an  entire  change 
of  our  soul,  as  well  as  of  our  life.  In  a  word,  "  a  new  heart,  a  right 
spirit :  the  kingdom  of  God  within  us." 

If  these  things  be  so,  (and  they  cannot  be  denied  without  trampling 
under  foot  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,)  suffer  the  word  of  God  to  penetrate 
into  your  soul.  This  day  hear  the  voice  of  God,  and  harden  not  your 
heart.  The  things  which  you  read  regard  your  eternal  peace.  Ah ! 
beware  lest  your  unbelief  hide  them  from  your  eyes  for  ever.  Are  you 
one  of  those  saints  of  the  world  who  make  a  fair  show  in  the  flesh ;  and 
who,  far  from  suffering  persecution  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  are  honoured 
of  men  because  you  still  conform  to  the  present  world  ?  Who,  content 
with  your  moral  duties  and  exterior  piety,  do  not  come  to  Jesus  with  the 
repentance  and  importunity  of  the  publican?  Suffer  this  foolishness  of 
preaching  to  pull  off  your  mask.  Renounce  your  own  wisdom  :  tear  off 
the  vain  robe  of  your  own  righteousness  :  and  smiting  your  breast,  come 
to  Christ  with  the  publicans  and  harlots,  and  groan  for  regeneration, 
without  which  you  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Nicodemus  has 
set  you  the  example.  He  at  length  "  received  the  kingdom  as  a  little 
child,  and  was  more  than  conqueror  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 
Tread  in  his  blessed  footsteps.  And  if  you  also  be  a  master  in  Israel, 
follow  his  simplicity,  and  triumph  like  him  over  all  your  prejudices,  your 
doubts,  and  the  fear  of  those  who  say,  they  are  the  Israel  of  God,  and 
are  not ;  and  having  followed  him  in  the  regeneration,  you  shall  soon 
follow  him  to  glory. 

But  if  you  are  an  open  sinner,  if  you  live  in  the  practice  of  injustice, 
intemperance,  impurity,  or  falsehood ;  thirsting  after  gold  or  pleasure ; 
despising  the  name  of  God  and  his  word  ;  we  need  not  attempt  to  prove 
that  you  are  not  regenerate.  Your  sins  have  a  voice,  they  cry  as  Jesus 
did  to  such  gross  offenders,  "  You  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  for  his 
works  you  do."  You  know  it  is  so;  your  own  heart  condemns  you. 
Wonder  not  then  that  we  denounce  your  utter  perdition,  in  the  name  of 
God,  if  you  are  not  born  again.  Strive  to  open  your  eyes,  and  behold 
the  corruption  of  your  heart,  that  depraved  source  of  your  ungodly  man- 
ners. Behold  the  destroying  angel  behind  you,  the  eternal  abyss  opened 
under  your  feet,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  ready  to  take  vengeance  on  you  as 
his  enemies.  O  that  the  idea  of  these  awful  events  may  awaken,  before 
their  reality  overwhelms  you  !     O  may  the  fear  of  the  Lord  be  in  you  the 


HO  A   SERMON   ON   THE   NEW   BIRTH. 

beginning  of  wisdom  !  This  moment  turn  to  your  gracious  God  ;  to- 
morrow may  be  too  late.  "  This  is  the  day  of  salvation"  for  you.  If 
you  neglect  it,  the  coming  night  may  be  the  commencement  of  night  eter- 
nal to  your  soul.  And  will  you  trine  with  a  danger  like  this  ?  Will  you 
do  nothing  to  escape  the  sword  of  Divine  justice  ?  If  your  danger  move 
you  not,  consider  your  interest.  This  would  be  sufficient  to  produce  an 
entire  change  in  you,  if  you  would  consider  it  seriously.  In  this  world 
God  offers  you  the  pardon  of  your  sins,  and  a  happiness  which  can  only 
be  surpassed  by  that  of  glorified  saints ;  and  after  this  life  a  kingdom— 
a  kingdom  in  the  heavens.  And  will  you  carelessly  renounce  this  be- 
cause you  cannot  obtain  it  without  pain  ?  Rather  than  be  born  again, 
do  you  resolve  to  lose  a  crown  of  eternal  glory  ?  To  lose  your  God, 
your  Saviour,  your  all  ?  Yea,  to  destroy  yourself?  Be  not  deceived. 
If  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  shut  against  you,  the  kingdom  of  darkness, 
the  second  death,  becomes  your  portion.  If  the  kingdom  of  God  be  not 
established  within  you ;  if  the  foundation  be  not  laid  in  your  soul  in  this 
life,  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  the  peace  of  God,  and  the  joy  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  "  the  worm  that  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched," 
shall  terribly  revenge  your  contempt  for  the  blood  of  the  covenant  in 
which  your  sins  might  have  been  washed  away,  if  you  had  implored  the 
sacred  sprinkling.  Be  not  offended  at  our  freedom.  God  knows  that 
if  we  spread  before  you  the  treasures  of  his  wrath,  which  he  reserves 
for  the  day  of  wrath,  it  is  that  you  may  flee  to  those  of  his  mercy. 
These  are  still  open.  His  great  and  precious  promises  are  still  for  you. 
By  these  you  may  be  made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature  in  this  life, 
and  after  death  of  the  inheritance  among  the  saints  in  light. 


SECTION  II. 

The  difference  between  the  reformation  of  a  Pharisee,  and  the  regeneration 
of  a  Christian  more  particularly  considered. 

To  the  preceding  exhortation  permit  me  to  add  an  advice  which  is  of 
the  last  importance.  Many  sinners  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  regen- 
eration without  being  profited  thereby,  because  they  confound  it  with 
reformation  of  life.  Reader,  beware  of  this  error.  Remember,  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  die  to  sin  if  we  be  not  raised  into  newness  of  life.  It  is  a 
little  thing  to  say,  "  By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  not  what  I  was,"  if  we 
cannot  add,  "  by  the  same  grace  I  am  what  I  never  have  been."  It  is 
a  little  thing  to  be  able  to  say,  "  I  am  no  swearer,  drunkard,  unclean 
person  ;  I  do  not  walk  after  the  flesh  ;"  unless  we  feel  at  the  same  time 
that  we  walk  in  the  strait  path  of  faith,  hope,  and  Divine  love. 

You  are  no  longer  unjust :  well ;  but  like  Zaccheus,  do  you  give  the 
half  of  your  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  you  have  wronged  any  man, 
do  you  restore  four-fold  ?  You  are  no  longer  e&nsual  and  voluptuous  ; 
but  are  your  affections  spiritual  and  Divine  1  You  are  no  longer  en- 
slaved to  passion  and  anger ;  but  does  the  peace  of  God,  which  passes 
all  understanding,  keep  your  soul  in  the  sweetness  and  patience  of  the 
Lamb  of  God  ?  You  are  n^  longer  filled  with  that  pride  which  made 
you  hate  your  superiors  oespise  your  inferiors,  and  shun  your  equals  ; 


A   SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  Ill 

but  in  its  place,  do  you  feel  in  your  heart  the  poverty  of  spirit,  and  the 
humility  of  Jesus  ?  Do  you  never  indulge  what  one  calls  "  a  polite  pride  ?" 
Do  you  never  pique  yourselves  upon  your  gentility,  or  upon  any  worldly 
distinction?  You  are  perhaps  an  eminent  person,  and  you  feel  it  is 
unworthy  an  honest  man  to  lie  or  calumniate  ;  but  do  you  always  firmly 
take  part  with  the  truth  ?  Do  you  comfort,  "reprove,  or  exhort  your 
brethren  with  the  sweetness  and  zeal  of  a  Christian  ?  You  no  longer 
mock  at  the  word  of  God ;  but  do  you  meditate  upon  it  day  and  night  ? 
And  is  it  as  sweet  to  your  soul  as  honey  to  your  palate  ? 

You  are  convinced  it  is  a  great  sin  to  "  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain  ;" 
but  do  you  "  rejoice  with  reverence"  every  time  you  pronounce  or  think 
of  that  sacred  name  ?  You  detest  impiety,  you  cry  out  against  that  deluge 
of  iniquity  which  threatens  to  destroy  us  :  but  are  you  not  either  trans- 
ported with  bitter  zeal,  or  lukewarm,  and  filled  with  vain  confidence  ? 
You  lament  over  many  that  you  see  at  church,  and  at  the  holy  table ; 
but  when  you  are  there,  do  you  rejoice  as  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  ? 
Does  all  that  is  within  you  cry  out  by  happy  experience,  "  How  dreadful 
is  this  place  !  It  is  the  dwelling  of  the  mighty  God !"  Do  you  inwardly 
feed  upon  the  bread  of  angels  ?  Do  you  drink  of  the  waters  that  spring 
up  into  everlasting  life  ?  Do  you  taste  that  the  Lord  is  good  ? 

You  enter  regularly  into  your  closet,  and  you  blame  those  who  neglect 
to  pray  to  their  Father  who  seeth  in  secret ;  but  do  you  there  seek  your 
God  with  tears  until  he  manifests  himself  to  you  as  he  does  not  unto  the 
world?  Are  you  sick  of  love,  (to  use  the  expression  of  Solomon,)  feeling 
that  your  Beloved  is  yours,  and  that  you  are  his ;  "  that  his  left  hand  is 
under  your  head,"  and  that  his  "  right  hand  embraces  you?"  In  a  word, 
do  you  find  there  "  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God. 
and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?" 

You  feel  that  the  life  of  a  Christian  ought  to  be  a  constant  preparation 
for  death,  and  as  it  is  contrary  to  good  sense  to  take  those  diversions  in 
which  we  would  not  that  death  should  find  us  ;  you  therefore  leave  plays, 
useless  visits,  balls,  finery,  romances,  cards,  &e,  to  those  whom  the  God 
of  this  world  blinds,  lest  they  should  see  eternity  ready  to  swallow  them 
up :  but  do  you  "  redeem  the  time,"  that  you  may  "  walk  in  all  those 
good  works  which  the  Lord  has  prepared"  for  you  ?  Does  the  "  love  of 
Christ  constrain  you,"  so  that  your  duty  becomes  your  delight  ?  Do  you 
love  to  visit  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  prison,  and  in  the  abode  of  the  widow 
and  orphan  ?  Do  you  seek  the  poor  that  are  despised  ?  Are  you  merciful 
to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  both  to  the  bodies  and  the  souls  of  men  ? 
And  do  you  find  more  pleasure  in  administering  to  the  afflicted,  and 
"  weeping  with  those  that  weep,"  than  the  children  of  this  world  experi- 
ence in  all  their  vain  delights  ? 

Your  life  is  not  irregular,  thanks  be  to  God !  You  do  not  live  any 
longer  in  presumptuous  sins.  But  do  you  feel  the  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  of  Christ?  Do  you  know  that  you  "  have  redemption  through  his 
blood,  the  forgiveness  of  your  sins  ?"  In  a  word,  are  you  "  crucified  with 
Christ,"  living  no  longer  to  yourself,  but  to  God  ?  Is  "  Christ  your  life?"' 
Do  you  feel  that  "  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ?" 

Reader,  behold  in  these  questions  the  difference  between  the  reforma- 
tion of  a  Pharisee,  and  the  regeneration  of  a  child  of  God.  Some  de- 
grees of  preventing  grace,  and  of  reason  and  reflection,  suffice  for  the 


112  A  SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTJI. 

first ;  but  nothing  less  can  effect  the  second  than  a  baptism  of  the  Holy- 
Ghost,  and  a  real  participation  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus. 
Beware,  if  indeed  you  would  "  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  see  the 
kingdom  of  God,"  beware  that  you  rest  not  in  the  former  state.  If  you 
do,  "  the  publicans  and  harlots  shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be- 
fore you,"  or  rather  you  shall  never  enter  therein.  Christ  himself  has 
solemnly  declared  it,  Matt,  v,  20,  xxi,  31.  Accuse  us  not  of  severity  in 
thus  following  eternal  Wisdom,  and  in  not  daring  to  make  void  any 
words  written  in  the  book  of  life.  To  flatter  you  in  this  respect  would 
be  to  lose  our  own  souls,  and  that  without  remedy. 

We  are  not  ignorant  that  the  voice  of  worldlings,  like  "  the  sound  of 
many  waters,"  lifts  itself  up  on  all  sides,  and  drowns  that  of  the  Saviour. 
In  vain  we  declare,  that  those  who  falsely  "  call  him  Lord,  shall  not 
enter  into  his  kingdom."  In  vain  we  cry  to  sinners  to  "strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate"  of  regeneration,  because  "many  will  seek  to  enter" 
by  that  of  reformation,  "  and  shall  not  be  able."  Sinners,  always  in- 
credulous and  obstinate,  and  ever  carried  away  by  the  multitude,  refuse 
to  hear  the  voice  of  their  Shepherd.  Wolves  in  sheep's  clothing  betray 
them.  Death  seizes  them  before  they  are  born  again,  and  chains  of 
darkness  keep  them  bound  to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  Fools  !  to 
be  blinded  by  that  which  should  open  their  eyes,  viz.  the  multitude  that 
are  content  to  live  without  regeneration.  As  if  Christ  had  not  expressly 
said,  "  Many  are  called,  but  few  chosen  ;  that  his  flock  is  a  little  flock ;" 
and  that  few  walk  in  the  narrow  path  that  leads  to  life. 

Renounce,  reader,  renounce  the  presumptuous  folly  of  worldlings,  and 
if  the  charm  be  not  yet  broken,  suffer  the  grace  of  God  to  break  it  this 
moment !  Say  not,  you  "  are  rich  and  need  nothing."  Depend  not  on 
your  own  works,  your  sincerity,  your  religious  duties,  your  own  right- 
eousness. Acknowledge,  on  the  contrary,  that  as  you  are  not  born 
again,  you  are  yet  in  your  sins ;  poor,  and  miserable,  and  blind,  and 
naked.  Feel  the  necessity  to  "  buy  gold  tried  in  the  fire  that  you  may 
be  rich ;  and  white  clothing,  that  the  shame  of  your  nakedness  may  not 
appear ;  and  to  anoint  your  eyes  with  eye  salve,  that  you  may  see."' 
Cry  out  like  the  penitent  publican,  with  a  broken  and  contrite  heart,  or 
as  Saul,  praying  day  and  night  for  the  Spirit  of  God,  Lord,  "  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner !"  Lord,  "  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death  ?"  Lord,  "  what  shall  I  do  to  be  born  again  ?"  If  these  be  the  de- 
sires of  your  soul,  attend  to  the  conclusion  of  this  discourse.  There  you 
shall  see,  that  however  dangerous  your  case  may  be,  it  is  not  desperate ; 
and  you  shall  be  convinced  that  there  is  balm  in  Gilead.  You  shall 
confess  that  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ  can,  not  only  heal  the  wounds  of 
a  dying  soul,  but  raise  to  life  one  that  is  spiritually  dead. 


THE  CONCLUSION. 
By  what  means  a  soul  may  be  born  again. 

God  takes  the  title  of  "  slow  to  anger ;  abundant  in  goodness  and 
truth."  He  swears  by  himself  that  he  has  "  no  pleasure  in  the  death 
of  a  sinner,"  but  that  he  should  be  converted  and  live  ;  and  the  effects 


A  SERMON  ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  113 

answer  to  those  tender  declarations.  His  mercy  has  found  a  way  to 
raise  fallen  man,  (if  he  will  yield,)  and  to  place  him  again  among  his 
children,  without  wounding  his  own  justice.  This  way  is  astonishing, 
unthought  of,  incomprehensible.  It  surpasses  infinitely  the  conjectures 
of  angels,  and  the  desires  of  men.  And  it  is  so  infallible,  that  all  who 
have  a  due  sense  of  their  miserable  fall  in  Adam,  all  those  who  feel  that 
they  can  no  more  regenerate  themselves  than  they  can  create  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth,  may  come  to  God,  a©d  receive  regeneration 
freely  by  grace,  and  a  right  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Reader,  you  have  heard  of  this  remedy  a  thousand  times.  But,  on 
the  one  hand,  knowing  neither  your  indigence  nor  your  malady,  and  on 
the  other,  having  your  understanding  darkened  by  your  unbelief,  you 
have  neither,  perhaps,  considered  nor  apprehended  as  a  Christian  "  the 
things  which  belong  to  your  peace."  May  you  receive  them  now  as  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  which  is  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believeth !" 

Know  then  that  the  regeneration  which  we  preach  is  nothing  else  than 
the  two  great  operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  a  penitential  soul. 
The  first,  called  justification,  or  the  remission  of  sins,  is  that  gratuitous 
act  of  the  Divine  mercy,  by  which  God  pardons  the  sinner,  who  believes 
in  Jesus,  all  his  past  sins,  and  "  imputes  his  faith  to  him  for  righteous- 
ness." Because,  feeling  that  he  has  no  righteousness,  that  he  can  do  no 
work  that  is  good  in  the  sight  of  God,  he  "  submits  to  the  righteousness 
of  God."  He  receives  with  his  heart  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  his 
gratuitous  Saviour,  his  sole  Saviour  ;  and  he  knows  that  he  has  received 
him,  because  God  "  fills  him  with  peace  and  joy  in  believing,"  and  be- 
cause he  receives  dominion  over  all  his  sins. 

This  dominion  over  sin,  which  the  believer  receives  with  the  remission 
of  his  past  sins,  is  the  beginning  or  foundation  of  the  second  part  of 
regeneration,  called  in  the  Holy  Scripture  sanctification.  For  in  the 
same  moment  that  the  sinner  receives  this  faith,  the  faith  which  justifies ; 
at  the  same  moment  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God  witnesses  with  his  spirit 
that"  his  sins  are  pardoned,  he  receives  the  power  to  love  much,  as  he 
feels  that  he  has  much  forgiven.  "  The  love  of  God"  being  thus  "  shed 
abroad  in  his  heart,"  causes  an  extraordinary  revolution  in  all  the 
powers  of  his  soul,  and  makes  him  feel,  though  perhaps  in  a  low  degree, 
the  effects  of  the  new  birth,  described  in  the  second  part  of  this  discourse. 

We  are  far  from  concluding  that  the  body  of  sin  is  destroyed  by  this 
circumcision  of  the  heart,  this  first  revelation  of  Christ  in  the  soul  of  a 
sinner.  No  :  "  the  old  man  is  only  crucified  with  Christ ;"  and  although 
he  cannot  act  as  before,  he  lives  still,  and  seeks  occasion  to  disengage 
himself,  and  to  exercise  his  tyranny  with  more  rage  than  ever.  David 
and  St.  Peter  had  painful  experience  of  this :  and  hence  we  see  that 
sanctification  is  not  generally  the  work  of  a  day  nor  of  a  year.  For, 
although  God  can  cut  short  his  work  in  righteousness,  as  the  penitent 
thief  found  it  aforetime,  and  as  many  sinners  called  at  the  eleventh  hour 
have  found  it  ever  since,  it  is  nevertheless  in  general  a  progressive  work, 
and  of  long  duration.  We,  therefore,  define  sanctification  to  be  that 
powerful  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart  of  a  pardoned  sinner, 
by  which  he  receives  power  to  go  on  "  from  faith  to  faith  ;"  by  which, 
illuminated  more  and  more  "  to  see  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 

Vol.  IV.  8 


114  A  SERMON   ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH. 

Christ,"  and  "  renewed  day  by  day"  in  the  image  of  his  Saviour,  which 
he  had  lost  in  Adam,  he  feels  himself  internally  "  changed  from  glory 
into  glory,"  until  he  be  "  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God ;"  until  he 
"  loves  the  Lord  his  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  with  all  his  soul,  and 
with  all  his  strength,  and  his  neighbour  as  himself,"  even  as  Christ  loved 
him.  This  is  the  highest  point  of  the  sanctification  of  a  believer,  and 
consequently  his  regeneration  is  complete. 

Sanctification  cannot,  therefore,  begin  before  justification  ;  for,  seeing 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  sanctifies  the  heart  of  a  sinner,  that  Spirit  must  be 
received.  But  he  is  not  received  but  in  the  sinner's  being  pardoned. 
For,  according  to  Scripture,  the  first  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  adoption, 
is  to  cry  "  Abba,  Father  !"  in  the  heart  of  which  he  takes  pessession  ;  to 
testify  to  the  spirit  of  the  believer  that  he  is  a  child  of  God,  and  to  give 
him  the  foretaste  of  his  heavenly  inheritance.  Beside,  reason  convinces 
us  that  God  cannot  communicate  his  nature,  and  the  graces  of  his  Spirit 
to  a  man  whose  sins  he  has  not  yet  pardoned.  A  king  is  not  bountiful 
to  a  rebellious  subject  before  he  restores  him  to  his  favour. 

Thus  our  Church  declares  in  her  thirteenth  article,  "  That  works  done 
before  the  grace  of  Christ  and  the  inspiration  of  his  Spirit,  are  not  plea- 
sant to  God,  forasmuch  as  they  spring  not  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ :  yea, 
rather  for  that  they  are  not  done  as  God  has  willed  and  commanded  them 
to  be  done,  we  doubt  not  but  that  they  have  the  nature  of  sin,  however 
good  they  may  appear  to  men." 

This  being  admitted,  it  is  evident  that  for  a  sinner  to  know  how  he  is 
to  be  regenerated,  he  is  to  consider  how  he  may  be  justified  and  sancti- 
fied. Upon  this  the  Scripture  is  clear.  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved,"  says 
St.  Paul,  "  through  faith  ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of 
God  ;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast,  being  created  anew  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  As  if  the  apostle  had  said,  By  the  faith 
God  has  freely  given  you,  you  are  saved  from  your  sins  ;  delivered  from 
the  punishment  which  they  deserve  by  justification,  and  from  their  domi- 
nion over  you  by  sanctification.  Hence  you  are  regenerated  and  new 
creatures.  Thus  St.  Paul  declares  that  a  living  faith  is  the  gate  of 
salvation,  and  all  the  Scripture  declares  it  with  him.  "  He  who  believeth 
shall  be  saved,"  says  Jesus  Christ ;  "  he  who  believeth  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from  death  unto 
life."  And  St.  John  shows  us  that  "  this  passing  from  death  unto  life," 
and  regeneration,  are  the  same  thing.  "  He  who  believeth  is  born  of 
God,"  says  he,  in  his  first  epistle ;  and  in  his  Gospel  he  declares,  that 
"  those  who  receive  Christ,  to  them  he  gives  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God,  even  to  those  who  believe  on  his  name,  who  are  born  not  of  the 
will  of  man,  but  of  God." 

Our  Church  declares  the  same  thing.  In  her  homilies  she  teaches, 
that  the  only  instrument  necessary  to  salvation  is  faith,  which  is  there 
defined,  "  A  sure  and  firm  confidence,  that  through  the  merits  of  Christ 
our  sins  are  forgiven,  and  we  reconciled  to  God." 

Observe  here,  reader,  with  respect  to  faith,  none  can  enjoy  it  but  those 
who  have  felt  their  need  of  it.  Jesus  Christ  never  gives  this  sweet 
assurance,  this  testimony  of  his  Spirit,  but  to  those  whose  hearts  are 
really  contrite.  "  Come  to  me,"  says  he,  "  all  ye  who  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."    He  invites  no  others,  he  Gomforts 


A  SERMON  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH.  115 

no  others.  Before  the  Spirit  of  God  "  convinces  the  world  of  righteous- 
ness, he  convinces  of  sin,  because  they  believe  not  in  Jesus."  None  can 
come  to  the  Son  for  justifying  faith,  unless  the  "  Father  draw  him"  by  a 
sense  of  his  sins,  and  by  the  fear  of  that  punishment  which  he  merits. 

If  these  truths  have  dissipated  your  doubts  :  if  you  no  longer  halt 
between,  God  and  Baal :  if  you  are  convinced  that  you  can  never  see  the 
"  kingdom  of  God"  without  being  "  born  again,"  and  that  the  sole  means 
of  obtaining  this  blessing,  is  by  a  "  faith  of  the  operation  of  God,"  and 
which  is  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  ;"  a  faith  by  which  Christ  is 
revealed  in  us,  and  we  obtain  peace  with  God  :  a  faith  which  is  "  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen ;" 
which  points,  like  John  the  Baptist,  to  "  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  and  who  freely  and  graciously  gives  this 
faith  to  those  who  earnestly  seek  it :  come  then,  dear  reader,  come  then 
to  the  throne  of  grace,  but  come  condemned  by  your  conscience,  bur- 
dened by  the  weight  of  your  iniquities,  and  pierced  with  a  sense  of  your 
unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart.  Implore  the  mercy  of  your  Judge 
until  he  shows  himself  your  Father  in  giving  you  the  Spirit  of  adoption  ; 
your  Jesus  in  saving  you  from  your  sins  ;  your  Christ  in  giving  you  the 
unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  your  Emmanuel  in  revealing  himself  in  you, 
and  dwelling  in  your  heart  by  faith. 

He  invites  you  himself.  "  Ho  !  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to 
the  waters !  Ye  who  have  no  money,  who  are  poor  in  spirit,  who 
tremble  at  my  word,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  with- 
out price.  Why  do  ye  spend  your  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread, 
and  your  labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not  ?  Hearken  diligently  unto 
me,  and  eat  that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fat- 
ness. Come  to  me  !  hearken !  and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David,  and  your  soul  shall  live.  In 
the  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  cried,  saying,  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  to  me  and  drink.  He  who  believeth  in  me,  out  of  his  belly 
shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water."  And  this,  says  St.  John,  "  spake  he 
of  the  Spirit,  which  they  who  believed  on  him  should  receive ;  for  the 
Spirit  was  not  yet  given,  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." 

But  Jesus  is  glorified !  He  is  ascended  to  his  Father  and  to  our 
Father,  to  his  God  and  to  our  God  !  And  from  the  throne  of  his  glory 
he  sends  every  day  into  contrite  hearts  the  Comforter,  whom  the  world 
cannot  receive,  because  it  desires  not  to  know  him.  But  you,  afflicted 
soul,  shall  receive  him,  if  indeed  you  pant  after  him,  and  refuse  to  be 
comforted  until  he  comes.  The  time  cometh,  yea,  is  now  come,  that 
you  shall  "  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth  :"  and  filled  with  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  you  also  shall  cry  out,  "  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed ! 
Lord,  now  let  thy  servant  go  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy 
salvation !"  Yes,  you  shall  be  baptized  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  justified  freely  by  faith.  You  "  shall  have  peace 
with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  rejoice  in  God  your 
Saviour  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be 
given  you ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you."  "  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  his  Holy 
Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ?"     Doubt  not  the  fidelity  of  God  !     Con- 


116  A  SERMON  ON  THE  NEW  BIRTH. 

sider,  "  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  who  are 
afar  off,  whom  the  Lord  your  God  shall  call."  The  God  of  truth  has 
made  this  glorious  promise — pray  that  it  may  be  sealed  upon  your  heart ! 
But  "  pray  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  at  all  times  ;  watching  there- 
unto with  all  perseverance.  And  remember,  that  when  your  prayer  is 
granted,  you  shall  be  "  in  Christ  a  new  creature."  "  The  Spirit  of  God 
shall  bear  witness  to  your  spirit  that  you  are  a  child  of  God,"  and  that 
your  faith  is  really  that  which  justifies  and  regenerates. 

Take  heed,  in  the  meantime,  that  impatience  and  unbelief  mingle  not 
with  the  sense  of  the  number  and  greatness  of  your  sins,  and  so  plunge 
you  into  discouraging  and  excessive  sorrow.  Are  you  tempted  to  doubt 
of  the  mercy  of  God  1  Reanimate  your  hope  by  meditating  on  the  invi- 
tations of  "  the  God  of  all  grace,"  and  the  promises  of  the  God  of  truth. 
Is  your  soul  spiritually  sick,  yea,  dying?  Consider  that  Jesus  has  said, 
"  The  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  but  those  who  are  sick  !"  Is 
it  spiritually  dead  1  Hearken  "  to  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  :"  "  I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life ;  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live ;  and  he  who  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die  !"  You  feel  that  you  are  lost.  Jesus  says  expressly,  "  I  am 
not  sent  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  "  The  Son  of  man 
is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Do  you  doubt  if  he 
will  receive  you  ?  He  says  himself  he  will  not  "  break  a  bruised  reed, 
nor  quench  the  smoking  flax."  "  He  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no 
wise  cast  out."  Do  you  feel  that  it  is  impossible  such  a  corrupt  soul  as 
yours  should  be  regenerated  ?  Jesus  says  to  you,  "  Believe,  and  you  shall 
see  the  glory  of  God  :  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth."  Do 
you  say  you  have  no  power  ?  Remember,  "  power  belongeth  unto  God." 
"  I  will  put  my  laws,"  says  he,  "  in  your  mind,  and  write  them  in  your 
heart."  "  I  will  be  to  you  a  God,  and  yo"  shall  be  to  me  a  people." 
Do  you  doubt  if  God  can  with  justice  pardon  sins  as  great  as  yours  ? 
"Come,"  says  he,  "let  us  reason  together;  though  your  sins  were  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  white  as  snow  ;  though  red  as  crimson,  yet  shall 
they  be  as  wool."  Yes,  says  St.  John,  "  if  we  confess  our  sins,  he 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
unrighteousness." 

Immortal  spirit,  who  readest  these  promises,  "  why  tarriest  thou  V 
Why  do  you  not  cry  out  with  transport,  The  Lord  is  faithful  to  pardon 
my  sins  !  He  has  promised,  and  he  will  do  it.  I  will  then  confess  them 
to  him  day  and  night  with  tears ;  I  will  not  give  rest  to  my  eyes,  till 
they  have  seen  the  salvation  of  God.  Consider !  It  is  because  the  Al- 
mighty is  just,  that  he  will  cleanse  you  from  all  sin.  Yes,  his  Son,  his 
only  Son,  has  satisfied  Divine  justice  for  you.  The  stroke  aimed  at 
you  has  fallen  upon  his  innocent  head.  The  heavenly  victim  stretched 
upon  the  cross  has  been  devoured  by  the  fire  of  that  eternal  vengeance 
which  flamed  against  you.  The  odour  of  this  all-perfect  sacrifice  has 
reconciled  that  God  who  is  a  consuming  fire  to  the  sinner.  The  blood 
of  the  new  covenant  has  flowed  :  it  has  made  a  propitiation  for  your  sins. 
This  blood,  far  from  crying  for  vengeance,  like  that  of  Abel,  merits, 
demands,  obtains  for  you  repentance,  faith,  regeneration,  and  eternal 
life.  The  paschal  Lamb,  the  Lamb  without  spot  or  blemish,  is  sacri- 
ficed for  you.     God  withholds  the  arm  of  the  destroying  angel,  until  this. 


A  SERMON   ON  THE   NEW   BIRTH.  117 

precious  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  your  soul ;  until  you  are  born 
again.  The  holy  Jesus,  who  fears  lest  you  should  perish  in  your  impeni- 
tence, hastens  to  offer  you  life  eternal.  "  Behold,"  says  he,  "  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock.  If  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door, 
I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  He  says  to 
you  by  the  mouth  of  the  apostle,  that  "  he  who  hath  the  Son,  hath  life, 
and  he  who  hath  not  the  Son  of  God,  hath  not  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him."  He  exhorts  you  by  his  servant  David,  "  to  kiss  the 
Son  lest  he  be  angry,  and  you  perish  from  the  way,  if  his  wrath  be 
kindled  but  a  little."  O !  reader,  gratefully  accept  those  kind  invitations  ; 
prostrate  yourself  at  the  feet  of  the  Son  of  God,  open  the  door  of  your 
heart  to  him,  and  cry  incessantly,  Come  in,  Lord  Jesus,  come  in  !  Con- 
fess your  poverty,  your  sins,  your  misery,  until  the  "  kingdom  of  God  is 
within  you."  Mourn  till  you  are  comforted ;  hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness  till  you  are  satisfied ;  and  travail  in  birth  till  Christ  be 
formed  within  you ;  till,  being  born  of  God,  you  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly  Adam,  as  you  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly. 

I  conjure  you  by  the  majesty  of  that  God  before  whom  angels  rejoice 
with  trembling !  By  the  terror  of  the  Lord,  who  may  speak  to  you  in 
thunder,  and  this  instant  require  your  soul  of  you  !  By  the  tender  mer- 
cies, the  bowels  of  compassion  of  your  Father,  which  are  moved  in  your 
favour,  all  ungrateful  as  you  are !  I  conjure  you  by  the  incarnation  of 
the  eternal  Word  by  whom  you  were  created !  By  the  humiliation,  the 
pains,  the  temptations,  the  tears,  the  bloody  sweat,  the  agony,  the  cries 
of  "  our  great  God  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ !"  I  conjure  you  by  the 
bonds,  the  insults,  the  scourgings,  the  robes  of  derision,  the  crown  of 
thorns,  the  ponderous  cross,  the  nails,  the  instruments  of  death  which 
pierced  his  torn  body  !  By  the  arrows  of  the  Almighty,  the  poison  of 
which  drank  up  his  spirit !  By  that  mysterious  stroke  of  wrath  Divine, 
and  by  those  unknown  terrors  which  forced  him  to  cry  out,  "  My  God  !. 
My  God  !  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  I  conjure  you  by  the  inte- 
rests of  your  immortal  soul,  and  by  the  unseen  accidents  which  may  pre- 
cipitate you  into  eternity  !  By  the  bed  of  death  upon  which  you  will  soon 
be  stretched,  and  by  the  useless  sighs  which  you  will  then  pour  out,  if 
your  peace  be  not  made  with  God !  I  conjure  you  by  the  sword  of 
Divine  justice,  and  by  the  sceptre  of  grace  !  By  the  sound  of  the  last 
trumpet,  and  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with 
ten  thousands  of  his  holy  angels  !  By  that  august  tribunal,  at  which  you 
will  appear  with  me,  and  which  shall  decide  our  lot  for  ever !  By  the 
vain  despair  of  hardened  sinners,  and  by  the  unknown  transport  of  rege- 
nerated souls !  I  conjure  you  from  this  instant,  "  work  out  your  salva- 
tion with  fear  and  trembling."  "  Enter  by  the  door  into  the  sheep  fold  :" 
sell  all  to  purchase  the  pearl  of  great  price  :  ';  count  all  things  dung  and 
dro^s  in  comparison  of  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ !" 
Let  him  not  go  till  he  blesses  you  with  that  faith  which  justifies,  and  that 
sanctification  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord.  And  soon, 
transported  from  this  vale  of  tears,  into  the  mansion  of  "  the  just  made 
perfect,"  you  shall  cast  your  crown  of  immortal  glory  "  at  the  feet  of 
Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,"  and  before  the  Lamb,  "who  has 
redeemed  us  by  his  blood :  to  whom  be  the  blessing,  and  the  honour, 
and  the  glory,  and  the  power,  for  ever  and  ever !    Amen." 


NINE  ADDITIONAL   SERMONS. 


Sermon  III. — State  of  the  natural  man. 

"  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  Gml,  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned,"  1  Cor.  ii,  14. 

The  state  of  a  true  Christian  is  a  state  of  peace,  joy,  love,  and  holi- 
ness ;  but  before  a  man  attains  to  it,  he  must  go  through  a  course  of 
fear,  anxiety,  and  repentance,  whether  long  or  short ;  for  no  one  was 
ever  cured  in  soul,  by  the  great  Physician,  Jesus  Christ,  till  he  felt  him- 
self sin  sick,  and  was  loaded  in  his  conscience  with  the  burden  of  his 
iniquities  ;  especially  that  of  a  hard  impenitent  heart,  which  he  could  not 
himself  break  and  soften.  Therefore  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  children  of 
God  at  Rome,  told  them  that  they  were  "  no  longer  under  the  spirit  of 
bondage  to  fear ;"  but  that  "  they  had  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption," 
whereby  they  knew  that  God  was  "  their  Father,"  and  heaven  their 
inheritance.  Whence  it  clearly  appears,  that  those  who  now  had  the 
Spirit  of  grace,  of  love,  and  adoption,  had  had  the  spirit  of  bondage  and 
fear  ;  before  which  they  were  in  their  state  of  nature,  wanting  the  grace 
bojh  to  love  and  fear  God  :  of  one  in  this  last  state  St.  Paul  speaks  under 
the  appellation  of  a  "natural  man,"  in  the  words  of  the  text. 

There  are  then  three  states  through  which  all  the  children  of  Adam 
must  pass  before  they  can  be  real  Christians.  That  of  an  unawakened 
or  "  natural  man,"  who  neither  loves  nor  fears  God  :  that  of  a  penitent 
man,  or  returning  sinner,  who,  being  awakened  into  a  real  concern  for 
his  salvation,  fears  God  and  the  threatenings  of  his  law,  and  dreads  death 
with  its  consequences :  and,  thirdly,  that  of  a  man  "  under  grace,"  or  a 
true  believer,  who  loves  God  above  all  persons  and  things,  and  rejoices 
in  the  expiation  and  pardon  of  his  sins,  which  he  has  now  received  in 
Christ  by  a  living  faith. 

We  see  these  three  states  exemplified  in  the  clearest  manner  in  the 
life  of  St.  Paul.  Though  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned,  sober,  and 
honest  men  in  Jerusalem,  and  very  strict  in  observing  the  hours  of  prayer, 
and  of  the  service  of  the  God  of  his  fathers,  as  he  had  been  taught ; 
though  he  had  endeavoured,  as  he  says  himself,  "  to  keep  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  toward  God  and  men,"  and  though  his  persecuting  the 
saints  was  owing  to  his  ignorance,  he  himself  declaring  that  he  did  it  in 
the  sincerity  of  his  mistaken  zeal,  thinking  he  was  doing  God  service : 
nevertheless,  he  was  but  an  unawakened,  unregenerate  man  all  the  while, 
and  remained  such  till  Jesus  awoke  him  from  his  sleep  of  carnal  security 
as  he  was  going  to  Damascus,  and  showed  him  that  he  was  but  a  painted 
sepulchre.  Then  he  entered  into  a  second  state,  the  state  of  an  awakened 
and  returning  sinner,  who  dreads  the  wrath  to  come,  and  endeavours,  if 
possible,  to  flee  from  it.  Three  days  and  nights  he  remained  in  this  state, 
crying  for  the  pardon  of  his  sins,  without  allowing  himself  time  to  eat  or 


STATE   OF  THE   NATURAL   MAN.  119 

drink.  But  these  pangs  of  his  new  birth  were  too  severe  to  last  long. 
The  fourth  day  God  introduced  him  into  the  third  state  I  mentioned, 
gave  peace  to  his  guilty  conscience,  scattered  all  his  fears,  and  gave  him 
the  Spirit  of  adoption  by  revealing  Jesus  in  his  heart,  as  he  himself 
speaks.  Then  was  he  a  Christian  ;  then  was  he  born  again,  and  began 
to  be  kept  in  the  love  of  God,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ  by  the 
peace  that  passes  all  understanding,  fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith  in 
union  with  those  Christians  whom  he  hated  and  despised  before.  Take 
away  only  the  external  light  and  splendour,  and  the  miraculous  circum- 
stances of  St.  Paul's  conversion,  and  you  see  in  him  what  God  must  do 
in  us,  that  we  may  become  living  branches  of  the  true  vine,  Christ 
Jesus. 

Now  as  we  are  all  most  certainly  in  one  of  these  three  states,  and  it 
highly  concerns  us  to  know  in  which  of  them  this  morning,  I  shall  de- 
scribe to  you  that  of  the  unawakened  or  natural  man,  that  you  may  be 
able  to  judge  whether  you  are  yet  in  it,  or  whether  you  have  taken  one 
true  step  toward  your  everlasting  home.  And  in  the  evening,  by  God's 
grace,  I  shall  endeavour  to  point  out  a  little  farther  that  narrow,  but  sure 
way  that  leads  to  life.  You  see  the  vast  importance  of  the  subject,  and 
that  it  demands  all  your  attention.  O  may  you  give  it  willingly !  and 
may  God  speak  himself  to  your  hearts,  while  I,  in  his  name,  address 
your  outward  ears ! 

The  natural  unawakened  man  is  one  that  is  born  a  child  of  wrath, 
as  being  descended  from  fallen  Adam,  and  having  brought  into  the  world 
with  him  the  root  and  seed  of  all  manner  of  evil,  which  is  the  case  of 
every  child  of  man  ;  for  where  is  the  person  that  can  say  he  never  was 
in  the  condition  of  David,  who  owned,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  heart,  that 
he  was  "  born  in  sin,"  and  that  his  "  mother  conceived  him  in  iniquity  ?" 
Is  there  one  under  heaven  that  never  was  proud,  self  willed,  passionate, 
stubborn,  and  "a  lover  of  pleasure  more  than  a  lover  of  God?"  And  are 
not  these  the  only  sources  of  all  those  streams  of  iniquity  which  overflow 
the  whole  earth  ?  We  are  then  all  born  "natural  men,"  spiritually  asleep, 
that  is  to  say,  partakers  of  the  fallen  nature  of  Adam,  (which  in  the 
original  language  signifies  man,)  partakers  of  that  proud  and  stubborn 
nature  which  made  him  resemble  devils,  and  of  that  sensual  and  earthly 
nature  by  which  he  became  like  the  beasts  that  perish.  This  nature  of 
Adam,  this  old  man  within  us,  as  St.  Paul  terms  it,  we  must  put  off  by 
repentance  and  conversion,  or  die  in  the  same  state  in  which  we  were 
born,  that  is,  "  children  of  wrath,"  and  unawakened,  mere  natural  men. 
And  there  will  be  no  need  of  passing  a  new  sentence  of  condemnation 
upon  any  such,  for  they  shall  have  their  curse  written  upon  their  hearts. 
"  Depart,  ye  cursed,"  shall  Jesus  Christ  say  to  them,  ye  that  do  not  want 
any  new  curse,  ye  that  are  cursed  already  with  the  nature  of  fallen  man, 
and  who  never  "  put  on  in  Christ  the  new  man  created  in  true  holiness." 
Such  being  then  the  wretched  condition  in  which  we  are  all  by  nature, 
we  ought  not  to  wonder  if  the  state  of  a  natural,  unconverted  man  is 
represented  to  us  in  Scripture  as  a  state  of  sleep  and  death ;  and  that  to 
him  that  is  still  in  it  St.  Paul  says,  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  arise  from 
the  dead,  that  Christ  may  give  thee  light."  And  indeed  the  natural  man 
wherever  he  is,  at  church,  at  home,  or  abroad,  is  in  a  dead  sleep  ;  his 
spiritual  senses  are  not  awake,  they  discern  neither  spiritual  good  nor 


i'20  STATE    OF   THE  NATTTRAL  MAN. 

evil.  He  does  not,  he  cannot  know  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  the 
eyes  of  his  understanding  are  shut,  for  he  lies  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death  and  does  not  perceive  it :  how  learned  soever  he  may  be  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  he  is  in  gross  stupid  ignorance  of  whatever  he  is  most 
concerned  to  know.  He  has  no  conception  of  that "  holiness  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,"  nor  of  that  happiness  which  they  only  can 
enjoy  whose  "  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  He  is  utterly  ignorant  of 
the  truth  and  justice  of  that  God  who  styles  himself  "  a  consuming  fire," 
and  swears  by  his  own  name  that  "  though  hand  join  in  hand  the  wicked 
shall  not  escape." 

Being  thus  fast  asleep  in  his  own  ignorance,  he  is  in  some  sense  at 
rest ;  for  as  he  is  blind,  so  is  he  secure,  and  cries  with  the  presumptuous 
man  in  the  psalm,  "  Tush,  there  shall  no  harm  happen  to  me."  The 
darkness  which  covers  him  on  every  side  keeps  him  in  a  kind  of  peace, 
(so  far  as  peace  can  consist  with  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  with  an 
earthly  devilish  mind,)  he  sees  not  that  he  stands  on  the  edge  of  the  pit, 
therefore  he  does  not  fear  it ;  he  cannot  tremble  at  the  danger  he  does 
not  know,  and  has  not  understanding  enough  to  fear.  Why  is  it,  O  natu- 
ral man,  sleeping  Jonas,  that,  even  now  in  the  temple  of  God,  thou  art  in 
no  dread  of  God  ?  Because  thou  art  totally  ignorant  of  him,  if  not  saying 
in  thy  heart,  "  There  is  no  God  ;"  or,  "  God  Almighty  does  not  trouble 
himself  with  considering  what  passes  under  the  sun  ;"  yet  satisfying  thy- 
self  as  well  to  all  Epicurean  intents  and  purposes,  by  saying,  "  God  is 
merciful ;"  swallowing  up  and  destroying,  in  that  confused  idea  of  mercy, 
all  the  holiness  of  God,  and  his  essential  hatred  of  sin ;  all  his  wisdom 
and  truth,  and  even  that  strict  justice  which  covered  once  the  whole 
earth  with  a  flood,  which  rained  fire  from  heaven  upon  thousands  of  sin- 
ners, which  bade  the  earth  open  its  mouth  and  swallow  up  Korah  and 
his  rebellious  company  ;  nay,  that  strict  justice  whose  sword  pierced  the 
very  soul  of  the  holy  Jesus,  when  he  hung  in  our  place  upon  the  ac- 
cursed tree. 

But  what  wonder  is  it,  brethren,  if,  as  long  as  we  remain  in  our  natu- 
ral, unawakened  state,  we  are  in  no  dread  of  the  vengeance  denounced 
against  those  who  are  unconverted,  and  obey  not  the  blessed  law  of  God? 
We  do  not  understand  it;  we  think  that  nothing  is  so  easy  as  to  be  a  true 
Christian.  We  suppose  the  main  point  is  to  be  careful  of  performing 
external  duties,  and  to  be  outwardly  blameless.  We  imagine  that  all  is 
done  if  we  live  honestly,  give  a  few  alms,  are  free  from  the  gross  vices 
of  the  age,  and  do  not  omit  attending  the  Church  service.  We  do  not. 
see  that  the  law  of  God  extends  to  every  temper,  desire,  thought,  motion 
of  the  heart,  or,  what  is  still  worse,  we  fancy  perhaps  that  the  obligation 
to  obey  it  is  abrogated,  that  Christ  came  to  destroy  the  law,  and  purchase 
for  us  the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  world,  and  the  things  that  are  in  it, 
without  fear  of  punishment ;  to  save  his  people  in,  not  from  their  sins, 
and  to  bring  us  to  heaven  in  our  state  of  nature  ;  notwithstanding  Christ's 
own  words,  that  "  not  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law  shall  pass  away,  till  all 
things  are  fulfilled  ;  and  that  only  those  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  who  do  the  will  of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

But,  brethren,  the  unawakened  man  is  secure,  not  only  because  he 
has  no  just  notion  of  the  inflexible  justice  of  God,  and  of  the  strictness 
and  holiness  of  his  law,  but  because  he  is  also  utterly  ignorant  of  him- 


STATE   OF  THE   NATURAL  MAN.  121 

self;  for  he  does  not  know,  or  (which  comes  to  the  same)  he  does  not 
consider  that  he  is  a  fallen  spirit,  whose  business  here  is  to  recover  the 
favour  of  God  and  a  Divine  nature.  But  though  he  is  still  in  the  bonds 
of  iniquity,  presumption  and  pride  fill  him  with  such  a  good  opinion  of 
himself,  that,  if  he  thinks  he  needs  any  repentance  at  all,  he  talks  of 
repenting  by  and  by.  He  does  not,  indeed,  exactly  know  when,  but 
some  time  or  other  before  he  dies.  He  takes  it  for  granted  that  this  is 
quite  in  his  own  power ;  for  looking  but  seldom  into  the  word  of  God, 
he  probably  never  read  this  passage,  "  Work  out  your  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to 
do  according  to  his  pleasure,:"  thinking,  therefore,  that  he  has  both  free- 
dom and  power  to  turn  to  God  when  he  pleases,  he  does  not  trouble 
himself  at  all  about  obtaining  "  the  Spirit  of  God,"  and  "  being  born 
again  of  the  Spirit,  as  well  as  of  water."  Nay,  perhaps,  forgetting  that 
the  last  time  he  was  at  church  he  prayed  (or  at  least  feigned  to  pray) 
that  God  would  give  him  true  repentance  and  his  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  call  those  enthusiasts  who  say  with  Jesus  Christ,  that  "unless 
a  man  be  born  again  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  thus  showing  the  truth  of  what  St.  Paul  says  in  the  text,  "  He 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him." 

From  this  ignorance  of  the  law,  and  the  justice  of  God,  and  from  this 
presumption,  there  may  sometimes  arise  in  him  a  kind  of  joy  :  he  may 
congratulate  himself  upon  his  own  wisdom  and  goodness :  and  what  the 
world  calls  joy  he  may  often  possess.  He  may  have  pleasures  of  various 
kinds,  either  in  gratifying  the  "  desires  of  the  flesh,  the  desires  of  the 
eye,  or  the  pride  of  life;"  particularly  if  he  have  "large  possessions,"  if 
he  enjoy  an  affluent  fortune.  Then  he  may  "  clothe  himself  in  purple 
and  fine  linen,  and  fare  sumptuously  every  day  ;"  and  so  long  as  he  thus 
runs  in  a  circle  of  pleasure,  the  bulk  of  mankind  will  envy  his  condition, 
and  cry  him  up  as  a  happy  man ;  for  this  is  the  sum  of  the  natural  man's 
happiness,  to  get  and  spend,  to  dress  and  be  admired,  to  visit  and  sport, 
to  eat  and  drink,  to  sleep  and  rise  up  to  play,  as  says  St.  Paul. 

But  suppose  he  acts  in  a  lower  sphere  ;  suppose  he  is  obliged  to  follow 
a  plough,  to  attend  a  master,  or  to  work  hard  to  provide  for  his  family, 
he  is  not  less  ignorant  of  the  vast  concerns  of  his  soul,  and  takes  as 
much  care  as  the  rich  to  arm  himself  against  every  thing  that  might 
invite  him  to  repent,  and  seek  deliverance  out  of  his  miserable  state  of 
nature.  And  what  is  that  armour  he  uses  to  ward  off"  from  his  heart  all 
the  calls  of  God's  grace,  all  thoughts  of  shaking  off  his  sins,  going  to 
Christ,  and  entering  "  into  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God  ?"  "  Why," 
says  he,  "  of  him  to  whom  little  is  given,  little  shall  be  required  ; 
God  will  not  deal  hardly  with  poor  people  that  work  for  their  bread, 
want  time  to  read,  and  are  no  scholars."  Poor,  ignorant,  blind  sinners, 
indeed  !  To  persuade  themselves  that,  because  they  work  for  the  body 
that  goes  to  corruption,  they  may  safely  neglect  the  immortal  soul ;  that, 
because  they  serve  an  earthly  master  they  have  the  privilege  of  not 
serving  the  God  of  heaven ;  nay,  perhaps  of  serving  the  devil  ;  and 
that  their  want  of  scholarship,  as  they  call  it,  will  be  a  sufficient  excuse 
before  God  for  not  loving  Christ ;  for  caring  neither  for  death  nor  judg- 
ment, neither  for  heaven  nor  hell.     Ah !  be  not  deceived  any  longer, 


122  STATE  OF  THE   NATURAL  MAN. 

you  who  are  in  that  case !  God  will  not  be  mocked  by  his  creatures ; 
he  requires  your  hearts ;  and  while  your  hands  are  employed  in  the 
duties  of  your  calling,  you  can  lift  up  your  souls  to  him,  and  work 
out  your  salvation  as»well  or  better  than  if  vou  were  in  another  state 
of  life. 

To  return  :  let  us  observe  a  little  more  closely  the  natural  man's 
ways.  Examine  particularly,  and  you  will  perceive  that  he  commits 
sin,  more  or  less,  day  by 'day ;  yet  he  is  not  troubled,  he  is  in  no  fear,  he 
ieels  no  condemnation,  he  contents  himself,  (even  though  he  should  pro- 
fess to  believe  that  the  Bible  is  the  word  of  God,)  with  saying,  "  We 
are  all  sinners ;  man  is  frail ;  every  body  has  his  infirmity.  There  is 
none  without  his  foible,  and  I  freely  own  that  this  is  mine."  And  per- 
haps he  will  not  be  ashamed  to  name  some  crying  sin,  some  habitual 
sin,  such  as  being  apt  to  get  drunk,  to  utter  an  oath,  to  be  passionate, 
proud,  revengeful,  or  unclean,  the  very  sins  concerning  which  God  has 
solemnly  declared  that  "  those  who  commit  such  things  shall  not  enter 
mto  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Fine  foibles  indeed !  Trifles  which  are 
not  worth  mentioning,  or  writing  down  in  God's  book  of  remembrance ! 
We  learn,  however,  from  Scripture,  that  when  the  day  of  patience  shall 
give  place  to  that  of  justice,  and  when  the  books  shall  be  opened,  he 
shall  be  called  to  an  account,  not  only  for  his  foibles,  as  he  calls  them, 
but  for  every  idle  word  that  shall  have  passed  his  lips,  and  every  sinful 
thought  that  shall  have  been  formed  in  his  heart.  But  in  this,  as  in 
many  other  cases,  the  unawakened  man  flatly  gives  the  Bible  the  lie, 
and  will  tell  you  with  a  sneer  he  does  not  believe  any  such  thing.  Nor 
has  he  understanding  enough  in  Divine  things  to  conclude,  that,  for  say- 
ing so,  he  is  guilty  of  high  treason  against  the  King  of  heaven  ;  because 
he  that  rejects  part  of  the  Christian  revelation  must  be  as  guilty  before 
God  as  he  that  contemptuously  tears  part  of  a  decree  of  the  king  in  his 
presence :  for,  as  such  a  one  would  in  vain  excuse  himself  by  saying, 
that  he  tore  but  one  part  and  spared  the  rest,  the  law  would  be  put  in 
execution  against  him,  and  so  shall  God's  law  against  the  unawakened 
and  impenitent  sinner.  But  tell  him  so  again  and  again,  you  will  get 
nothing  except  his  contempt ;  for  instead  of  owning  his  pride  and  unbe- 
lief, he  will  accuse  you  of  superstition  and  weakness  of  mind  ;  and  as 
the  text  affirms  that  the  things  of  God  are  foolishness  to  him,  perhaps  he 
will  call  you  a,  foot  for  entertaining  such  notions.  Most  certain  it  is  that 
he  will  think  you  a  weak,  though  perhaps  well-meaning  man,  and  turn 
you  into  ridicule  whenever  he  meets  with  one  of  the  same  temper  as 
himself.  But  though  he  thus  mangles  the  law  of  God,  whenever  it  does 
not  suit  his  notions  of  religion,  yet  he  takes  care,  some  way  or  other,  to 
be  provided  with  two  or  three  sayings  of  infidels  out  of  the  Bible,  or  two 
or  three  passages,  generally  misunderstood,  which,  by  the  construction 
he  puts  upon  them,  give  him  as  much  liberty  to  love  the  world,  and 
remain  in  his  natural  state,  as  he  could  wish.  These  he  turns  sometimes 
into  a  shield,  to  defend  himself  against  the  reproofs  of  his  conscience,  or 
the  calls  of  Christ's  ministers,  and  sometimes  into  a  sword  to  destroy 
what  little  work  the  grace  of  God  may  have  begun  in  the  hearts  of  those 
with  whom  he  converses.  "  Fear  not,"  says  he,  "  God's  mercy  is  over 
all  his  works.  Be  not  righteous  overmuch.  God  willeth  not  the  death 
of  a  sinner.     The  righteous  falleth  seven  times  a  day."     These,  and  a 


STATE   OF  THE   NATURAL  MAN.  123 

few  more  scriptures  he  generally  chooses  for  the  subject  of  his  medita- 
tions ;  in  these  he  is  skilled  above  all. 

One  or  two  strokes  more,  and  I  shall  finish  this  picture  of  the  un- 
awakened  sinner.  He  cannot  bear  to  hear  any  one  insist  on  the  power 
of  godliness :  all  is  well,  as  long  as  you  only  say,  "  Live  soberly  and 
honestly :  do  good  and  go  to  church."  Any  thing  that  does  not  alarm 
him,  and  make  him  look  to  the  vileness  of  his  heart,  will  not  offend  him. 
But  tell  him  that  he  must  "be  born  again  of  the  Spirit  of  God,"  that  he 
must  "  be  renewed  in  his  mind,"  that  he  must  "  become  a  partaker  of  the 
Divine  nature,"  and  have  "  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his  heart,  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  given  unto  him,"  and  that  if  he  do  not  obtain  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  he  shall  never  be  his  ;  he  stares,  he  wonders  what  you  mean 
by  those  expressions.  They  are  mere  riddles  to  him  ;  and  if  you  show 
him  that  they  occur  continually  both  in  the  Bible  and  in  our  liturgy,  he 
cannot  conceive  what  St.  Paul  and  Archbishop  Cranmer  meant  by  using 
such  cant  words,  and  he  would  fain  put  them  in  the  class  of  enthusiasts 
too,  were  he  not  afraid  of  being  thought  a  blasphemer. 

But  suppose  you  continue  to  declare  unto  him  all  the  counsel  of  God 
in  plain  terms,  and  cry  with  the  apostles,  "  Save  thyself  from  this  per- 
verse  generation ;  thou  art  still  a  child  of  wrath ;  repent  and  be  con- 
verted :  see  him  whom  thou  hast  pierced,  and  mourn,  lest  he  appoint 
thee  thy  portion  with  hypocrites  and  unbelievers ;"  he  cannot  tell  what 
you  mean  by  speaking  with  so  much  passion ;  for  that  is  the  name  he 
generally  gives  to  the  concern  that  Christian  ministers  feel  for  his  perish- 
ing soul.  He  wonders  at  your  being  so  uncivil  as  to  tell  him  plainly, 
that  "  he  has  an  immortal  soul  to  take  care  of;"  a  proud,  devilish,  stub- 
born, hard  heart  to  overcome  ;  and  the  eternal  fire  of  hell  to  flee  from. 
Indeed,  above  all,  you  must  not  mention  hell  or  damnation  before 
him,  unless  you  soften  the  expression  so,  that  he  may  think,  if  it  should 
be  his  lot  to  go  thither,  he  will  not  find  it  so  terrible  as  some  suppose. 
If  you  speak  of  it,  though  it  should  be  only  in  the  words  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  he  will  surely  be  offended,  or,  at  least,  will  turn  what  you 
say  into  a  jest.  "  What !  You  will  frighten  me  into  heaven,  I  suppose. 
How  come  you  to  make  so  free  with  hell  and  damnation  ?" 

Alas,  poor  man !  who  makes  so  free  with  it  as  himself,  who  thinks  to 
avoid  it  by  a  sneer  from  the  seat  of  the  scorner  ? 

But  to  return :  if  at  any  time  a  serious  thought  fixes  upon  him,  he 
stifles  it  as  soon  as  possible.  He  sits  uneasy  under  an  awakening  ser- 
mon ;  and  if  something  that  he  hears  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  him,  he 
Ihinks  that  the  minister,  who,  perhaps,  never  heard  of  him,  draws  his  pic- 
ture out  of  spite ;  for  he  has  no  idea  that  if  a  minister  has  studied  his 
own  heart,  he  can  tell  all  men  theirs  too,  because  we  are  all  alike  by 
nature,  all  cast  into  the  mould  of  Adam's  corruption. 

Nevertheless,  if  the  word  of  God,  that  is  sharper  than  a  two-edged 
sword,  to  divide  the  words  and  thoughts  of  men,  makes,  at  any  time,  a 
slight  wound  in  his  seared  conscience,  he  binds  it  up  immediately,  either 
by  resolving  to  read  a  few  more  prayers,  and  give  some  alms,  or  go  to 
the  Lord's  table  the  next  sacrament  day,  which  he  supposes  will  be  quite 
sufficient  to  put  him  in  a  fair  way  to  attain  heaven  ;  or,  he  puts  all  off  by 
exclaiming,  "  Who  can  be  a  Christian  at  this  rate  ?  This  doctrine  is  too 
severe ;  I  know  I  am  not  very  good ;  but,  1  thank  God  I  am  not  very 


124  STATE   OF  THE  NATURAL  MAN. 

bad  neither  ;  many  are  worse  than  I  am  !  What  man  is  there  that  sing 
not  ?  why  should  I  then  fear  more  than  others  ?  Was  I  not  baptized  ? 
Is  not  God  merciful  ?  Did  not  Christ  die  for  sinners  ?  Beside,  were  I 
to  grow  so  serious,  and  so  good,  all  mine  acquaintance  would  deride  me, 
and  ask  whether  I  also  will  turn  enthusiast,  and  enter  on  the  melancholy 
way  of  religion."  By  these  and  the  like  thoughts,  the  poor  sinner,  who 
began  to  awake,  falls  asleep  again ;  shuts  his  eyes,  which  the  Lord  had 
begun  to  open,  that  he  might  see  his  danger  ;  and  will  not  probably 
open  them  again  before  death  stares  him  in  the  face ;  and  hell,  as  the 
prophet  expresses  himself,  is  moved  from  beneath  to  meet  and  swallow 
him  up ;  unless,  indeed,  God  strikes  his  impenitent  heart  with  some 
fearful  judgment,  and  makes  him  also  cry  out,  "  Lord,  save,  or  I 
perish." 

Suppose  again  the  Spirit  of  God  gently  strives  with  him,  as  is  the 
case  sometimes,  especially  when  the  sinner  is  disengaged  from  business 
and  pleasure  :  if  he  feel  himself  unhappy ;  if  the  emptiness  of  his  heart 
make  him  confess  that  he  wants  something  ;  is  it  likely  he  will  acknow- 
ledge that  he  wants  God  ?  or  that  he  will  apply  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  great 
Physician  of  souls  ?  No  :  it  will  be  time  enough,  he  thinks,  on  his  death 
bed,  to  call  earnestly  for  mercy,  and  ask  "  the  peace  of  God  that  passes 
all  understanding."  What  does  he  do  then?  Why,  he  runs  away  from 
himself  and  God,  (if  I  may  so  speak,)  endeavours  to  divert  himself  from 
his  melancholy,  and  raise  his  low  spirits,  for  this  is  the  name  which  he 
gives  to  those  dawnings  of  conviction  ;  and  obtains  an  unhappy  relief  by 
plunging  into  business,  diversions,  or  drunkenness  ;  perhaps  also  by  read- 
ing  unprofitable  books,  having  recourse  to  trifling  company,  or  over- 
charging himself  with  the  cares  of  this  life. 

Thus  does  the  natural  and  unawakened  man  frustrate  all  the  strivings 
of  God's  Spirit  to  show  him  his  danger ;  thus  he  remains  the  willing  ser- 
vant of  sin,  content  with  the  bondage  of  corruption,  inwardly  and  out- 
wardly unholy,  and  satisfied  so  to  be,  not  only  not  conquering  sin,  but 
not  endeavouring  to  conquer,  especially  that  sin  which  so  easily  besets 
him. 

Such  is  the  state  of  every  unawakened  man,  whether  he  be  a  gross, 
scandalous  transgressor,  or  a  more  reputable  and  decent  sinner,  having 
the  form  though  not  the  power  of  godliness. 

O  you  who  are  in  that  condition,  if  I  have  showed  you  in  some  mea- 
sure the  state  of  your  hearts,  let  me  beseech  you  not  to  harden  them  the 
more  on  that  account ;  rather  give  place  to  conviction.  For  Christ's 
sake  let  conscience  be  heard  ;  if  it  cries,  "  Thou  art  the  man,"  be  not 
ashamed  to  confess  to  God  your  mistake  about  your  spiritual  state. 
Turn  the  text  into  a  prayer,  and  say,  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me,  I 
am  a  mere  natural  man  s*ill :  I  never  understood  the  things  of  thy 
Spirit ;  they  have  been  foolishness  to  me,  neither  could  I  receive  them, 
for  they  are  spiritually  discerned,  and  I  want  thy  Spirit ;  but  spare  me  a 
little,  and  let  me  recover  thy  favour  in  Christ,  before  I  go  hence  and  be 
no  more  seen.  Wake  my  soul  to  righteousness,  and  that  I  '  may  never 
more  plead  for  sin,  or  wilfully  and  knowingly  transgress  against  thee, 
give  me  that  knowledge  of  thee  wherein  standeth  my  eternal  life.  I 
own  it  tq  my  shame,  I  am  a  stranger  to  it ;  but,  Lord,  spare  me  a  little, 
teach  me,  and  let  me  obtain  in  this  world  the  knowledge  of  thy  truth, 


STATE   OF  THE   NATURAL  MAN.  125 

and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting."  Nothing,  brethren,  but  the 
desire  I  have  that  you  should  thus  pray  from  a  feeling  sense  of  your 
wants,  has  made  me  use  such  plainness  of  speech.  Be  not  displeased, 
then,  at  my  endeavours  to  awaken  you,  and  open  your  eyes.  You  are 
undone  for  ever,  unless  your  wouna  be  probed  in  such  a  manner  as  will 
make  you  see  and  feel  the  necessity  01  applying  in  time  to  him  that  can 
heal  you,  even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  him  you  shall  find  all  that 
you  want  in  yourselves ;  he  is  the  second  Adam,  from  whom  you  must 
derive  a  new  nature.  To  him  your  souls  must  be  united  in  one  Spirit ; 
from  him  you  must  receive  pardon  and  grace,  life  and  power,  holiness 
and  happiness.  He  is  ready  to  bestow  all  these  things  upon  you,  if  you 
are  but  willing  to  ask  him  sincerely.  And  he  requires  but  one  proof  of 
your  sincerity,  and  that  is,  not  to  seek  your  happiness  in  the  world,  and 
in  created  things  any  longer ;  but  in  him  alone.  Begin  then  to  deny 
yourselves  those  sinful  gratifications  which  separate  God  from  your  souls, 
and  choose  rather  to  mourn  now  in  hopes  that  you  shall  be  comforted, 
than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  world  for  a  season.  If  you  have  not 
resolution  enough  to  make  that  happy  choice, — to  desire  with  St.  Paul, 
"  to  know  nothing  but  Jesus  and  him  crucified  ;"  O  look  to  yourselves, 
see  the  horror  of  your  state.  You  are  heirs  of  the  curse  entailed  upon 
every  child  of  Adam.  By  nature  you  are  children  of  wrath  ;  you  wander, 
like  lost  sheep  in  the  wilderness  of  this  world ;  you  are  "  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins."  You  have  sold  yourselves  to  the  prince  of  the  air, 
who  leads  you  to  perdition  as  a  sheep  is  led  to  the  slaughter,  and  you 
know  neither  who  leads  you,  nor  whither  you  are  led.  In  a  word,  you 
are  as  yet  without  God  and  without  Christ  in  the  world  ;  and  Adam's  sin, 
with  your  own,  of  which  you  never  truly  repented,  removes  you  every 
moment  farther  from  God  and  nearer  eternal  misery.  Now,  in  such 
a  desperate  condition,  can  you  delay  to  leave  all  your  sins  and  apply  to 
Jesus  ?  Can  you  spend  one  moment  without  beseeching  him  to  grant 
you  true  repentance  and  his  Holy  Spirit  ?  Can  you  think  any  terms  too 
hard  to  be  complied  with  in  order  to  obtain  an  interest  in  the  blood  of  the 
covenant,  a  happy  passage  into  eternity,  and  an  inheritance  among  the 
saints  in  light  ?  O  do  not  say  that  this  doctrine  is  too  severe.  Do  not  go 
away  from  this  place  of  worship,  as  some  of  our  Lord's  disciples  did  from 
him,  complaining,  "  This  is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  bear  it '?"  Ah !  will 
not  that  saying,  "Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,"  be  much  harder  to  hear, 
and  everlasting  burnings  much  harder  to  bear  ?  And  do  you  think  that 
life  is  so  long,  and  so  sure,  as  to  be  depended  upon  with  safety  ?  or  that 
your  strength  or  health  will  screen  you  from  the  wrath  of  God  in  your 
unawakened  state  ?  O,  you  are  mistaken ;  death,  by  grasping  your 
mortal  body,  before  you  are  aware,  may  plunge  you  in  an  instant  where 
there  is  no  place  for  repentance,  mercy,  anisalvation.  Hang  no  longer 
in  suspense,  then  ;  if  the  world  and  the  devir,  the  prince  of  the  world,"be 
gods,  follow  them  ;  but  if  Jehovah,  if  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lord,  "  deny 
yourselves,  and  sin  not ;"  according  to  his  command,  "  take  up  your 
cross  daily  and  follow  him,"  till  y<>u  overtake  him,  and  he  blesses  you 
with  the  pardon  of  all  your  sins,  and  a  new  heart.  Seek  him  till  you 
rind  him  in  your  souls  ;  walk  with  him  till  you  cleave  to  him,  till  you 
can  say  with  the  true  spouse  of  Christ,  "  My  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am 
his ;"  till  you  abide  in  him  as  a  branch  in  the  vine,  and  are  enabled  "  to 


126  AWAKE,  THOU  THAT  SLEEPEST. 

bear  much  fruit,"  even  all  the  fruits  of  "  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Gbost." 

This  is  the  kingdom  of  grace  within  us,  through  which  we  shall  in- 
fallibly enter  into  that  of  glory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 


Sermon  IV. — Awake,  thou  that  sleepest. 
"  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest !"  Eph.  v,  14. 

I  described,  in  my  last  discourse,  the  state  of  an  unconverted  man, 
called,  in  Scripture,  "  a  natural  man ;"  or,  in  other  words,  the  state  of 
one  who  neither  loves  nor  fears  God  ;  who,  hanging  over  everlasting 
destruction  only  by  the  thread  of  life,  lives  unconcerned,  being  buried  in 
worldly  cares  or  pleasures,  and  bound  down  in  his  spiritual  grave  by  stu- 
pidity, presumption,  and  sin  ;  who  fondly  thinks  that  he  shall  go  to  hea- 
ven without  becoming  a  new  creature,  and  in  that  hope  securely  sleeps 
on  upon  the  very  brink  of  eternal  ruin  ;  fancying,  perhaps,  that  the  false 
peace  which  he  enjoys  is  "  the  peace  of  God  which  passes  all  under- 
standing." And  I  proved,  that  if  his  false  peace  be  not  broken,  if  he  be 
not  awakened  out  of  that  deep  spiritual  sleep  he  is  in ;  if  he  be  not  con- 
vinced that  he  is  in  a  state  of  condemnation,  and  cannot  escape  the 
second  death,  unless  Christ  causes  him  to  pass  from  darkness  to  light,  he 
has  not  the  least  ground  to  hope  that  the  curse,  which  follows  every 
natural  man,  shall  not  overtake  and  sink  him  into  hell  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. Now  the  next  thing  we  must  do  is  to  consider  how  he  may  be 
awakened  into  a  real  desire  to  "  work  his  salvation  out  with  fear  and 
trembling."  It  is  not  in  his  power,  brethren,  or  in  that  of  any  man  living, 
to  do  that  work  of  himself;  here  must  the  omnipotence  of  God  begin 
to  interpose,  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  must  make  the  wound  as  well  as  bind  it 
up,  for  he  is  alone  the  "  author  and  finisher  of  our  salvation."  It  is  true, 
he  has  various  ways  of  calling  a  sinner,  and  of  crying  to  him,  while  he 
hides  himself  behind  the  trees  of  his  performances,  and  the  pitiful  fig 
leaves  of  his  own  righteousness,  "Adam  [natural  man]  where  art  thou?" 
But  he  alone  can  speak  to  the  heart,  and  make  the  outward  call  effec- 
tual. Nothing  but  the  convincing  Spirit  of  God  can  force  a  stupid  sinner 
to  exclaim,  in  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 
Nevertheless,  it  is  highly  necessary  for  us  to  know  by  what  means  the 
Spirit  of  God  usually  thus  awakes  drowsy  sinners,  that  if  we  have  been 
such,  we  may  humble  ourselves  for  having  hardened  our  hearts  against 
those  means  to  this  day,  and  pay  them  a  due  regard  for  the  future.  I 
shall  therefore,  first,  consider  what  they  are,  and  then  conclude  by  ex- 
horting you  not  to  resist  or  abuse  them  any  more. 

Though  the  ways  in  which  God  awakens  sinners  are  very  numerous, 
yet  they  can  be  distinguished  in  general  into  extraordinary  and  ordinary 
ones.  • 

A  man  may  be  awakened  in  an  extraordinary  way  by  an  unexpected 
and  terrifying  sight,  as  was  St.  Paul  on  his  journey  to  Damascus  ;  by  a 
gracious  thought  darted  into  his  heart  on  a  sadden  :  thus  was  St.  Peter 
stopped  in  the  full  career  of  his  sin  by  a  look  from  Christ,  which  con- 


AWAKE,   THOU  THAT   SLEEPEST.  127 

founded  him,  and  caused  him  to  retire  and  weep  bitterly  ;  by  some  extra  ■ 
ordinary  Providence,  as  the  jailer  at  Philippi,  who,  feeling  the  prison 
tremble,  came  himself  trembling,  and,  falling  down  before  Paul  and  Silas, 
cried  out,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  Or,  as  some  who,  hearing 
of  the  dreadful  earthquake  which  destroyed  Lisbon,  November  1,  17-35, 
and  buried  alive,  in  a  heap  of  ruins,  so  many  thousands,  who,  ten  minutes 
before,  thought  themselves  as  safe  as  we  do  now,  were  immediately  brought 
to  consider,  and  say,  "  Were  God  to  lay  his  hand  upon  me  in  the  same 
manner  now,  should  I  be  ready  for  death  and  judgment  ?"  And  the 
Spirit  of  God,  improving  their  fear,  impressed  on  their  hearts  a  lively 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  their  "  preparing  to  meet  their  God,"  and  "giv- 
ing all  diligence  to  make  their  calling  and  election  sure."  Some  have 
been  awakened  in  an  uncommon  manner,  by  receiving  an  unexpected 
token  of  God's  goodness  and  patience,  by  restoring  them  from  a  desperate 
fit  of  illness,  or  by  wonderfully  preserving  them  in  some  imminent  dan- 
ger. For  though  such  mercies  are  generally  overlooked  and  forgotten, 
yet  one,  perhaps,  in  a  thousand,  remembers  them  for  good,  and  spends 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  life  which  his  long  suffering  remarkably  preserved. 
A  few  more  have  been  awakened  by  feeling,  when  retired  from  the  noise 
of  the  world,  I  know  not  what  uneasiness  and  trouble  of  mind,  whereby, 
perceiving  that  nothing  had  yet  filled  the  boundless  capacity  of  their 
minds,  or  satisfied  their  desires,  and  that  the  world  could  never  make 
them  happy,  they  were  brought  to  conclude  that  they  wanted  Christ ; 
and  that  nothing  but  the  enjoyment  of  the  favour  and  love  of  God  could 
give  them  that  peace  and  comfort  which  the  world  neither  knows  nor 
enjoys.  Some  again  have  been  struck  with  a  deep  sense  of  their  dan- 
ger, and  a  true  desire  "  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  by  reading 
something  striking  concerning  the  state  of  their  souls  in  a  book  of  devo- 
tion, or  by  opening  the  Bible  on  some  threatening  of  the  law,  as,  "  Cursed 
is  he  that  doth  not  persevere  in  all  the  things  that  are  written  in  the  book 
of  the  law  to  do  them  ;"  or  some  condition  of  the  Gospel,  as,  "  Except  3 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God ;"  which  being 
applied  to  their  hearts  by  the  power  of  God,  did  not  suffer  them  to  rest 
till  they  rested  in  Christ. 

These,  and  many  more,  are  the  extraordinary  ways  in  which  sinners 
may  be,  and  sometimes  are,  awakened  out  of  their  spiritual  sleep,  and 
made  to  consider  their  latter  end  ;  but  we  may  very  well  look  on  them 
as  miracles  of  grace,  which  we  have  little  room  to  expect  God  will  work 
on  our  behalf;  especially  as  his  ordinary  method  is  to  work  in  a  more 
common  way  ;  by  affliction,  by  Christian  conversation,  and  by  the  preach- 
ing of  his  word. 

Blessed  be  the  mercy  of  God,  many  are  those  who  can  say  with  Da- 
vid, "It  was  good  for  me  to  be  afflicted."  The  loss  of  a  husband,  wife, 
parent,  child,  has  engaged  some  to  make  their  peace  with  God,  that  they 
might  live  and  die  in  his  favour,  and  meet  their  departed  friends  at  his 
right  hand.  Some  unexpected  and  grievous  calamity  has  opened  the 
eyes  of  others  to  see  their  sinfulness  and  guilt,  and  give  glory  to  God  by 
confessing  it.  Thus  Manasses,  that  monster  of  wickedness,  who  had 
filled  Jerusalem  with  blood,  when  he  was  stripped  of  his  royal  robes,  and 
carried  away  into  captivity,  cried  out,  under  a  load  of  chains  and  sin, 
"  Spare  me,  spare  me,  O  Lord,"  till  God  answered  in  mercy,  and  made 


128 


AWAKE,   THOU  THAT  SLEEPEST. 


him  as  great  a  monument  of  repentance  as  he  had  been  before  of  sin  and 
iniquity.  In  the  like  manner  proud  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  he  was  re- 
duced to  the  condition  of  a  beast,  and  wandered  in  the  fields  forsaken  of 
all,  was  brought  at  last  to  a  true  contrition  and  humiliation  before  the 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  began  to  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth, 
issuing  a  decree  that  every  knee  should  bow  before  him  in  all  his  domi- 
nions. Such  is  the  power  of  afflictions  to  bring  a  fallen  man  to  the  know- 
ledge of  himself,  and  make  him  perceive  his  want  of  the  favour  and  love 
of  God. 

The  New  Testament  also  affords  us  several  instances  of  the  truth  of 
this  observation.  There  the  prodigal  son,  when  reduced  to  so  wretched 
a  state  as  to  have  no  clothing  but  rags,  and  no  food  but  the  husks  in- 
tended for  the  swine,  bethinks  himself  of  returning  to  his  father,  with  a 
penitent  confession  of  his  sin  and  follyj  and  an  humble  request  for  par- 
don and  acceptance,  not  indeed  to  be  treated  as  a  son,  but  as  a  hired 
servant.  Poor  Lazarus,  when  the  dogs  licked  his  sores,  and  when  he 
sees  that  no  relief  is  to  be  expected  at  the  hands  of  man,  secures  a  place 
in  Abraham's  bosom,  and  thinks  of  feeding  on  God  by  faith,  since  he  can- 
not feed  on  the  crumbs  that  fall  from  the  rich  man's  table.  Thus  the 
man,  also,  sick  of  the  palsy,  gets  himself  carried  to  Jesus,  and  hears  those 
words,  "  Go  in  peace,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,"  which  he  would  not 
have  heard  had  he  not  been  afflicted  with  sickness.  And  the  woman, 
who  had  spent  all  her  substance  upon  physicians,  presses  at  last  after  our 
Saviour,  touches  him,  and  is  healed  both  in  soul  and  body,  rejoicing  that 
her  faith  had  made  her  whole.  Thus  some  of  you,  I  hope,  finding  that 
you  had  nothing  but  troubles,  sorrows,  disappointments,  sickness,  hard 
labour,  and  poverty  for  your  portion  here,  may  at  last  have  thought  of 
securing  the  better  part  with  Mary,  that  better  part  never  to  be  taken 
from  you.  For  why  should  an  afflicted  soul  choose  to  have  tribulation 
here,  and  the  everlasting  miseries  of  hell  hereafter?  Why  should  the 
poor  refuse  to  be  rich  in  grace  ?  Why  should  he,  who  gets  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow  the  clothes  he  has  upon  his  back,  reject  the  robe  of  Christ's 
righteousness  1  Why  should  he,  that  eats  the  bread  of  labour  and  afflic- 
tion, refuse  to  eat  the  food  of  angels,  the  bread  that  comes  down  from 
heaven  ?  And  yet,  (O  amazing  reflection  !  O  killing  thought !)  perhaps 
some  of  you  that  are  poor,  are  even  poorer  in  grace  than  in  silver  and 
gold.  Perhaps,  notwithstanding  the  mercy  of  God  that  has  placed  you 
in  a  state  where  every  thing  invites  you  to  make  God  your  friend  and 
to  take  Christ  for  your  portion,  you  are  as  attached  to  this  world  as  if 
you  had  great  possessions  in  it,  and  have  not  yet  seriously  endeavoured 
to  fix  your  hearts  where  true  joys  and  lasting  riches  are  to  be  found. 
But  if  this  be  the  case,  blessed  be  the  mercy  of  God,  you  are  still  poor 
and  afflicted ;  there  is  then  still  some  hope  that  you  will  consider,  and 
that  your  heavenly  Father  will  not  give  over  striking  you  with  the  rod 
of  his  judgment,  till  you  awake  and  give  him  all  you  have  to  give,  and 
all  he  asks  of  you,  your  heart. 

But  if  afflictions  are  such  unspeakable  blessings,  let  us  stop  a  little, 
brethren,  to  pity  the  rich,  the  healthy,  the  young,  with  whom  all  things 
go  according  to  their  desires  in  the  world,  and  who,  because  they  want 
nothing  for  the  body,  do  not  feel  the  want  of  Christ  for  their  souls.  Sad, 
ead  beyond  expression,  is  your  state,  whatever  vou  may  think  of  it. 


AWAKE,   THOU  THAT   SLEEPEST.  129 

With  Dives,  you  have  your  pleasure  in  this  life — O  may  God  grant  that, 
with  him,  you  may  not  have  your  torments  in  the  next !  O  may  he 
awaken  you  out  of  your  sinful  prosperity  ;  may  he  lay  some  of  his 
fatherly  chastisements  also  upon  you,  ere  it  be  too  late,  and  save  your 

immortal  souls  by  afflicting  your  mortal  bodies!    May  he  smite 

But  the  concern  I  have  for  you  carries  me  too  far.  Why  should  I  form 
such  a  wish,  since  there  are  yet  two  other  ways  by  which  God  can  bring 
you  to  a  sense  of  that  misery  you  do  not  feel,  and  stir  you  up  to  seek  that 
true  happiness  which  you  leave  unregarded,  to  pursue  a  vain  shadow  ! 

The  first  is  Christian  conversation.  A  child  of  God  may,  if  you  will 
surfer  him  to  speak,  show  you  the  bottom  of  your  heart,  and  the  folly  of 
your  hopes,  so  that  you  will  be  forced  to  cry  out,  as  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria, "  Behold,  I  have  found  one  that  has  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I 
did;"  for  one  that  has  found  Christ  can,  if  you  will  hear  him,  tell  you 
what  the  Lord  has  done  for  his  soul,  and  what  he  must  do  for  yours. 
Thus,  in  the  Gospel,  Andrew  told  Peter,  "  I  have  found  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  come  and  see  ;"  and  Peter,  upon  his  word,  went  and  fol- 
lowed Jesus  until  he  could  say  for  himself,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  all 
things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee."  May  thus  the  Lord  send  you  one 
who  has  entered  at  the  strait  gate,  to  say  to  you  with  the  demonstration 
of  his  Spirit,  "This  is  the  way,  walk  in  it;"  and  may  you,  like  Peter, 
take  the  advice  and  follow  on  till  you  are  admitted  into  the  heavenlv 
Jerusalem. 

But,  brethren,  suppose  the  natural  man  is  not  awakened  by  convers- 
ing with  Christians  alive  to  God,  which  he  will  seldom  do,  because  such 
Christians  are  very  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  these  faithless  times,  and 
because  his  contempt  for  them  will  hardly  permit  him  to  give  ear  or  cre- 
dit to  their  words  ;  yet  there  is  another  great  means  of  conviction,  by 
which  the  Lord  may  still  call  him  to  repentance  and  life,  namely,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  and  this,  indeed,  is  the  most  common  way  of 
all,  a  way  that  God  has  chiefly  blessed  in  all  ages,  and  still  blesses  in 
our  days.  A  man  comes  to  church  as  he  has  done  a  thousand  times, 
because  it  is  his  custom  so  to  do  on  Sundays,  and  he  thinks  he  can 
squander  away  the  remainder  of  the  Lord's  Sabbath  with  a  good  con- 
science, if  he  can  but  say,  "  I  was  at  church  morning  and  evening ;"  or, 
perhaps,  he  comes  to  indulge  his  curiosity,  and  hear  what  every  minis- 
ter has  to  say ;  not  with  any  desire  that  God  would  manifest  himself 
unto  him,  that  he  would  teach  him  to  know  himself,  a  poor,  benighted, 
perishing,  yet  never-dying  soul ;  not  with  any  concern  about  getting 
an  interest  in  the  favour  of  that  God  who  is  a  consuming  fire  to  the  un- 
regenerate  ;  of  that  God  before  whom  his  naked  soul  shall  soon  be  drag- 
ged by  the  cold  hand  of  death.  No,  he  never  thought  of  this  ;  it  never 
came  into  his  head  that  he  should  wait  upon  God  in  his  holy  temple,  as 
the  vilest  of  sinners,  a  sinner  under  sentence  of  eternal  death,  is  to  wait 
upon  the  Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth,  to  ask,  beg,  implore  a  reprieve, 
if  by  any  means  he  may  be  spared  a  week  longer,  to  seek  for  repent- 
ance and  pardon  for  glory  and  immortality.  No,  he  did  not  think 
of  any  one  of  these  things,  but  he  comes  with  an  intent  to  behave  as 
usual,  to  see  and  to  be  seen,  to  show  all  the  signs  of  the  most  listless, 
careless  indifference.  Though  he  seems  to  use  a  prayer  to  God  for  his 
blessing  on  what  he  is  entering  upon  ;  he  comes  either  to  fall  asleep  during 

Vol.  IV.  9 


130  AWAKE,  THOU  THAT  SLEEPEST. 

the  awful  service,  or  to  recline  in  the  most  convenient  posture  for  it ; 
and  sometimes,  as  though  he  supposed  God  to  be  asleep  too,  he  comes 
to  talk  to  another,  or  look  round  as  utterly  void  of  employment ;  or,  at 
best,  he  comes  to  say  his  prayers,  as  he  calls  it,  that  is,  to  kneel  or  to 
stand,  because  others  do  so,  and  repeat  with  his  lips,  without  any  true 
concern  of  heart,  the  most  moving  pleas  for  mercy.  But  though  he 
rushes  into  the  presence  of  God  with  these  shameful  antichristian  dispo- 
sitions, yet  he  is  upon  the  Lord's  ground,  though  he  is  insensible  of  it ; 
and  the  dread  of  that  Lord,  whom  the  heavenly  hosts  cannot  behold  with- 
out veiling  their  faces,  and  prostrating  themselves  with  the  deepest  acts 
of  adoration  ;  the  dread  of  that  God,  whose  eyes  are  like  a  name  of  fire, 
who  with  one  look  tries  the  hearts  and  searches  the  reins  ;  the  dread  of 
that  Lord  whom  he  has  so  long  insulted  in  his  very  temple,  may  rest 
upon  him  in  a  moment,  and  he  may  at  last  apprehend  it  to  be  "  a  fear- 
ful thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  In  spite  of  his  pre- 
sumption and  carelessness,  God  may  bless  the  word  of  his  servant,  and 
send  it  home  to  his  hardened  conscience,  so  that  he  shall  tacitly  own 
that  he  is  a  slothful  and  wicked  servant,  who  has  hitherto  done  despite  to 
the  Spirit  of  grace  ;  and,  perhaps,  for  the  first  time,  seeing  the  necessity 
of  "  working  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,"  he  may  say 
from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  "  Spare  us,  good  Lord,  and  be  not  angry 
with  us  for  ever."  In  this  manner  has  God  blessed  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  in  all  ages.  • 

Thus  while  St.  Peter  preached  at  Jerusalem,  three  thousand  of  those 
who  a  few  weeks  before  cried,  "  Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  were  cut  to 
the  heart,  and  cried,  in  the  anguish  of  their  souls,  "  Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  Thus,  while  St.  Paul  preached  at 
Athens,  Dionysius  believed  his  report ;  and  while  he  delivered  the  word 
at  Lystra,  the  Lord  opened  Lydia's  heart  to  understand  and  believe. 
Happy  then,  brethren,  happy  will  you  be,  if  at  any  time  the  Lord  alarms 
your  drowsy  consciences,  and  gives  you  the  least  measure  of  spiritual 
feeling,  though  it  should  be  but  some  dread  of  his  majesty,  or  shame  of 
your  ingratitude,  or  fear  of  his  vengeance.  Do  not  resist  the  touch  of 
his  mighty  hand,  lest  he  cut  you  off  in  his  sore  displeasure,  "  if  his  wrath 
be  kindled,  yea,  but  a  little."  Ah !  do  not  harden  your  hearts,  as  Felix, 
who,  when  he  heard  St.  Paul  discourse  on  righteousness,  temperance, 
and  the  judgment  to  come,  was  brought  to  tremble  before  God,  and  yet 
got  nothing  by  his  trembling,  but  a  greater  condemnation;  for,  soon 
stifling  the  remorse  of  his  conscience,  he  said  to  the  apostle,  "  Go  thy 
way  for  this  time,  when  I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee." 
O  brethren,  let  none  of  you  imitate  his  madness.  Methinks  he  now  lifts 
up  his  voice  above  the  shrieks  of  those  who  are  condemned  with  him  to 
eternal  weeping ;  methinks  he  cries  to  every  one  of  us,  "  Now  is  the 
convenient  season  for  you,  now  is  the  hour  of  salvation ;  improve  it  as 
it  flies,  lest  it  should  be  gone,  and  gone  for  ever !"  Alas,  this  was  his 
deplorable  case,  he  quenched  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  God  gave  him  up 
to  a  reprobate  mind,  for  his  Spirit  does  not  always  strive  with  man. 
The  "convenient  season"  he  spoke  of  never  came  again;  he  soon 
forgot  Paul  and  his  words,  and  not  long  after  put  an  end  to  his  life, 
madly  hurrying  to  that  judgment,  the  very  thoughts  of  which  made  him 
once  tremble.     And  which  of  us  dares  say,  that  this  shall  not  be  the  last 


AWAKE,  THOU  THAT  SLEEPEST.  131 

hour  in  which  God  will  strive  with  him  ?  Which  of  us  has  made  a  cove- 
nant with  death,  and  engaged  him  not  to  strike  his  heart  before  this  day 
is  over,  or  with  hell  that  it  shall  not  swallow  him  up  ?  Is  God  a  man, 
that  he  should  lie  ?  Is  he  like  one  of  the  sons  of  men,  that  he  should 
break  the  most  solemn  declarations  of  his  word  ?  "  Turn  ye,"  he  says 
by  his  prophets,  "  turn  ye,  every  one  from  his  wicked  way,  and  I  will 
abundantly  pardon ;  turn  ye  unto  me,  for  why  should  ye  die,  O  house 
of  Israel  ?"  thus  stooping  to  invite  rebellious  man  to  himself,  and  intreat- 
ing  him  to  return  lest  he  should  die.  But  if  man  answers,  "  Am  I  a 
heathen,  that  I  should  want  to  be  turned  to  God ;  am  I  a  drunkard  or  a 
murderer,  that  he  should  send  me  such  a  command  ?"  I  say,  if  man  do 
not  turn  to  God  wholly,  soul,  body,  and  spirit,  seeking  all  his  happiness 
in  his  favour,  and  walking  with  him  all  the  day  long ;  surely  that  book 
comes  from  the  father  of  lies,  or  he  shall  perish  in  his  iniquity  ;  for  who 
can  misunderstand  these  plain  declarations  of  God's  word  ?  Psalm  vii, 
12,  "  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  all  the  day  long  ;  if  he  turn  not, 
he  will  whet  his  sword ;  nay,  he  has  bent  his  bow  and  made  it  ready, 
he  has  prepared  for  him  the  instruments  of  death."  And  who  are  those 
wicked?  You  find  it  in  the  tenth  Psalm,  "The  wicked,  through  the 
pride  of  flKs  countenance,  will  not  seek  after  God ;"  and  a  little  before, 
"The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  with  all  the  people  that  forget 
God."  Now,  who  will  awake  from  his  sleep,  from  the  dream  of  his 
fancied  goodness  ?  Who  will  give  glory  to  the  loving  God,  and  own  that 
he  is  still  among  the  wicked,  because  he  never  truly  sought  the  Lord  1 
Hear  how  David  sought  his  God  :  "  My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth 
for  the  courts  of  the  Lord  ;  my  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out  for  the  living 
God.  My  heart  breaketh  for  the  very  fervent  desire  that  I  have  for 
thy  law.  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brooks,  so  panteth  my 
soul  after  thee,  O  God.  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  yea,  for  the  living 
God.     O  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God !" 

Now  I  ask  you,  before  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  if  this  be  seeking  God, 
did  you  ever  seek  God  in  sincerity  ?  Do  you  think  you  seek  him  when 
you  come  into  his  house  with  the  shameful  dispositions  I  mentioned? 
Alas !  so  far  from  seeking  him,  you  bid  him  depart  from  you  ;  you 
mock  him  in  his  very  temple  ;  for  though  you  know  that  Christ  does  not 
dwell  in  you  nor  you  in  him ;  though  you  know  that  your  heart  is  far 
from  him  at  the  very  time  that  you  make  as  if  you  worshipped  him  with 
all  your  soul ;  yet  so  far  from  being  troubled  at  your  hypocrisy,  through 
the  pride  of  your  heart  you  cry,  "  Peace,  peace,"  and  persuade  yourself 
that  you  do  not  need  to  seek  God  in  another  manner.  O  awake  from 
that  delusion,  throw  off  the  mask  in  the  Lord's  presence,  and  own  your- 
self ripe  for  destruction.  This  is  the  first  step  toward  that  true  repent- 
ance which  shall  never  be  repented  of.  0  if  you  could  be  prevailed 
upon  to  take  it  in  this  hour,  how  soon  would  it  lead  you  to  inward  vital 
religion  ;  how  surely  would  it  introduce  you  to  the  presence  of  a  recon- 
ciled God,  and  give  you,  in  the  enjoyment  of  Christ,  a  foretaste  of  the 
joys  of  heaven  !  But  alas  !  hitherto  you  have  resisted  all  the  calls  of 
God.  Yes,  brethren,  nothing,  I  fear,  has  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  the  minds  of  some  of  you ;  neither  the  Lord's  mercies,  nor  his 
judgments ;  neither  the  deliverances  from  imminent  dangers  he  has 
granted  you,  nor  the  death  of  many  dear  friends,  which  he  permitted  to 


132  AWAKE,  THOU  THAT  SLEEPEST. 

fall  into  the  grave  in  your  presence,  beckoning  to  you  to  prepare  to  fol- 
low them.  But  though  neither  the  threatenings  nor  the  promises  of  his 
holy  word  have  hitherto  been  able  to  awake  you  into  a  true  concern  for 
your  immortal  souls, — into  a  lively  sense  of  God's  fear,  and  a  real  desire 
of  giving  yourselves  up  to  him  :  yet  if  you  are  willing  to  awake  now,  if 
now  you  own  yourselves  undone  ;  if  you  have  nothing  to  plead  but  "  God 
be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  :"  if  you  resolve  to  plead  this  continually  till 
he  seals  the  forgiveness  of  your  sins  to  your  heart ;  if  you  are  willing  to 
be  saved  upon  any  terms  ;  in  a  word,  if  you  truly  repent,  God  is  willing 
to  cast  the  mantle  of  his  love  over  what  is  past,  to  sink  all  your  sins  into 
the  sea  of  his  mercy,  and  love  you  freely  after  all  your  wanderings ; 
nay,  and  to  rejoice  over  you  as  a  good  shepherd  over  a  poor  returning 
sheep,  which  he  thought  lost  for  ever,  and  to  enable  you  to  delight  in 
him  a  thousand  times  more  than  you  ever  did  in  all  the  pleasures  of  sin. 
Choose  then  between  life  and  death,  eternity  and  time,  God  and  the 
world  ;  choose,  but  be  sincere  and  wise  in  your  choice ;  O  choose  life, 
God,  and  eternity.  The  angels' of  God,  nay,  God  himself,  fix  their  eyes 
upon  you  in  this  moment ;  they  consider  whether  you  will  be  barbarous 
enough  to  your  own  soul  to  prefer  the  world  and  the  trifles  it  offers,  as 
you  have  hitherto  done,  to  heaven  and  the  endless  joys  that  wait  for 
you  there.  Nay,  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  always  where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  his  name,  stands  before  you,  with  his  vesture  dipt 
in  blood,  and  waits  to  see  if  his  agony  and  bloody  sweat,  his  wounds  and 
sufferings,  his  tears  and  strong  cries,  his  cross  and  passion,  shall  have 
any  effect  upon  you  :  to  see  whether  you  will  not  at  last  resolve  to  part 
even  with  the  most  pleasing  sins,  rather  than  not  to  come  to  him,  choose 
him,  and  enjoy  him  for  your  portion  for  ever.  Ah  !  let  him  not  wait  in 
vain  :  rather  let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  together  to  him,  and  say,  "  Lord, 
turn  us,  and  so  shall  we  be  turned!"  Are  you  willing?  Show  it,  by 
renouncing  sin,  and  beginning  to  make  conscience  of  keeping  your  bap- 
tismal  vow.  Will  you  become  true  Christians,  the  members  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Let  the  world  go  ;  you 
cannot  serve  two  masters.  What  have  you  to  do  with  the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  this  wicked  world,  with  the  pride  of  dress,  balls  and  plays, 
cards  and  useless  visits  ?  Leave  these  things  to  those  who  choose  to 
sleep  on  ;  they  belong  not  to  an  awakened  sinner,  to  one  who  sees  him- 
self with  one  foot  in  time  and  the  other  in  eternity,  just  going  to  receive 
sentence-  of  eternal  death  or  endless  life. 

What  have  you  to  do  with  the  devil  and  all  his  works,  with  lying,  evil 
speaking,  and  slandering,  with  pride  and  passion,  with  envy  and  strife, 
with  revenge  and  covetousness,  with  cursing  and  swearing,  with  Sabbath 
breaking  and  profaneness?  All  these  are  the  works  of  the  devil.  O 
keep  these  his  commandments  no  more  ;  leave  them  to  those  who  choose 
to  have  their  portion  in  the  eternal  fire  prepared  for  him  and  his  angels, 
and  be  you  of  the  few  who  follow  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  regeneration, 
that  they  may  enter  with  him  into  the  city  of  God. 

Again  :  what  have  you  to  do  with  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh  ;  with 
surfeiting,  drunkenness,  and  indulgence  in  lasciviousness  and  impurity? 
Leave  them,  I  shall  not  say  to  devils,  for  the  devils  wallow  not  in  these 
beastly  pleasures ;  leave  them  to  the  brutes,  to  which  alone  they  belong. 
A.nd,  since  you  are  endued  each  with  an  everlasting  spirit,  worship  God 


NATURE  OF  REGENERATION.  133 

in  spirit  and  in  truth.  But  this  you  cannot  do  without  the  grace  of  Jesus. 
Ask  it,  then,  continually.  When  you  get  up  and  when  you  he  down  ; 
when  you  sit  in  your  house  or  walk  by  the  way,  O  let  this  be  the  cease- 
less cry  of  your  soul,  "  Lord  Jesus,  forgive  me  my  sins,  and  give  me  thy 
good  Spirit,  that  I  may  not  sin  against  thee  !  O  make  me  to  love  thee 
with  all  my  heart,  and  let  me  now  live  the  life  of  the  righteous,  that  my 
latter  end  may  be  like  his."  And  be  not  discouraged  by  the  ridicule  that 
the  children  of  the  world  will  pour  upon  you  on  every  side,  when  you 
begin  this  life  of  prayer  ;  remembering  that  the  things  of  God  are  fool- 
ishness to  the  natural  man,  and  that  all  the  saints  who  are  now  in  glory, 
experienced,  in  their  way  to  it,  the  truth  of  St.  Paul's  assertion,  "  Every 
one  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution."  But 
go  on  praying  without  fainting,  and  seeking  the  Lord  till  he  sends  his 
light  and  truth  into  your  soul,  and  makes  it  a  habitation  for  God*through 
the  Spirit ;  and  then  shall  you  begin  to  rejoice  that  ever  you  were 
awakened  to  work  out  your  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  and  the 
angels  of  God  shall  rejoice  for  your  conversion  through  the  endless  ages 
of  eternity,  which  may  God  grant,  for  his  mercy's  sake.     Amen. 


Sermon  V. — Nature  of  regeneration. 
"If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature,"  1  Cor.  v,  17. 

St.  Paul  says,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  that  "  he  is  not  a  Jew 
who  is  one  outwardly,  but  he  who  is  such  inwardly,"  by  the  circumcision 
of  the  heart.  This  being  applied  to  Christianity,  it  follows  that  he  is  not 
a  Christian  who  professes  to  be  so,  but  he  who  has  got  "  a  new  heart 
and  a  new  spirit,"  by  being  truly  born  again,  not  of  water  only,  but  of 
the  Spirit  of  Christ.  That  regeneration  is  absolutely  necessary  in  order 
to  be  a  true  Christian,  and  that  there  is  no  surer  mark  whereby  we  may 
know  whether  we  are  living  members  of  Jesus  than  to  be  really  new 
men,  appears  in  the  clearest  light  in  the  words  of  the  text,  "  If  any  man 
be  in  Christ,"  or  be  a  true  Christian,  "  he  is  a  new  creature."  You  see 
then,  brethren,  how  necessary  it  is  to  have  right  notions  of  the  doctrine 
of  regeneration,  since  without  it  there  can  be  no  Christianity.  I  hope 
you  will  therefore  follow  me  with  an  attention  answerable  to  the  vast 
importance  of  the  subject,  while  I  endeavour  to  show  you, 

First,  What  we  must  understand  by  regeneration,  or  becoming  a  new 
creature. 

Secondly,  What  are  the  causes  that  concur  to  the  work  of  regene- 
ration :  And, 

Thirdly,  Why  regeneration  is  so  necessary  to  salvation.  May  what 
shall  be  spoken  in  God's  name,  be  so  applied  by  his  grace  to  every  one 
of  our  hearts,  that  the  important  work  of  regeneration  may  be  powerfully 
begun,  or  carried  on  in  each  of  our  souls ! 

Regeneration,  brethren,  is  that  mighty  change  whereby  a  natural  man 
is  made  a  spiritual,  or  new  man;  and  he  that  was  a  child  of  the  devil, 
becomes  by  grace  a  child  of  God.  For,  as  by  our  natural  birth  we  are 
made  in  the  likeness  of  fallen  Adam,  called  "  the  old  man,"  the  first  man ; 
so  by  this  spiritual  birth  we  become  new  creatures — spiritual  men — and 
sons  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  second  x\.dam. 


134  NATURE   OF  REGENERATION. 

The  work  of  grace,  whereby  we  are  thus  born  again,  is  so  great  that 
St.  Paul  calls  it  a  new  creation ;  and  it  deserves  that  name,  for  thereby 
the  soul  of  man  is  renewed  throughout,  with  all  the  powers  and  faculties 
thereof;  his  carnal,  sensual,  earthly  disposition  is  turned  into  a  spiritual 
and  a  heavenly  one  ;  his  blind  understanding  is  enlightened  with  the 
knowledge  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ ;  his  stubborn  and  perverse  will  be- 
comes obedient  and  conformable  to  the  will  of  God ;  his  conscience,  before 
seared  and  benumbed,  is  now  quickened  and  awakened ;  his  hard  heart 
softened,  his  unruly  affections  crucified,  and  his  body,  whose  members 
were  before  instruments  of  unrighteousness,  is  now  ready  to  put  in  exe- 
cution the  good  intentions  of  the  mind.  Thus  is  he  restored  to  that  hap- 
piness, to  that  image  of  God,  wherein  he  was  at  first  created,  though 
before,  on  account  of  his  corruption  through  the  fall,  he  was  altogether 
destitute  of  it.  O !  how  great,  how  inconceivably  great  must  man's 
depravation  be  by  nature,  since  God  cannot  fit  him  for  glory  by  mend- 
ing or  repairing  the  Divine  image  in  which  he  first  made  him  ;  but  must 
thus,  as  it  were,  create  him  a  second  time,  and  cause  him  to  be  born 
again,  and  made  anew. 

But  to  be  a  little  more  particular  concerning  the  nature  of  regenera- 
tion. It  has  two  parts,  as  says  our  Church,  "  a  death  unto  sin,"  and  a 
"  new  birth  unto  righteousness." 

By  "  a  death  unto  sin"  we  must  understand  that  casting  off  and  cruci- 
fying the  old  man  ;  that  destroying  the  body  of  sin,  on  which  St.  Paul 
so  often  insists.  "  Mortify,"  says  he,  or  put  to  death,  "  your  members 
which  are  upon  earth,  uncleanness,  covetousness,  and  the  like  :"  whence 
it  appears,  that  by  those  "  members  upon  earth,"  he  means,  all  sorts  of 
sins  and  unholy  desires,  whereunto  a  natural  man  is  given.  Nor  is  it 
enough  to  curb  and  hold  them  in,  but  their  life  must  be  taken — they  must 
die.  And,  indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  put  on  the  new  man,  till  the  old 
man  is  cast  off;  nor  can  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness  follow,  but 
where  a  death  unto  sin  has  taken  place.  But  when  a  man,  tired  of  the 
body  of  sin,  has  yielded  it  up  to  be  crucified  with  Jesus,  and  feels  the 
power  of  his  death  ;  then,  and  then  only,  does  he  experience  a  new  birth 
to  righteousness,  and  becomes  a  partaker  of  the  power  and  benefit  of 
Christ's  resurrection. 

This  second  part  of  regeneration  is  called  in  Scripture  a  passage  from 
darkness  to  light ;  from  death  unto  life  ;  God's  quickening  us,  and 
making  us  alive  ;  a  rising  together  with  Christ,  and  walking  in  newness 
of  life. 

Whence  it  is  plain  that  we  must  understand  by  regeneration,  not  only 
the  destruction  of  sin  in  our  souls,  which  is  the  devil's  image  stamptupon 
every  child  of  Adam,  since  the  fall ;  but  the  bringing  in  again  into  our 
souls  that  conformity  to  the  Divine  nature,  that  unspotted  holiness,  that 
image  of  God,  wherein  Adam  was  first  created,  and  which  Jesus  Christ, 
the  second  parent  of  mankind,  is  ready  to  stamp  again  upon  every  sin- 
cere believer.  Let  us  observe  here  the  dangerous  mistake  of  some  who 
judge,  that  they  are  regenerate  because  they  are  reformed,  and  commit 
no  longer  those  sins  wherein  they  formerly  lived.  No,  it  is  not  enough 
to  be  able  to  say,  "  I  am  not  what  I  was,"  unless  we  can  add,  "  I  am  what 
I  was  not."  It  will  signify  but  little  for  a  man  to  plead  that  he  is  not  a 
drunkard,  that  he  swears  no  more,  and  no  longer  "  walks  after  the  flesh," 


I  NATURE  OF  REGENERATION.  135 

unless  he  can  also  say,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  he  "  walks  after  the 
Spirit,"  in  faith,  love,  and  holy  obedience.  You  are  not  unjust,  do  you 
Bay  ?  Very  good.  But  do  you  show  mercy  ?  You  are  no  longer  unclean, 
nor  sensual :  but  are  you  spiritual  and  heavenly  minded  ?  You  no  more 
break  out  into  raging  fits  of  anger  !  But  does  "the  peace  that  passes  all 
understanding,"  keep  your  soul  in  the  meekness,  gentleness,  and  long 
suffering  of  Jesus  ?  You  are  no  longer  swelled  with  that  overbearing 
pride  which  made  all  around  you  look  on  you  as  a  tyrant :  but,  instead 
of  getting  the  humble  mind  that  was  in  Christ,  do  not  you  rest  in  what 
the  world  calls  a  decent  pride,  a  proper  pride  ?  You  think  it  now  below 
you  to  curse,  swear,  and  lie  :  but  do  you  bless  and  intercede,  reprove  and 
exhort  ?  You  scorn  to  tell  a  lie  :  but  do  you  boldly  stand  for  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  1  You  no  longer  laugh  at  the  despised  followers  of  a 
crucified  God :  but  do  you  take  their  part,  and  confess  Christ  in  his  mem- 
bers, who  are  rejected  of  men  as  he  was  himself?  You  no  more  make 
a  mock  at  the  word  of  God.  Very  well.  But  do  you  "  meditate  therein 
day  and  night  ?"  and  is  it  "  sweeter  to  your  soul  than  honey  to  your  taste  ?" 
You  are  convinced  that  it  is  a  dreadful  sin  to  take  God's  name  in  vain : 
but  do  you  rejoice  with  reverence,  whenever  you  pronounce  his  sacred 
name  ?  You  detest  profaneness,  and  daily  lament  the  overflowings  of 
ungodliness :  but  do  not  you  rest  short  of  piety,  and  lie  down  in  a  state 
of  lukewarmness  and  presumption  ?  You  pity  those  who  never  go  to 
church,  and  never  worship  in  God's  house  :  but  when  you  are  there,  are 
you  sensible  of  the  presence  of  the  God  on  whom  you  wait  ?  And  does 
the  apprehension  of  his  Majesty  make  you  cry  out,  as  Jacob,  in  the  deep- 
est act  of  adoration,  "  This  place  is  dreadful ;  surely  it  is  the  temple  of 
the  Most  High  ?"  You  cry  out  against  those  who  never  say  their  prayers, 
and  with  much  reason :  but  when  you  pray,  is  the  intercourse  opened 
between  God  and  your  soul,  and  do  you  find  in  your  heart  what  you  pro- 
fess to  ask  daily,  "  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?"  If  you  do  not,  you  are  not  yet 
regenerated  in  the  Gospel  sense.  You  know  something,  it  may  be,  of 
the  first  part  of  regeneration,  a  death  unto  outward  sin  ;  but  you  are  yet 
an  utter  stranger  to  the  second  part  thereof:  you  never  experienced  a 
new  birth  unto  righteousness,  unto  true  inward  holiness. 

Having  thus  shown  the  nature  and  parts  of  regeneration,  I  come 
now  to  show,  in  a  few  words,  what  causes  concur  to  effect  that  import- 
ant change. 

God  alone,  in  Christ,  is  the  first  cause  and  author  of  it ;  wherefore  the 
regenerate  man  is  said  in  Scripture  to  be  born  of  God :  and  if  you  ask 
why  he  does  not  leave  us  in  the  state  of  sin  and  misery  into  which  we 
plunged  ourselves  by  the  fall,  but  offers  to  create  us  again  in  his  image ; 
whereas  there  is  no  regeneration  for  the  fallen  angels  upon  whom  Divine 
justice  passed  at  once  sentence  of  eternal  damnation ;  I  must  answer  in 
the  words  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah  :  "  It  is  of  the  Lord's  mercy  that  we 
are  not  consumed  :  it  is  because  his  compassion  fails  not :"  that,  as  Adam 
was  once  placed  in  a  state  of  trial,  either  to  remain  holy,  like  angels,  or 
to  fall  into  the  sin  and  misery  of  devils ;  so  we  have,  during  this  life, 
our  trial  too.  Though  God  might,  with  justice,  have  suffered  the  sen- 
tence of  eternal  death  to  take  place  in  all  men,  since  all  have  sinned,  he 
bids  us  choose  whether  we  will  remain  fallen  with  devils,  or  rise  again, 


136  NATURE  OF  REGENERATION. 

by  regeneration,  to  that  blessed  and  holy  life  which  A-dam  lost.  The 
mercy  of  God  is  then  the  only  original  and  moving  cause  of  our  new- 
birth,  by  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  Of  his  own  will,"  says  St.  James, 
"  he  begat  us  by  the  word  of  truth."  And  St.  Peter,  that  "  God  has 
begotten  believers  again  according  to  his  abundant  mercy." 

But  the  immediate  worker  of  regeneration  is  the  Spirit  of  God,  which 
our  blessed  Lord  obtained  for  us  by  the  merits  of  his  death.  In  this 
respect  true  Christians  are  said  by  Christ  to  be  born  of  the  Spirit ;  and 
St.  Paul  calls  regeneration  "  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,''''  Tit.  iii,  5. 

Yet  the  ordinary  instrumental  cause  is  the  word  of  God,  when  ap- 
plied to  the  soul  by  his  Spirit.  In  this  sense  the  apostle  says  that  be- 
lievers are  begotten  by  the  word  of  truth,  James  i,  18  ;  or  the  Gospel, 
said  by  St.  Paul,  Rom.  i,  16,  to  be  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth."  This  is  "  the  incorruptible  seed,"  as  St.  Peter 
terms  it,  which  Christ's  ministers  sow  in  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  when 
God  raises  it  up  with  power  in  any  soul  under  their  ministry,  we  may 
look  upon  them  also  as  instrumental  causes  of  our  regeneration,  in  the 
lowest  sense  of  the  word.  Thus  St.  Paul  tells  the  Corinthians,  that  he 
was  their  father,  and  had  begotten  them  in  Christ  through  the  Gospel. 

You  see,  brethren,  how  all  these  causes,  in  subordination  to  the  first, 
concur  to  the  Divine  work  of  our  regeneration.  God's  mercy  contrives 
the  scheme  of  man's  redemption :  our  Lord  Jesus  executes  it.  His 
ministers  are  sent  to  cast  the  seed  of  his  word  into  men's  souls,  and  to 
water  it ;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  alone  gives  the  increase,  and  quickens 
the  souls  dead  in  sin  and  unbelief,  when  they  are  truly  willing  to  be  quick- 
ened. Thus  the  glory  of  our  regeneration  ought  to  be  wholly  ascribed 
to  God's  mercy  in  Christ,  since  it  is  the  only  source  of  that  unspeakable 
blessing ;  and  we  are  bound  to  exalt  the  free  grace  of  God  continually, 
and  to  call  upon  our  souls  to  praise  the  Lord,  since  "  as  the  heaven  is 
high  above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his  mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him.'' 

I  come  now  to  show  the  reasons  why  regeneration  is  necessary  to 
salvation.     And  this  appears, 

1st.  From  the  immutability  of  God's  purpose,  who  has  chosen  believers 
to  salvation  "  through  the  sanctification  of  the  Spirit."  Whoever  will 
enter  into  heaven  must  put  off  sin,  and  be  clothed  with  a  robe  of 
unspotted  righteousness.  Do  you  ask  why  ?  Because  God  is  resolved 
that  it  shall  be  so.  "  This  is  the  will  of  God,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  your 
sanctification"  first,  and  then  your  salvation.  And  there  is  no  varia- 
bleness nor  shadow  of  turning  with  him,  all  the  world  shall  sooner  be 
damned  than  his  purpose  shall  be  made  void. 

2dly.  From  the  stability  of  the  word  of  God.  "  Except  a  man  be 
born  again,"  says  Jesus  himself,  "  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  ;"  and  he  is  not  as  the  sons  of  men,  that  he  should  lie.  Does  he 
not  declare  that  "  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  his  word  shall 
not  pass  away  ?" 

3dly.  From  the  respect  that  regeneration  has  to  salvation.  Regene- 
ration is  nothing  but  a  degree  and  part  of  salvation.  Grace  is  glory 
begun ;  holiness  is  the  spring  of  true  happiness ;  and  he  who  is  not 
saved  from  his  sins  here  shall  never  be  saved  into  glory  hereafter.  He 
who  is  not  so  changed  on  earth  as  to  find  his  happiness  in  God,  will 
never  be  fit  to  delight  in  him  in  heaven.     The  angelic  hosts,  says  St. 


NATURE   OF  REGENERATION.  137 

John,  "  praise  God  day  and  night,  saying,  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord 
God,  who  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come."  Now  what  probability  is  there 
that  the  unregenerate,  who  delight  in  nothing  but  money,  apparel,  plea- 
sure, eating,  drinking,  uncleanness,  and  the  like ;  and  who  are  such 
enemies  to  God,  that  they  had  rather  be  set  to  do  any  work  than  to  spend 
an  hour  in  private  prayer  to  him  every  day :  what  probability  is  there, 
I  say,  that  they  will  be  able  to  bear  their  part  in  those  sacred  concerts, 
unless  their  soul  be  so  saved  from  sin  here,  and  so  changed  in  all  its 
faculties,  that  God's  service  and  worship,  which  are  so  tedious  to  them 
now,  may  become  the  joy  of  their  hearts. 

Let  none  then  deceive  himself.  As  sin  is  death  and  hell  begun  in  the 
unregenerate,  so  are  holiness,  eternal  life,  and  heaven,  opened  in  the 
new  creature.  And  as  sure  as  there  will  be  no  hell  for  those  that  are 
saved  from  their  sins  here,  so  sure  it  is  that  there  will  be  no  heaven  for 
those  who  are  not  made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature.  We  might  as 
well  look  for  the  noon  of  a  day  which  never  dawned,  as  expect  to  see  the 
meridian  light  of  glory,  without  having  ever  known  the  morning  of  re- 
generating grace. 

4thly.  We  may  discover  the  necessity  of  regeneration  in  order  to  sal- 
vation, if  we  consider  the  entire  corruption  of  our  nature.  Our  first 
parents,  having  by  their  fall  defaced  that  image  of  God  in  which  they 
were  created,  and  being  thereupon  wholly  polluted  in  soul,  body,  and 
spirit,  all  that  come  from  them  must  be  partakers  of  their  corrupt  nature. 
"  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?"  says  Job.  "  I  was 
born  in  sin,"  says  David,  "  and  in  iniquity  did  my  mother  conceive  me." 
"  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,"  that  is  to  say,  carnal  and  un- 
clean. "  Now,"  says  St.  John,  "  no  unclean  person  can  enter  into  God's 
kingdom."  Believe  it,  sinners  ;  God  will  not  take  you  from  the  dung  hill 
of  sin,  and  covered  with  Satan's  leprosy,  to  place  you  by  him  on  his 
throne.  The  holy  land  shall  not  be  filled  with  filth  and  rottenness  ;  and 
in  the  heavenly  Canaan  there  are  no  nests  for  serpents  and  vipers  ;  no 
place  for  backbiting,  lying,  slandering,  or  cursing  Christians  ;  no  den  for 
angry  lions  to  lurk  in ;  and  no  mire  for  greedy  and  impure  swine  to 
wallow  in  ;  much  less  shall  the  vacant  thrones  of  fallen  angels,  thrown 
down  into  hell  for  their  pride,  envy,  and  ambition,  be  given  to  proud, 
envious,  ill-natured,  or  covetous  men.  Rebellious  aliens  must  not  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  must  first  be  made  children,  and  have 
the  Spirit  of  adoption,  and  then  are  they  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs 
with  Christ. 

Again :  that  we  must  be  new  creatures  to  enter  into  heaven,  appears 
from  the  enjoyments  of  saints  and  angels.  They  are  wholly  spiritual. 
Their  felicity  consists  in  the  peace  of  God,  the  love  of  Christ,  and  the  joy 
of  angels  ;  in  an  uninterrupted  union  and  communion  with  the  Lord ;  a 
continual  admiration  and  fruition  of  all  his  perfections.  But  can  carnal, 
worldly,  unregenerate  people  taste  pleasure  in  any  of  these  things  ?  Are 
not  such  delights  for  them,  just  what  pearls  and  diamonds  are  to  swine  ? 
Do  not  they  even  now  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and  sometimes  turn 
about  and  endeavour  to  rend  those  that  hold  out  to  them  even  that  hea- 
venly bread,  that  food  of  angels?  Sinners,  you  must  then  lose  your  taste 
for  earthly  joys,  and  be  made  capable  of  relishing  spiritual  delights,  or 
all  the  pleasures  of  heaven  will  prove  to  you  just  as  much  as  the  most 


138  NATURE  OF  REGENERATION. 

melodious  concert  is  to  a  deaf  man,  or  the  finest  pictures  to  one  that  was 
born  blind. 

I  shall  conclude  all  these  reasons  with  one  drawn  from  the  holiness  of 
God's  nature,  which  is  such  that  no  unclean  person  can  stand  in  his 
presence.  "  His  eyes  are  too  pure,"  says  a  prophet,  "  to  behold  iniquity." 
"  Evil  shall  not  dwell  with  thee,"  says  David,  "  neither  shall  the  foolish 
stand  in  thy  sight."  There  is  such  a  contrariety  between  the  holy  nature  of 
God,  and  the  unholy  nature  of  unregenerate  men,  that  they  can  no  more 
agree  together  than  light  with  darkness  ;  for  "  what  fellowship  has  right- 
eousness with  unrighteousness  ?"  says  St.  Paul.  A  pure  God  with  im- 
pure creatures  ?  None  at  all ;  unless  it  be  that  which  a  devouring  flame 
has  with  the  stubble  thrown  therein.  0  sinners !  learn  then  what  the 
apostle  means  when  he  says,  "Without  holiness  none  shall  see  the  Lord," 
lest  you  find  him  a  consuming  fire,  as  the  unregenerate  will  most  cer- 
tainly do.  And  that  you  may  be  the  more  willing  to  get  out  of  the  state 
you  are  in  by  sin,  let  me  show  you  the  many  dangers  that  attend  it. 

You  are  not  yet  a  new  creature,  and  consequently  you  are  yet  without 
Christ  in  your  heart,  and  nothing  stands  between  God's  justice  and  your 
unregenerate  soul.  And  for  what  do  you  expose  yourself  to  this  dread- 
ful peril  1  That  you  may  serve  Satan  ?  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the 
devil,"  says  St.  John. 

O  that  your  eyes  were  open  to  see  what  master  you  have  chosen,  and 
what  wages  he  will  give  you  at  last !  Is  it  that  you  may  take  your  chance 
with  the  rest  of  the  world  ?  Alas !  do  you  not  know  the  word  of  God 
declares,  that  he  who  loves  the  world  is  the  Lord's  enemy  ?  And  that 
this  world,  and  all  that  is  therein,  except  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the  re- 
generate,  are  reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment?  Is  it  that 
you  may  indulge  a  little  longer  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  the  desires  of  the 
eye,  and  the  pride  of  life  ?  O  !  if  you  saw  them  in  a  true  light,  you  would 
renounce  them  as  you  would  the  service  of  a  base  and  cruel  tyrant,  that 
says  to  you,  "  Do  this,"  though  it  will  destroy  thy  body,  and  you  do  it : 
"  Do  not  that,"  though  your  soul  should  live  thereby,  and  you  do  it  not. 
Thus,  like  the  child  who  was  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  you  are  pos- 
sessed by  carnal  desires  and  unruly  passions,  which  tear  you  and  cast 
you  sometimes  into  the  fire,  sometimes  into  the  water,  still  waiting  for 
the  moment  when  they  may  plunge  you  into  "  the  lake  that  burns  with 
fire  and  brimstone." 

O  !  do  the  pleasures  of  sin,  and  the  smiles  of  the  world,  compensate 
you  for  the  happiness  of  the  children  of  God,  which  you  renounce  for 
them  ;  and  when  the  curses  of  God's  law  overtake  you,  will  they  screen 
from  the  stroke  of  his  wrath  ?  For  though  you  may  little  think  of  it,  if 
your  sins  are  not  forgiven  you,  a  curse  attends  all  your  enjoyments.  "  I 
will  curse  their  blessings,"  says  God  by  one  of  his  prophets.  Nay,  it 
follows  you  in  your  religious  exercises.  The  word  which  you  hear  is 
cursed  to  you  ;  because  you  believe  it  not,  or  do  it  not,  it  proves  to  you 
"  the  savour  of  death  unto  death  ;"  the  prayers  which  you  make,  with 
so  much  indifference  and  contempt  for  God,  draw  no  blessing  upon  you  ; 
and  the  Lord's  table  is  made  a  snare  to  you  by  your  presumption :  for, 
instead  of  feeding  on  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  you  trample  it  under 
foot,  and  refuse  to  let  it  have  its  due  effect  upon  you. 

And  not  only  so,  but  you  are  liable  to  temporal  and  eternal  judgments. 


NECESSITY  OF  REGENERATION.  13& 

In  time  God  may  let  loose  upon  you  the  most  dreadful  sicknesses  and 
afflictions,  and  you  have  no  God  to  stand  by  you,  no  grace  to  comfort 
you  under  them.     And  in  eternity  what  have  you  to  expect  but  an  eter- 
nal despair  ?  and  for  whom  is  "  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone"  appointed,  if  not  for  the  unregenerate  ?  And  who  shall  have  "the 
smoke  of  their  torments  ascending  for  ever  and  ever,"  if  not  those  who 
never  strove  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  of  the  new  birth,  but  remained 
willing  servants  of  the  prince  of  this  world,  and  their  unruly  passions,  for 
ever  and  ever  ?  O  measure,  if  you  can,  the  length  and  breadth,  the  depth 
and  height  of  the  meaning  of  that  word,  "  for  ever  and  ever ;"  and  though 
all  that  Jesus  says  of  that  fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,  of 
that  "  fire  which  never  shall  be  quenched,"  that  "  worm  which  never 
dieth,"  and  that  "  outer  darkness  where  there  will  be  weeping,  wailing, 
and  gnashing  of  teeth :"  though  all  these  expressions  should  mean  no 
more  than  an  eternal  fever,  or  an  eternal  confinement  in  a  dark  dungeon, 
will  you  draw  this  upon  you  for  the  momentary  pleasure  of  walking  ac- 
cording to  the  sight  of  your  eye,  and  the  desire  of  your  heart?   And  will 
not  you  repent  of  this  your  unhappy  choice  even  in  this  life  ?  Ah !  when 
death  shall  appear  to  you,  and  tell  you  that  he  has  a  message  from  the 
Lord,  a  warrant  from  the  King  of  heaven  to  take  from  you  all  your 
worldly  comforts,  all  the  carnal  pleasures  and  delights  for  which,  Esau- 
like, you  sell  your  birthright,  and  the  blessing  of  your  heavenly  Father ; 
all  your  nearest  and  dearest  relations ;  all  your  wealth  and  honour,  all 
your  schemes  of  building  and  planting,  buying  and  selling ;  and  all  the 
hopes  of  enjoying  any  longer  those  conveniences  and  superfluities,  for 
getting  of  which  you  forget  that  your  main  business  here  is  to  be  born 
again  of  the  Spirit  of  God ; — when  death  shall  thus  hurry  you  away 
from  your  earthly  paradise  ;  when  it  shall  rouse  your  drowsy  conscience, 
and  lay  before  you  the  black  catalogue  of  all  your  sins,  your  lies,  your 
scoffings  at  virtue  and  religion,  your  goods  ill-gotten  and  ill-spent ;  your 
profanation  of  the  Lord's  day ;  your  speculative  wantonness  or  actual 
filthiness ;  your  vanity,  pride,  covetousness,  sensuality ;  with  the  many 
years  spent  with  so  much  eagerness  in  the  devil's  service ;  what  will 
then  your  views  and  feelings  be  !  And  how  will  you  lament  your  sin  and 
folly, "in  disregarding  the  day  of  your  merciful  visitation!    O!  consider 
this,  ere  it  be  for  ever  too  late. 


Sermon  VI. — Necessity  of  regeneration. 

"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God," 
John  iii,  3.* 

The  corruption  that  has  overspread  the  Christian  world  as  a  flood,  and 
the  lukewarmness  of  those  who  distinguish  themselves  by  some  degree 
of  seriousness,  make  it  next  to  impossible  to  preach  many  of  the  most 

*  Although  the  subject  of  this  discourse  is  nearly  the  same  with  that  of  the 
preceding  sermon,  the  reader  will  perceive  they  are  two  entirely  different  sermons. 
The  latter  is  supposed  to  have  been  preached  soon  after  Mr.  Fletcher's  entrance 
into  the  ministry. 


140  NECESSITY   OF  REGENERATION. 

important  doctrines  of  Christianity  without  giving  offence  to  some.  We 
love  to  lie  down  as  if  our  spiritual  race  was  run,  even  before  we  set  out 
in  earnest.  And  if  any  one  attempts  to  show  us  plainly  our  danger  in  so 
doing,  we  look  upon  him  in  general  as  a  troublesome  person  who  endea- 
vours to  make  us  uneasy  without  necessity.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  those  who  are  appointed  to  show  unto  others  the  way  of  salvation 
dare  hardly  mention  what  Christ  said  of  the  narrowness  of  the  way  that 
leads  to  life,  and  the  few  that  walk  therein. 

We  fear  to  be  thought  uncharitable,  or  suspected  of  preaching  new 
doctrines :  and  this  fear  makes  us  soften,  if  not  conceal,  those  parts  of 
the  Gospel  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  insisted  upon  in  the  plainest 
manner. 

Nevertheless,  as  we  are  commanded  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of 
God,  without  respect  of  persons  or  fear  of  men,  I  shall  now  discourse  on 
one  of  those  points  of  doctrine  which  worldly  Christians  seldom  make  the 
subject  of  their  meditations  ;  I  mean  the  doctrine  of  our  regeneration  or 
new  birth  in  Christ  Jesus.     And  to  do  it  in  order,  I  shall  consider, 

First,  On  what  occasion  and  to  whom  our  blessed  Lord  spoke  the 
words  of  the  text,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."     In  the 

Second  place  I  shall  show  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  new  birth  to  enter 
into  life  eternal ;  and 

Thirdly,  I  shall  conclude  by  pointing  out  the  way  to  that  regeneration, 
without  which  no  man  can  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  may  the 
Lord,  who  has  promised  to  be  with  his  servants  to  the  end  of  the  world,  • 
manifest  his  presence  among  us,  and  apply  by  his  Spirit  to  all  our  hearts 
the  important  doctrine  of  the  text  which  he  taught  himself  in  the  days 
of  his  flesh. 

And  first,  I  am  to  consider  on  what  occasion  and  to  whom  our  blessed 
Lord  spoke  of  regeneration. 

1.  Nicodemus,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews,  and  no  doubt  one  of  the  best  of 
them,  having  heard  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  concluded  that  he  was  no 
mere  man,  but  a  teacher  sent  from  God ;  therefore  he  came  by  night  to 
ask  him  some  questions  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  which  every  sin- 
cere Jew  expected  at  that  time.  Our  Lord,  knowing  that  he  (as  well  as 
the  rest  of  the  nation)  entertained  wrong  notions  of  his  kingdom,  which  is 
wholly  spiritual,  began  by  assuring  him  that  no  one  unconverted  could  see 
that  kingdom,  much  less  enter  into  it :  "  Verily,  verily  I  say  unto  thee, 
that  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

2.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Be  not  mistaken,  Nicodemus,  my  kingdom  is 
not  such  as  thou  thinkest,  nor  can  all  men  enter  therein,  since  thou  art 
yet  unprepared  for  it  thyself.  Neither  thy  honesty,  nor  sobriety,  nor  all 
thy  zeal  for  the  religion  of  thy  fathers,  with  thy  great  profession  of  all 
the  external  duties  of  it,  can  fit  thee  for  the  presence  of  God.  If  thou 
restest  there,  know  that  thy  soul  will  remain  in  as  thick  darkness  as  that 
which  surrounds  a  child  yet  unborn.  For  though  thou  enjoyest  an 
animal  life,  as  other  creatures  on  earth,  yet  hast  thou  lost  in  Adam  a 
spiritual  life ;  the  life  of  angels  in  thy  soul ;  and  thou  must  receive  it 
again  by  a  new  and  spiritual  birth  ;  or  else  thou  shalt  be  as  little  capable 
of  seeing  and  enjoying  God  as  a  child  unborn  is  to  see  and  enjoy  the 
light  of  the  sun  " 


NECESSITY   OF  REGENERATION.  141 

3.  Though  (his  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  surprises  every  natural  man, 
and  seems  foolishness  to  him,  our  blessed  Lord  did  not  first  deliver  it : 
Moses  had  said  two  thousand  years  before  him,  "  The  Lord  your  God 
shall  circumcise,"  or  so  change  "  your  heart,  that  you  shall  be  enabled 
to  love  him  with  all  your  soul.  The  Lord  will  take  away  your  heart  of 
stone,  and  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh."  David  had  prayed,  "  Create  in 
me  a  clean  heart,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me-"  Ezekiel  had 
cried  aloud  to  all  the  people  of  God,  "  Cast  away  from  you  all  your 
transgressions,  and  make  yourselves  new  hearts  and  new  spirits,  for  why 
will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?"  As  if  he  had  said,  "In  vain  do  you 
boast  of  being  the  house  of  Israel,  and  God's  chosen  people  ;  unless  you 
get  new  hearts  and  new  spirits,  you  shall  surely  die." 

4.  These  and  many  more  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  should 
make  us  think  that  no  sincere  Jew  could  be  a  stranger  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  new  birth.  But  as  there  are  now  many  serious  people  who  have  a 
great  form  of  religion,  and  notwithstanding  know  nothing  of  regenera- 
tion experimentally,  supposing  themselves  to  be  of  those  just  men  who 
need  no  repentance,  and  consequently  no  spiritual  change ;  so  it  was 
in  the  days  of  our  Lord ;  and  Nicodemus,  with  all  his  profession  of 
religion,  zeal,  morality,  and  desire  of  being  instructed,  was  one  of  the 
number. 

5.  Accordingly,  struck  with  amazement  at  the  saying  of  our  Lord, 
and  mistaking  quite  the  meaning  of  his  words,  "  How  can  a  man  be 
born  (cried  he)  when  he  is  old  ?  Can  he  enter  a  second  time  into  his 
mother's  womb  and  be  born  ?"  Our  Lord  told  him,  if  a  man  could  enter 
into  his  mother's  womb  and  be  born  again,  that  would  not  help  him,  for 
he  would  still  be  sinful  flesh,  and  of  the  same  corrupted  nature  as  that 
from  which  he  was  born.  But  to  enter  into  his  kingdom,  which  is  spi- 
ritual, he  must  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  must  have  a 
spiritual  birth,  be  begotten  of  incorruptible  seed,  and  become  an  adopted 
son  of  God. 

6.  Then,  to  prevent  all  doubts  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  submitting 
to  this  doctrine,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to  have  affirmed  it  necessary 
twice,  and  to  have  enforced  it  by  the  solemn  word  "  indeed,  indeed ;" 
lest  any  one,  like  Nicodemus,  should  question  the  truth  of  it,  because  he 
never  experienced  it,  our  Saviour  added,  for  the  third  time,  (turning  him- 
self, no  doubt,  to  all  that  were  present,)  "  Ye  must  be  born  again."  As 
if  he  had  said,  "  What  I  say  to  Nicodemus  I  say  unto  all,  '  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.'" 

7.  Here  the  Jewish  ruler,  not  daring  to  object  any  more  to  the  truth 
of  our  Lord's  doctrine,  only  expressed  his  wonder  at  hearing  it.  Our 
Lord,  who  (if  we  are  sincere  before  him)  always  removes  rather  than 
punishes  our  stupidity  in  the  things  of  God,  would  not  discourage  him ; 
but  with  an  admirable  patience  endeavoured  to  make  him  understand  the 
impossibility  of  explaining  by  what  operation  of  God's  grace  a  man  is 
born  again. 

8.  How  short,  and  yet  how  powerful  was  his  argument !  "  When 
the  wind  bloweth,"  saith  he,  "thou  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and 
whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  As  if  he 
had  said,  "  How  can  one  describe  the  wind  to  him  who  has  not  felt  or 
heard  it  ?  or  how  account  whence  it  cometh  ?     Yet  we  know  and  feel 


J  42  NECESSITY   OF  REGENERATION. 

there  is  such  a  thing  as  wind.  So  one  that  is  born  again,  into  whose 
soul  the  Lord  has  breathed  the  breath  of  spiritual  life,  knows  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  dispelled  the  darkness  of  his  soul,  and  made  him  pass 
from  death  unto  life  :  he  feels  in  his  heart  the  happy  change  ;  he  expe- 
riences that  he  is  a  child  of  God,  because  God  has  given  him  of  his 
Spirit,  and  refreshes  him  with  the  spiritual  breezes  of  his  consolation. 
Though  he  is  conscious  of  all  this,  yet  he  cannot  reveal  or  describe  it  to 
another  ;  nor  can  he  make  one  whose  eyes  the  Lord  has  not  yet  opened, 
see  the  kingdom,  and  taste  the  happiness  to  which  he  is  restored,  because 
it  is  what  no  man  knows  but  he  that  receiveth  it :  here  every  one  must 
experience  for  himself." 

9.  This  plain  answer  should  have  satisfied  Nicodemus ;  but  unbelief 
made  him  cry  out  again,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?"  Then  did  our 
Lord  silence  him.  "  What,  (said  he,)  art  thou  a  master  in  Israel,  and 
knowest  not  these  things  ?  If  I  have  told  you  of  earthly  things,"  of 
the  wind  which  is  earthly,  and  you  are  not  able  to  comprehend  or 
account  for  its  blowing,  how  can  you  pretend  to  understand  spiritual 
uid  heavenly  things,  which  are  past  finding  out  ?     Thus  did  our  Lord 

reprove  the  ignorance  and  incredulity  of  that  master  in  Israel,  who  had 
not  learned  himself  what  he  should  have  taught  others  long  before  :  and 
at  the  same  time  gave  him  and  us  to  understand  that  this  mystery  of  the 
new  birth  is  not  to  be  defined  or  described,  but  felt,  experienced,  and 
enjoyed  in  the  heart  ;  and  that  every  one  who  believes  the  word  of  God 
to  be  true,  instead  of  inquiring,  "  How  can  this  be  ?"  must  immediately 
beg  of  God  to  make  him  feel  in  his  heart  the  want  of  a  new  birth  ;  and 
then  he  will  receive  power  to  seek  it  with  tears,  prayer,  and  repentance, 
till  he  find  it  for  himself.  This  was  the  case  of  Nicodemus :  for  not- 
withstanding the  unwillingness  he  showed  at  first  to  believe  the  doctrine 
of  regeneration  true,  he  was  convinced  by  the  words  of  our  Lord  :  and 
we  hear  that  he  proved  at  last  a  bold  confessor  of  Christ  and  his  doc- 
trine. Would  to  God  we  were  as  ready  to  imitate  him  in  his  faith  as 
worldly  Christians  are  ready  to  imitate  his  crying  out,  "  How  can  it  be  ?" 

10.  Having  thus  explained  how  and  to  whom  our  Saviour  preached 
regeneration,  I  proceed  now  to  show  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  new 
birth.  And  in  order  to  this  it  seems  that,  in  addressing  Christians,  it 
should  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  Christ  has  solemnly  declared  it  necessary ; 
for  beside  what  he  said  to  Nicodemus,  he  told  his  disciples  that  "  unless 
they  were  converted,  and  became  as  little  children,  they  could  not.  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  which  was  enforced  after  his  death  by  the 
apostles,  when  they  said,  "  Put  on  the  new  man,  which,  after  God,  is 
created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness — and  be  ye  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  your  minds  ;  for  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth 
any  thing  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature."  And  to  add  the 
last  degree  of  evidence  to  these  Scripture  proofs,  I  could  bring  in  the 
testimony  of  our  Church,  which  declares  in  her  catechism,  "  A  death 
unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth  unto  righteousness  necessary  to  salvation,"  and 
is  so  far  from  supposing  (as  some  would  have  it)  that  we  ar*  all  born 
again  in  baptism,  that  she  directs  us  in  her  collects  to  pray  that  God  by 
"  his  Holy  Spirit  would  create  and  make  in  us  new  and  contrite  hearts, 
that  we  may  obtain  perfect  remission  of  our  sins."  Whence  it  appears 
clearly,  that  she  exhorts  everv  baptized  person  to  seek  this  renewal  of  the 


NECESSITY  OF  REGENERATION.  143 

heart,  and  that  no  one  can  be  a  faithful  member  of  Christ  and  the  Church 
of  England,  who  does  not  receive  the  doctrine  of  regeneration. 

11.  But  I  know  that  all  these  proofs  will  not  convince  a  man  as  long 
as  he  does  not  see  why  we  must  be  born  again :  therefore  I  beg  leave 
to  lay  before  such  a  one  the  reason  why  God  insists  so  much  upon  our 
regeneration  in  all  parts  of  the  Bible. 

Whether  we  think  of  it  or  not,  brethren,  it  is  certain  that  man  once 
enjoyed  in  Adam  a  life  of  happiness  and  holiness,  loving  God  with  all 
his  soul,  in  every  thing  giving  thanks,  and  rejoicing  evermore.  But, 
alas !  his  disobedience  soon  destroyed  that  life ;  for  according  to  the 
sentence  which  God  had  pronounced,  "  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof 
thou  shalt  surely  die,"  he  died  spiritually  ;  he  died  to  happiness,  to  holi- 
ness, and  God  ;  and  from  that  spiritual  death  he  hastened  to  bodily  death, 
and,  if  not  prevented  by  regeneration,  to  death  eternal,  "  the  destruction 
of  body  and  soul  in  the  lake  that  burns  with  fire  and  brimstone."  Now 
Adam,  having  thus  destroyed  himself,  (being  made  the  devil's  slave,  and 
covered  all  over  with  his  leprosy,)  swelled  with  pride,  inflamed  with  lust, 
and  filled  with  enmity  to  God,  and  unbelief  of  his  sacred  word  :  Adam, 
I  say,  being  in  that  wretched  state,  could  not  beget  children  in  a  better 
nature  than  he  had  himself.  "  Can  a  clean  thing  come  out  of  an  un- 
clean ?  And  can  the  streams  be  wholesome  when  the  fountain  is  poi- 
soned ?" 

12.  What,  then,  is  the  plain  consequence?  The  whole  lump  of  man- 
kind is  leavened  with  the  leaven  of  spiritual  as  well  as  bodily  death. 
Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord :  "  All  flesh  has  corrupted  its  way  upon  earth." 
"All  have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  "  I  was  born 
in  sin,"  says  David,  "  and  in  iniquity  did  my  mother  conceive  me."  St. 
Paul,  with  all  the  believers  at  Ephesus,  owned  that  before  they  were  born 
again,  they  "  were  children  of  wrath  even  as  others."  Do  we  want  more 
striking  proofs  ?  Let  us  only  look  into  our  lives,  and  we  shall  see  too 
many  reasons  to  believe,  according  to  the  word  of  God,  that  we  are 
spiritually  dead  in  sin  and  unbelief;  for  not  to  mention  the  injustice, 
drunkenness,  uncleanness,  avarice,  malice,  revenge,  envy,  lying,  evil 
speaking,  Sabbath  breaking,  swearing,  cursing,  profaneness,  and  all  those 
ovefflowings  of  ungodliness  which  appear  more  or  less  in  the  conversa- 
tion of  too  many  of  us  ;  let  us  only  examine  our  hearts,  even  now  that 
we  are  in  the  presence  of  God.  Are  not  they,  in  general,  like  so  many 
stones,  void  of  all  spiritual  feeling?  Is  there  not  in  our  necks  an  iron 
sinew  that  hinders  us  from  stooping  to  God  and  worshipping  him  in 
spirit  and  in  truth?  And  has  not  our  stubbornness,  and  unbelief  of  the 
word  of  God,  caused  some  of  us  to  murmur  already  at  the  severity  ol 
our  Lord's  doctrine  ;  while  others,  perhaps,  flatter  themselves  still  with 
hopes  of  salvation  without  experiencing  the  new  birth.  This  alone  is  a 
plain  proof  that  we  have  not  recovered  from  Adam's  fall,  since,  after  his 
example,  we  believe  Satan  when  he  saith,  "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die," 
rather  than  Christ,  who  declares  in  the  text  that  if  we  are  not  born  again, 
we  cannot  enter  into  his  kingdom.  O  !  if  our  hearts  should  rise  in  that 
manner  against  our  Lord's  doctrine,  let  us  consider  what  one  of  the 
prophets  told  Saul  in  such  a  case  :  "  Rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft 
before  God,  and  stubbornness  is  as  iniquity  and  idolatry  ;  because  thou 
hast  rejected  the  word  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  hath  also  rejected  thee  ' 


144  NECESSITY  OF  REGENERATION. 

13.  Now,  brethren,  if  from  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  the  sins  of  our 
life,  and  the  present  stupid  disposition  of  our  hearts,  it  appears  so  clearly 
that  we  are  estranged  from  God,  and  that  our  nature  is  just  the  reverse 
of  his,  does  it  not  follow  that  before  we  can  enter  into  his  kingdom,  we 
must  put  off  this  brutish  and  devilish  nature  of  ours,  and  become  "  par- 
takers  of  the  Divine  nature  ?" 

This  appears  so  plain,  that  our  darkened  reason,  even  without  the 
light  of  revelation,  is  forced  to  agree  to  it.  Who  can  deny,  for  exam- 
ple, that  all  gluttons,  drunkards,  unclean  persons,  in  a  word,  all  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  Belial,  must  naturally  go  with  Belial  their  father — like 
with  like  ?  Who  can  doubt  that  the  unjust,  the  covetous,  and  extortioners, 
who  fight  here  for  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  under  the  banner  of  mam- 
mon, shall  be  banished  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  hereafter,  unless 
they  are  born  again,  and  get  a  new  nature  ?  Who  can  deny  that  every 
worldly-minded  person,  every  one  that  loves  pleasure  more  than  God, 
that  cares  for  earth  more  than  heaven,  shall  have  his  portion  with  the 
god  of  this  world,  whose  slave  or  child  he  still  is  ?  And  suppose  any  one 
thinks  this  expression  too  hard,  let  him  hear  Jesus  Christ  himself,  who 
said  plainly  to  the  Pharisees  of  his  age,  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil, 
and  the  works  of  your  father  you  do  :"  though  they  thought  themselves 
good  enough  without  being  born  again,  because  outwardly  they  were  less 
wicked  than  others.  It  follows,  that  every  unregenerate  man  has  in 
himself  the  nature  of  his  father,  and  can  never  go  to  God  unless  he  be 
renewed  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

14.  Again  :  does  not  good  sense  teach  us  that  a  soul  who  is  over- 
charged with  earthly  pleasures,  surfeiting,  drunkenness,  or  the  cares  of 
this  world,  will  sink  into  the  bottomless  pit,  for  the  same  reason  that  a 
stone  falls  down  by  its  own  weight  ?  And  is  it  not  plain  that  a  man, 
whose  heart  never  felt  the  fear-  and  love  of  God,  who  never  had  his  con- 
versation in  heaven,  and  never  troubled  himself  much  about  getting,  by 
ardent  prayer,  the  wings  of  a  living  faith,  a  confirmed  hope,  and  an  un- 
feigned burning  love  toward  God  :  is  it  not  plain,  I  say,  that  such  a 
man  shall  be  as  unfit  to  take  his  flight  to  heaven  with  God's  children,  as 
the  heaviest  creature  on  earth  is  unable  to  soar  toward  the  sun  with  the 
eagle  ?  It  is,  then,  most  certain,  that  ye  must  be  born  again,  or  never 
see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

15.  But  suppose  it  were  possible  for  thee,  O  sinner,  to  enter  into  hea- 
ven without  having  experienced  the  new  birth ;  suppose  that  Jesus  Christ, 
to  favour  thee,  would  break  his  solemn  word,  (though  he  has  declared 
the  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away  rather  than  that  one  jot  or  tittle  of 
it  shall  remain  unfulfilled,)  what  wouldst  thou  do  there  ?  Drunkard ! 
there  is  no  strong  drink  in  heaven.  Sensualist !  thou  must  leave  flesh 
and  blood  behind,  and  how  great  would  be  the  disappointment  to  be  de- 
prived of  all  the  means  of  thy  present  happiness  !  Nay,  being  obliged 
to  carry  along  with  thee  all  the  appetites,  tempers,  and  passions,  which 
now  predominate  in  thy  soul,  and  at  the  same  time  not  being  able  to 
satisfy  them,  heaven  itself  would  be  no  heaven  for  thee,  and  thy  discon- 
tent would  even  prove  a  kind  of  hell. 

And  you,  worldlings  !  how  great  would  your  disappointment  be  also ! 
You  could  have  neither  card  playing  nor  dancing  assemblies  ;  nor  could 
you  find  among  all  the  glorified  saints  one  soul  willing  to  spend  a  momen 


NECESSITY  OF  REGENERATION.    •  145 

m  talking  about  nothing,  or  about  dress,  or  in  hearing  all  the  tales  you 
pick  up  to  slander  or  ridicule  your  neighbour.  Confess,  then,  that  you 
must  be  born  again,  or  have  your  portion  far  from  God  and  his  holy 
angels. 

16.  But  some  one,  perhaps,  will  be  ready  to  say,  "I  acknowledge 
that  swearers,  extortioners,  whoremongers,  and  the  like,  cannot  be  saved 
without  a  new  birth;  (for  the  oaths  and  curses  of  the  profane  shall  not 
be  mixed  with  the  hallelujahs  of  angels,  any  more  than  the  injustice  of 
extortioners  shall  disturb  the  peace  of  saints  :  and  it  shocks  good  sense 
to  think  that  the  impure  and  sensual  will  be  permitted  to  offend  the  pure 
eyes  of  God  with  their  debaucheries ;)  but  I  bless  God,  I  am  not  one  of 
them.  I  have  lived  soberly  and  justly  from  my  youth  up ;  and  I  hope  I 
have  been  as  constant  at  rrhurch  and  sacrament  as  most  people  :  now, 
must  I  be  born  again,  as  well  as  daring  sinners?  Was  not  I  born  of 
water  and  the  Spirit  at  my  baptism  ?" 

17.  Before  I  answer  this  serious  question,  suffer  me  to  ask  thee  one 
that  is  not  less  important.  Hast  thou  made  thy  peace  with  God?  Is 
Christ  revealed  in  thee  ?  Does  he  dwell  in  thee  and  thou  in  him?  Hast 
thou  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  bearing  witness  with  thy  spirit  that 
thou  art  a  child  of  God  ?  See  Rom.  viii.  Is  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 
in  thy  heart?  Dost  thou  know  what  it  is  to  enjoy  the  light  of  God's 
countenance  ?  Or  to  be  troubled,  like  David,  for  the  want  of  it  ?  Is  thy 
soul  athirst  for  the  living  God  ?  And  dost  thou  pant  after  his  likeness  as 
the  hart  panteth  after  the  water  brook  ?  Dost  thou  no  longer  conform 
thyself  to  this  present  evil  world,  living  here  as  a  stranger  and  pilgrim, 
and  hastening  with  joy  to  the  New  Jerusalem,  where  thy  heart  is  gone 
before  thee  ?  In  short,  does  thy  soul  as  naturally  mount  up  to  God  in 
ardent  prayers  and  delightful  praises,  as  the  flame  mounts  upward  ? 
And  dost  thou  show  forth  the  praises  of  him  that  has  called  thee  from 
darkness  to  light  in  all'  thy  conversation,  by  all  meekness,  gentleness, 
long  suffering,  patience,  humility,  holy  mourning,  holy  joy,  and  heavenly 
mindedness  ? 

18.  If  with  Peter  thou  canst  look  by  faith  unto  Jesus,  and  say  with 
humble  confidence,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things,  thou  knowest  that  I 
love  thee  :"  if  thou  canst  take  him  to  witness  that  thou  findest  in  thy 
heart  every  day  more  and  more  the  virtues  and  dispositions  above  men- 
tioned ;  thou  art  a  child  of  God,  thou  art  born  again — thou  art  passed 
from  death  unto  life.  Whether  the  mighty  change  was  wrought  at  thy 
baptism  or  at  any  other  time,  it  matters  not ;  thou  art  a  living  member 
of  Christ,  and  an  heir  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Only  persevere,  grow 
in  grace,  be  faithful  unto  death,  and  thou  shalt  have  the  crown  of  life. 

19.  But  if,  so  far  from  finding  in  thyself  these  marks  of  the  new 
birth,  in  some  considerable  measure  at  least,  thy  conscience  rises  against 
thee,  and  thou  art  forced  to  own  that  thy  heart  cleaveth  to  the  creature 
more  than  to  God,  to  earth  more  than  to  heaven,  be  not  offended  if  I 
tell  thee,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  pursuant  to  his  doctrine,  that  thou 
must  be  born  again,  or  be  shut  out  of  heaven.  I  do  not  mean  that  thou 
must  reform  thy  life  as  presumptuous  sinners,  for  I  suppose  thee  to  be 
free  from  all  intemperance  and  dishonesty,  and  averse  to  all  profane- 
ness.  But  this  lesus  affirms,  that  notwithstanding  thy  morality  and  form 
of  religion,  thou  must  experience  also  an  inward  change  before  thou 

Vol.  IV.  10 


146  NECESSITY   OF  REGENERATION. 

canst  enjoy  happiness  in  heaven ,  for  the  joys  of  saints  there  are  all 
spiritual  and  religious,  but  thou  hast  no  taste  or  relish  for  religious  plea- 
sures :  it  is  weariness  to  thee  to  spend  some  part  of  the  Lord's  day  in 
hearing  God's  word,  or  conversing  with  him  by  prayer  and  praise. 
And  dost  thou  think  thou  art  likely  to  be  happy  in  heaven,  where  loving, 
admiring,  and  praising  God  will  make  all  the  happiness  of  saints  through 
the  ages  of  eternity  ?  Beside,  thou  are  carnally  minded ;  and  to  be 
carnally  minded  is  death.  Thy  sins  are  not  forgiven  thee,  for  if  they 
were,  thou  wouldst  love  much.  Thou  art,  then,  still  unreconciled  to 
God,  and  an  enemy  to  Christ ;  if  not  by  thy  conversation,  at  least  b)r 
the  tempers  of  thy  heart.  Thou  must,  then,  be  born  again,  even  as 
any  other  person,  for  the  word  of  God  bears  this  testimony  to  thee,  that 
Ihy  inward  parts  are  very  wickedness,  thy  heart  is  full  of  the  love  of  the 
world,  and  of  a  thousand  foolish  and  hurtful  desires  ;  in  short,  thou  art 
alive  unto  the  things  of  earth ;  and  drowsy,  stupid,  and  dead  to  the 
things  of  God. 

20.  Do  not  say,  "1  was  born  again  in  baptism  ;"  for,  beside  that  the 
most  abandoned  sinners  can  plead  as  much,  does  not  St.  Peter  say,  that 
the  "  baptism  which  saves  us  is  not  the  outward  washing  of  the  body, 
but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience,  besprinkled  with  the  blood  of  Jesus 
in  the  new  birth  ?"  And  does  not  St.  Paul  affirm,  that  in  Christ  Jesus, 
neither  circumcision  avails  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new 
creation,  a  thorough  change  of  soul  ?  Or,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Church, 
a  new  and  contrite  heart,  with  which  God  always  bestows  entire  pardon 
and  forgiveness  of  all  our  sins. 

Now,  brethren,  if  these  things  be  so,  if  none  can  deny  them,  but  those 
who  trample  under  foot  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  how  miserably  deluded 
are  those  who  trust  in  a  form  of  godliness,  in  an  outward  reformation, 
or  in  the  strictness  of  their  morals!  All  these. things,  though  very  good 
in  their  proper  place,  without  a  change  of  heart,  are  but  broken  reeds 
which  will  pierce  the  hands  of  those  that  lean  upon  them,  and  let  them 
fall  into  the  bottomless  pit.  For,  let  no  one  deceive  himself.  If  the 
unregenerate  soul  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it  must  be 
shut  up  in  that  of  darkness ;  there  is  no  middle  place.  And  it  will  be 
sufficient  not  to  have  known  Christ  experimentally  in  the  new  birth,  to 
be  ranked  with  the  reprobates  at  last. 

"  Depart  from  me,"  shall  the  meek,  the  loving,  the  merciful  Jesus  be 
forced  to  say  to  all  those  that  shall  not  be  qualified  for  his  kingdom  by 
regeneration — "  Depart  from  me,  I  never  knew  you."  Depart  with  those 
fallen  angels  whose  dark,  proud,  and  sensual  nature  you  never  put  off' 
by  regeneration. 

But  let  me  put  an  end  here  to  these  sad,  yet  necessary  reflections,  and 
hasten  to  conclude,  by  laying  before  you,  in  few  words,  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  :  for  the  ministers  of  Christ  are  messengers  of  peace  ;  and 
God  knows  that  if  ever  they  are  obliged  to  awake  drowsy  sinners,  and 
to  probe  their  spiritual  wounds  by  speaking  plain  words,  it  is  only  to 
apply  with  more  success  the  remedy  which  God's  mercy  has  prepared 
for  them. 

Know,  then,  that  the  Lord  is  merciful,  and  that  he  delighteth  not  in 
the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  chooseth  rather  that  he  should  be  converted 
and  live.     Know  that  he  has  prepared  an  infallible  remedy  to  recover 


EXPOSTULATION  WITH   SINNERS.  147 

every  fallen  soul ;  and  if  you  will  apply  in  earnest  to  him  for  it,  you  shall 
attain  to  a  life  of  happiness  and  holiness  here,  which  shall  be  crowned 
with  eternal  glory  hereafter. 

Know  that  that  remedy  cost  him  no  less  than  the  blood  of  his  Son, 
his  only  Son,  and  that  faith,  a  living  faith,  is  the  only  means  to  apply 
it  to  your  souls.  Hear  the  word  of  God :  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.  He  that  belie veth  is  born  of  God. 
To  them  gave  Jesus  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  in  his  name.  We  are  the  children  of  God  through  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ."  But  beware  that  you  mistake  not  faith.  It  is  not  the 
dry,  speculative,  barren  faith,  which  every  drunkard  and  every  worldly- 
minded  sinner  profess  to  have.  No,  it  is  a  close  union  with  Christ,  and 
a  receiving  him  in  the  heart  upon  God's  own  terms,  whence  arises  an 
humble  confidence  that  our  sins  are  forgiven  us,  and  that  we,  who  were 
once  afar  off,  are  now  reconciled  to  God  through  the  blood  of  Christ. 
From  this  faith  follows  a  loving  heart  to  God  and  all  mankind ;  a  desire 
stronger  than  death  to  live  henceforth  only  to  the  glory  of  Him  that  loved 
us  unto  death;  and  a  happiness,  which  is  the  earnest  and  the  foretaste 
of  heavenly  joys. 

It  is  true,  that  the  living  faith  by  which  we  are  thus  born  again,  is  the 
gift  of  God,  and  the  work  of  his  Holy  Spirit ;  but  what  said  our  blessed 
Lord  ?  "  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you ; 
for  your  heavenly  Father  will  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him." 

Why  should  we  then  delay,  brethren  ?  If  God  is  ready,  as  he  most 
certainly  is,  now,  while  the  door  of  mercy  is  yet  open,  while  the  Lord 
stretches  still  to  us  the  arms  of  his  patience  and  love,  let  us  not  harden 
our  hearts.  Let  us  break  off  our  sins  by  repentance.  With  shame  and 
sorrow  let  us  arise  and  go  to  the  blessed  Jesus  ;  resolve  to  wait  at  his 
feet  in  all  the  means  of  grace,  till  he  is  pleased  to  make  us  whole,  and 
to  prepare  us  for  heaven  by  causing  us  to  be  born  again  of  his  Spirit ; 
which  if  we  do,  I  take  heaven  and  earth  to  witness,  with  all  the  promises 
of  that  book  by  which  we  are  to  be  judged  at  the  bar  of  God,  that  the 
Lord  will  be  faithful  on  his  part,  and  will  bestow  his  grace  upon  us,  so 
that  we  shall  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  all  the  misfortunes  of  life,  exult  in 
sickness,  triumph  in  death,  and  shout  for  joy  with  all  the  sons  of  God, 
when  this  earth  is  burnt  up  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  :  which  may  God 
grant,  for  his  infinite  mercy's  sake,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ;  to 
whom,  with  God  the  Father,  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  ascribed,  as  is 
most  due,  all  honour  and  praise  from  this  time  forth  for  evermore. 


Sermon  VII. — Expostulation  with  sinners. 

"  And  thou  shalt  speak  my  words  unto  them  whether  they  will  hear  or  whether 
they  will  forbear,  for  they  are  most  rebellious,"  Ezek.  ii,  7. 

Last  Sunday  I  delivered  to  you,  my  dear  brethren,  the  most  awful 
message  that  was  ever  sent  from  God,  the  mighty  God,  to  his  undone 
creature  man.  I  offered  you  life  in  his  name,  and  upon  his  terms :  I 
offered  you  Jesus  Christ,  the  Prince  of  life,  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life."     I  besought  you  to  enter  into  covenant  with  him,  yea,  to  accept 


148  EXPOSTULATION  WITH  SINNERS. 

your  Maker  for  the  husband  of  your  souls,  that  being  espoused  and 
joined  to  him  in  one  spirit,  you  might  for  ever  dwell  in  him  and. he  in 
you.  How  you  received  the  message,  whether  you  heartily  accepted 
the  gracious  proposal,  and  have  walked  since  as  people  who  are  new 
creatures  in  Christ ;  or  whether  the  impressions  which  I  would  hope 
were  made  on  some  of  your  hearts  have  already  vanished  away  like  the 
early  dew,  is  not  my  business  to  determine.  Another  messenger  of  the 
Lord,  death,  follows  me.  He  will,  ere  long,  summon  you  to  the  bar  of 
Him  who  knows  men's  hearts  and  judges  righteous  judgment.  There 
you  will  give  an  account  of  your  accepting  or  rejecting  the  message  I 
delivered  to  you  in  his  name ;  there  you  will  find  (may  it  not  be  to  the 
endless  confusion  of  any  one!)  that  the  matter  was  indeed  for  life  and 
death,  for  eternal  life  or  eternal  death.  However,  as  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
the  last  sermon  we  have  heard,  and  the  last  communion  we  have  received, 
have  not  had  a  better  effect  upon  most  of  us  than  the  foregoing  ones ; 
the  want  of  outward  reformation  among  us  last  week  having  visibly  be- 
trayed the  want  of  inward  conversion,  I  propose  to-day  to  expostulate 
with  these  my  unconverted  hearers,  and  to  show  them  that,  notwith- 
standing their  coming  now  and  then  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  they  are 
most  rebellious  against  him.  The  task  is  not  pleasant  to  me,  nor  do  T 
suppose  it  will  be  so  to  you  ;  but  be  this  as  it  may,  it  must  be  performed; 
and  though  it  be  not  agreeable,  I  trust  it  will  be  useful ;  the  bitterest 
medicine  often  proving  best  for  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body.  And  if  any 
of  you,  my  brethren,  suppose  we  choose  uncomfortable  subjects,  because 
we  love  to  displease  our  hearers  ;  not  to  mention  that  it  is  very  unlikely 
ministers  should  thus  endeavour  to  set  their  flocks  against  them ;  I  an- 
swer, that  we  are  the  servants  of  God,  and  servants  must  not  do  what 
they  please,  but  what  their  master  commands,  whether  it  be  agreeable 
or  disagreeable  to  them  or  to  others.  Our  heavenly  Master  himself 
preached  to  convince  and  reprove,  as  well  as  to  comfort  his  hearers, 
and  he  will  have  his  servants  do  the  same  :  witness  the  commission  God 
gave  again  and  again  to  Ezekiel  in  the  chapter  whence  the  text  is  taken. 
"  Son  of  man,  they  are  stiff-necked  children,  unto  whom  I  send  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  say  unto  them,  Thus  says  the  Lord,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
whether  they  will  forbear,  for  they  are  most  rebellious."  Having,  there- 
fore, last  Sunday  invited  you  to  accept  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  come  to  the 
marriage  feast  of  the  Lamb  upon  Gospel  terms,  I  know  not  how  I  could 
one  day  answer  it  to  God  and  your  own  souls,  were  I  not  to  testify  to 
those  who  make  light  of  the  invitation,  whether  they  will  hear  or  whe- 
ther they  will  forbear,  that  they  are  most  rebellious.  Bear  with  me,  my 
guilty  brethren  ;  and  if  you  regard  not  my  apology,  regard,  at  least,  the 
command  given  to  Ezekiel  in  the  text,  and  in  him  to  all  the  ministers  of 
God's  word.  There  we  are  sent  to  our  stiff-necked  hearers,  and  whe- 
ther they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear,  we  are  commanded  to 
sav  unto  them,  "  Thus  says  the  Lord,  you  are  a  most  rebellious  house." 
Permit  me,  therefore,  my  brethren,  to  consider  myself  at  this  time  as  an 
advocate  of  God,  as  one  employed  to  plead  against  you  who  are  such, 
and  to  charge  you  with  nothing  less  than  being  rebels  and  traitors 
against  the  sovereign  Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth  :  yes,  did  the  noblest 
blood  run  in  your  veins,  and  were  your  seat  among  princes,  it  would  be 
necessary  you  should  be  told,  and  told  plainly,  you  are  most  rebellious : 


EXPOSTULATION  WITH   SINNERS.  149 

you  have  broken  the  law  of  the  King  of  kings,  and  by  the  breach  of  it 
you  are  become  liable  to  his  righteous  condemnation,  and  are  not  in 
earnest  to  recover  his  favour. 

Were  not  you  born  the  natural  subjects  of  God,  born,  as  his  creatures, 
under  the  indispensable  obligations  of  his  law  ?  Does  not  your  rational 
nature,  whereby  you  are  made  capable  of  receiving  law  from  God,  bind 
you  to  obey  it  ?  And  is  it.  not  equally  evident  and  certain  that  you  have 
not  exactly  obeyed  this  law ;  nay,  that  you  have  violated  it  in  many  ag- 
gravated instances? 

Will  you  dare  to  deny  this?  Will  you  dare  to  assert  your  innocence? 
Remember,  it  must  be  a  complete  innocence ;  yes,  and  a  perfect  right- 
eousness too,  or  it  can  stand  you  in  no  stead  farther  than  to  prove  that, 
though  condemned  sinners,  you  are  not  quite  so  criminal  as  some  others ; 
and  although  dying  unpardoned,  you  will  not  have  quite  so  hot  a  place  in 
hell  as  they.  And,  when  this  is  considered,  will  you  plead  not  guilty  to 
the  charge  ?  Search  the  records  of  your  own  conscience,  for  God  search- 
eth  them,  and  ask  it  seriously  whether  you  have  not  sinned  against  God. 
Solomon  declared  in  his  days  there  was  not  a  just  man  upon  earth,  who 
did  good  and  sinned  not.  And  the  Apostle  Paul  testified  that  all  had 
sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God ;  that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles 
(which  you  know  comprehends  the  whole  human  race)  were  all  under 
sin.  And  can  you  pretend  any  imaginable  reason  to  believe  the  world 
is  grown  so  much  better  since  their  days,  that  any  should  now  plead  his 
own  case  as  an  exception  ?  Or  will  any  of  you  presume  to  arise  in  the 
face  of  the  heart- searching  Majesty  of  heaven,  and  say,  "I  plead  not 
guilty,  I  never  rebelled  against  God,  I  never  broke  his  righteous  law  ?" 

Supposing  you  never  allowed  yourself  to  blaspheme  God,  to  dishonour 
his  name  by  customary  swearing,  or  grossly  to  violate  his  Sabbaths,  or 
commonly  to  neglect  the  solemnities  of  his  public  worship.  Supposing 
again  (and  O  that  there  were  room  to  suppose  this  of  every  one !)  that 
you  have  not  injured  your  neighbours  in  their  lives,  their  chastity,  their 
character,  or  their  property,  either  by  violence  or  by  fraud  ;  and  that  you 
never  scandalously  debased  your  rational  nature,  or  that  of  any  man,  by 
that  vile  intemperance  which  sinks  a  man  below  the  worst  kind  of  brutes ; 
supposing  all  this,  can  you  pretend  that  you  have  not  in  smaller  instances 
violated  the  rules  of  piety,  of  temperance,  and  of  chastity?  Is  there  any 
one  person  who  has  intimately  known  you,  that  would  not  be  able  to 
testify  you  had  said  or  done  something  amiss  ?  Or,  if  others  could  not 
convict  you,  would  not  your  own  heart  do  it  ?  Does  it  not  prove  you 
guilty  of  pride,  of  passion,  of  sensuality,  of  an  excessive  fondness  for  the 
world  and  its  enjoyments  ;  of  murmuring,  or  at  least  of  secretly  repining 
against  God  under  the  strokes  of  an  afflictive  providence  ;  %>f  misspending 
a  great  deal  of  your  time  ;  of  abusing  the  gifts  of  God's  bounty  to  vain,  if 
not,  in  some  instances,  to  pernicious  purposes  ;  of  mocking  him  when  you 
have  pretended  to  engage  in  his  worship,  drawing  near  to  him  with  your 
lips,  while  your  heart  has  been  far  from  him  ?  Does  not  your  conscience 
condemn  you  of  some  one  breach  of  the  law  at  least  ?  And  by  one  breach 
of  it  does  not  the  Holy  Ghost  bear  witness,  James  ii,  10,  that  you  are 
become  guilty  of  all,  and  are  as  incapable  of  being  justified  before  God 
by  any  obedience  of  your  own,  as  if  you  had  committed  ten  thousand 
offences  ?  But,  in  reality,  there  are  ten  thousand  and  more  to  be  charged 


150  EXPOSTULATION   WITH  SINNERS. 

lo  your  account.  When  you  come  to  reflect  on  all  youi  sins  of  negli- 
gence, as  well  as  on  your  voluntary  transgressions ;  on  all  the  instances 
in  which  you  have  failed  to  do  good,  when  it  was  in  your  power  to  do  it ; 
on  all  the  instances  in  which  acts  of  devotion  have  been  omitted,  espe- 
cially in  secret ;  and  on  all  those  cases  in  which  you  have  shown  a 
stupid  disregard  to  the  honour  of  God,  and  to  the  temporal  and  eternal 
happiness  of  your  fellow  creatures:  when  all  these,  I  say,  are  reviewed, 
the  number  will  swell  beyond  all  possibility  of  account,  and  force  you  to 
cry  out,  "  I  am  rebellious,  most  rebellious,  mine  iniquities  are  more  than 
the  hairs  of  my  head."  They  will  appear  in  such  a  light  before  you 
that  your  own  heart  will  charge  you  with  countless  multitudes  ;  and  how 
much  more  then  that  God,  "  who  is  greater  than  your  heart,  and  knoweth 
all  things !" 

And  say,  my  fellow  creatures,  is  it  a  little  thing  that  you  have  pre- 
sumed to  set  light  by  the  authority  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and  to  violate 
his  law,  even  if  it  had  been  by  mere  carelessness  and  inattention  ?  How 
much  more  heinous  then  is  the  guilt,  when  in  so  many  instances  you 
have  done  it  like  an  audacious  rebel,  knowingly  and  wilfully  !  Give  me 
leave  seriously  to  ask  you,  and  let  me  entreat  you  to  ask  your  own  souls, 
"  Against  whom  hast  thou  magnified  thyself?  Against  whom  hast  thou 
exalted  thy  voice,  or  lifted  up  thy  rebellious  hand?  On  whose  law,  O 
sinner,  hast  thou  presumed  to  trample?  And  whose  friendship  and 
enmity  hast  thou  thereby  dared  to  affront  ?  Is  it  a  man  like  thyself  that 
thou  hast  insulted  ?  Is  it  only  a  temporal  monarch  ?  Only  one  who 
can  kill  the  body,  and  then  hath  no  more  that  he  can  do  ?  Nay,  sinner, 
thou  wouldst  not  have  dared  to  treat  a  temporal  prince  as  thou  hast 
treated  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  and  invisible.  No  price  could  have 
hired  thee  to  deal  by  the  majesty  of  an  earthly  sovereign  as  thou  hast 
dealt  by  that  God  before  whom  the  cherubim  and  seraphim  are  con- 
tinually bowing.  Not  one  opposing  or  complaining,  disputing  or  mur- 
muring word  is  heard  through  the  many  millions  of  the  heavenly  host, 
when  the  intimations  of  their  Maker's  will  are  published  to  them.  And 
who  art  thou,  O  wretched  pan?  Who  art  thou,  that  thou  shouldest 
oppose  him  ?  That  thou  shouldest  oppose  a  God  of  infinite  power  and 
terror,  who  needs  but-  exert  one  single  act  of  his  sovereign  will,  and 
thou  art  in  a  moment  stript  of  every  possession  ;  cut  off  from  every 
hope  ;  destroyed  and  rooted  up  from  existence,  if  that  were  his  pleasure  ; 
or,  what  is  inconceivably  worse,  consigned  over  to  the  severest  and  most 
lasting  agonies  ?  Yet  this  is  the  God  whom  thou  hast  offended  ;  whom 
thou  hast  affronted  to  his  face,  presuming  to  violate  his  express  laws  in 
his  very  presence.  This  is  the  God  against  whom  thou  hast  not  only 
rebelled,  but  whose  gracious  offers  of  mercy  in  the  Son  of  his  love  thou 
hast  carelessly  rejected.  This  is  the  God  before  whom  thou  standest  a 
convicted  criminal ;  convicted  not  of  one  or  two  particular  offences,  but 
of  thousands  and  ten  thousands,  yea,  of  a  course  of  rebellions  and  pro- 
vocations in  which  thou  hast  persisted  more  or  less  ever  since  thou  wast 
a  child,  and  the  particulars  of  many  of  which  have  been  attended  with 
aggravating  circumstances.  Reflect  on  particulars,  and  deny  the 
charge  if  thou  canst. 

1.  If  sinning  against  any  means  of  grace,  and  against  knowledge,  be 
an  aggravation  of  guilt,  thy  guilt,  O  sinner,  is  greatly  aggravated.     For 


EXPOSTULATION  WITH  SINNERS.  151 

thou  wast  born  in  a  Christian  country,  hast  been  brought  up  in  a  re. 
formed  Church  ;  God  has  delivered  unto  thee  his  sacred  word,  and  has 
provided  for  thee  teachers,  coming  early  and  late,  to  show  thee  the 
things  that  belong  to  thy  peace.  The  means  of  grace  have  been 
brought,  as  it  were,  to  thy  very  door ;  the  manna  of  God's  word  runs 
round  thy  habitation.  Thou  canst  not  name  one  means  of  improving  in 
Divine  knowledge  and  grace,  but  what  God  has  blessed  thee  with. 
Sacraments,  plain  sermons  and  lectures,  reading  of  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  soundest  pieces  of  practical  divinity,  spiritual  conferences,  public 
and  private  prayers,  instructions,  singing  of  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual 
songs  ;  all  these  means  thou  hast  enjoyed,  or  mightest  have  enjoyed,  if 
thy  worldly  and  carnal  mind  had  not  made  thee  set  light  by  them  ;  still 
thou  hast  continued  to  dose  on  the  pillow  of  security  and  presumption. 
And  suppose  thou  art  not  one  of  those  who  entirely  set  at  naught  and 
turn  from  the  instructions  of  their  teachers,  yet  dost  thou  not  often 
transgress  in  some  such  plain  instances,  that  thine  own  reason,  blinded 
as  it  is  by  the  love  of  the  world,  manifests  thy  wilful  disobedience ;  and 
knowing  the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  that  they  who  commit  such 
things  are  worthy  of  death,  hast  thou  not  done  the  same ;  nay,  and,  as 
St.  Paul  speaks,  taken  pleasure  in  those  that  did  them,  and  even  chosen 
them  for  thy  intimate  friends  and  companions,  so  as  thereby  to  strengthen, 
by  the  force  of  example  and  converse,  one  another's  hands  in  your  con- 
tempt of  vital  religion  and  pursuit  of  vanity  ? 

2.  Add  to  this :  if  Divine  love  and  mercy  be  an  aggravation  of  the 
sins  committed  against  it,  your  crimes,  O  sinner,  have  been  heinously 
aggravated.  "  I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  children,"  says  the 
Lord,  Isa.  i,  "  and  they  have  rebelled  against  me."  And  is  not  this 
your  very  case,  sinner?  Did  not  God  watch  over  you  in  your  infant 
days,  and  guard  you  from  a  multitude  of  known  and  unknown  dangers  ? 
Has  he  not  given  you  rational  faculties  ;  has  he  not  hitherto  bestowed 
upon  you  the  necessaries,  and  perhaps  also  the  conveniences  of  life  ? 
Has  he  not  frequently  appeared  for  your  deliverance,  when  in  the  dis- 
tresses of  nature  you  have  called  upon  him  for  help  ?  Has  he  not 
rescued  you  from  ruin  when  unforeseen  accidents  have  cut  off  in  an 
instant  some  of  your  acquaintances  about  you  ?  Hath  he  not,  on  some 
occasions,  healed  your  diseases,  when  all  that  were  around  gave  you 
up  ?  Or,  if  it  has  not  been  so,  has  not  the  uninterrupted  health  which 
you  have  enjoyed  been  an  equivalent  obligation  ?  Look  round  upon  all 
your  blessings,  and  name,  if  you  can,  one  thing  o,f  which  the  God  against 
whom  you  rebel  has  not  been  your  bountiful  giver  and  gracious  pre- 
server. Add  to  all  these  temporal  mercies  the  many  tender  invitations 
of  his  Gospel,  which  you  have  heard  and  despised,  and  then  say  whether 
your  rebellion  hath  not  been  aggravated  by  the  vilest  ingratitude,  and 
whether  that  aggravation  can  be  accounted  small. 

Again :  if  it  be  any  aggravation  of  sin  to  be  committed  against  con- 
science, your  crimes,  O  sinner,  have  been  thus  aggravated :  consult  the 
records  of  it,  and  then  dispute  the  fact  if  you  can  :  conscience  is  the 
agent  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  soul  of  man ;  it  may  be  blinded  and  stu- 
pified,  but  it  cannot  be  bribed.  And  it  often  condemns  a  sinner  secretly, 
even  while  he  endeavours  to  excuse  himself  outwardly.  Have  you  not 
found  it  so?     Has  not  conscience  remonstrated  against  your  past  con- 


152  EXPOSTULATION  WITH  SINNERS. 

duct,  and  have  you  not  felt  these  remonstrances  painful  ?  Uncharitable 
as  some  think  me  in  the  pulpit,  I  cannot  think  you  such  a  monster  as  to 
be  void  of  conscience  ;  or  to  have  one  so  stupified,  so  seared,  as  it  were, 
with  a  hot  iron,  that  it  never  cried  out  against  the  violences  you  have 
done  it,  never  warned  you  of  the  fatal  consequences  of  one  of  your 
sins.  These  warnings,  which  you  did  not  regard,  were  in  effect  the 
voice  of  God,  the  admonitions  which  he  gave  you  by  his  agent  in  your 
breast.  And  if  his  sentence  be  executed  upon  you  in  everlasting  deafh 
for  your  evil  works,  you  will  hear  that  voice  speaking  to  you  again,  in 
a  louder  tone  and  a  severer  accent  than  before,  and  you  will  be  tor- 
mented with  its  upbraidings  through  eternity,  because  you  would  not  in 
time  hearken  to  its  admonitions. 

Let  me  add,  farther,  that  if  it  be  any  aggravation  of  guilt  to  have 
sinned  against  the  motions  of  God's  Spirit  on  the  mind,  surely  your  sin 
has  been  attended  with  that  aggravation  also.  St.  Stephen  charged  it 
upon  the  Jews,  that  through  ail  their  generations  they  had  always 
resisted  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  the  Spirit  of  God  strove  with  the  Jews, 
how  much  more  with  professing  Christians !  And  have  you  never  ex- 
perienced any  thing  of  this  kind  ?  Have  you  been  so  hardened  from 
your  infancy  as  never  to  have  been  wrought  upon  by  an  alarming  or 
convincing  discourse  ?  Or  when  there  was  no  pious  teacher  near  you, 
have  you  never  perceived  a  secret  impulse  upon  your  mind,  leading  you 
to  think  of  religion,  urging  you  to  an  immediate  consideration  of  it, 
sweetly  inviting  you  to  make  trial  of  it,  and  warning  you  that  you  would 
lament  this  stupid  neglect  ?  O  sinner,  why  were  not  these  happy  motions 
attended  to  ?  Why  did  not  you,  as  it  were,  spread  out  all  the  sails  of 
your  soul  to  catch  that  heavenly  breath  ?  But  you  have  carelessly 
neglected  it — you  have  suppressed  these  kind  influences.  How. rea- 
sonably then  might  the  sentence  have  gone  forth  in  righteous  displeasure  : 
"  My  Spirit  shall  no  more  strive !"  And,  indeed,  who  can  say  that  it 
has  not  already  gone  forth  ?  Alas  !  if  you  feel  no  emotion  of  mind,  no 
remorse,  no  awakening,  while  you  listen  to  such  a  remonstrance  as  this, 
there  will  be  room,  great  room,  to  fear  it. 

There  is  one  aggravation  more  which  probably  attends  your  sins ;  I 
mean  that  of  being  committed  against  solemn  engagements  to  the  con- 
trary. You  promised  in  baptism  to  renounce  all  the  pomps  and  vanities 
of  this  world,  and  all  the  sinful  desires  of  the  flesh ;  you  vowed  to  keep 
God's  holy  commandments  all  the  days  of  your  life  :  you  have,  perhaps, 
strengthened  the  obligation,  already  laid  upon  you  by  being  confirmed, 
or  coming  to  the  Lord's  table  with  a  public  profession  of  having  a  stead- 
fast purpose  to  lead  a  new  life  :  but,  alas !  you  are  still  the  same,  still  a 
lover  of  pleasure,  or  of  money,  more  than  a  lover  of  God  !  And,  if  you 
say  you  never  come  to  the  Lord's  table  to  vow  him  obedience,  and  so 
you  never  aggravate  your  guilt  by  sinning  against  solemn  engagements  ; 
I  answer,  it  is  the  more  shameful  that  you  should  so  publicly  forsake  the 
God  of  your  fathers,  as  never  to  attempt  to  enter  into  any  engagement 
with  him.  The  pleading  that  you  are  a  heathen,  makes  Christ  and  his 
Church  little  amends  for  your  not  being  a  good  Christian.  But  suppose 
you  never  took  your  baptismal  vow  upon  yourself,  hath  your  heart  been, 
even  from  your  youth,  hardened  to  so  uncommon  a  degree,  that  you 
never  cried  to  God  in  any  season  of  danger  and  difficulty  ?     And  did 


EXPOSTULATION  VI  ITH   SINNERS.  153 

you  never  mingle  vows  with  those  cries  ?  Did  you  never  promise,  that 
if  God  would  hear  and  help  you  in  that  hour  of  extremity,  you  would 
forsake  your  sins,  and  serve  him  as  long  as  you  lived  ?  He  heard  and 
helped  you,  otherwise  you  would  not  have  been  in  his  courts  at  this 
time ;  and  by  such  deliverance  did,  as  it  were,  bind  down  your  vows 
upon  you,  and  therefore  your  guilt  in  the  violation  of  them  remains  before 
him,  though  you  are  stupid  enough  to  forget  them.  Nothing  is  forgotten, 
nothing  is  overlooked  by  him ;  and  the  day  will  come  when  the  record 
shall  be  laid  before  you  too. 

And  now,  sinner,  think  seriously  with  yourself,  what  defence  you  will 
make  to  all  this.  Will  you  fly  in  the  face  of  God  and  that  of  your  con- 
science, so  openly  as  to  deny  one  of  the  charges  of  rebellion,  yea,  of 
aggravated  rebellion,  I  have  advanced  against  you?  Have  you  not 
lifted  up  yourself  against  the  Lord  of  heaven  ?  Have  not  you  stiffened 
your  neck  and  hardened  your  heart  from  his  love  and  fear  ?  Have  you 
not  sided  with  his  sworn  enemies,  the  world  and  the  flesh  ?  What  part 
of  your  body,  what  faculty  of  your  soul  have  you  not  employed  as  an 
instrument  of  unrighteousness  ?  When  did  you  live  one  day  before  God 
with  the  dependence  of  a  creature,  the  gratitude  of  a  redeemed  creature, 
the  heavenly  frame  of  a  sanctified  creature  ?  Nay,  when  did  you  live 
one  hour  without  violating  God's  known  law  either  in  word,  or  thought, 
or  action  ?  Have  not  you  done  it  almost  continually  by  the  vanity  of 
your  mind  and  the  hardness  of  your  heart,  if  not  by  the  open  immorality 
of  your  life  ?  And,  what  infinitely  aggravates  your  guilt,  have  you  not 
despised  and  abused  God's  numberless  mercies  ?  Have  not  you  affronted 
conscience,  his  deputy  in  your  breast?  Have  not  you  resisted  and 
grieved  his  Spirit  ?  Yea,  have  not  you  trifled  with  him  in  all  your  pre- 
tended submissions  or  solemn  engagements  ?  In  one  word,  and  that  in 
the  language  of  Jeremiah,  chap,  iii,  "  Thou  hast  done  evil  things  as  thou 
couldest,"  or  as  thou  durst.  Thousands  are,  no  doubt,  already  in  hell, 
whose  guilt  never  equalled  yours ;  and  yet  God  has  spared  you  to  see 
the  end  almost  of  another  year,  and  to  hear  now  this  plain  representation 
of  your  case.  And  will  you  not  yet  consider  ?  Shall  nothing  move  you 
to  shake  off*  that  amazing  carelessness  and  stupid  disregard  of  your  salva- 
tion ?  Will  you  never  begin  to  "  work  it  out  with  fear  and  trembling  ?" 
Will  you  slumber  in  impenitency  till  eternal  woes  crush  you  into  destruc- 
tion ?  Is  death,  is  judgment,  is  the  bottomless  pit  so  far  off*  that  you  dare 
put  off",  from  week  to  week,  the  day  of  your  conversion?  You  have  read 
in  God's  word  that  there  is  mercy  with  him  that  he  may  be  feared ;  but 
where  did  you  read  that  there  is  mercy  with  him  for  those  that  fear  him 
not ;  for  those  that  are  as  unconcerned  about  his  displeasure,  as  easy 
under  his  threatenings,  as  insensible  of  his  mercies,  as  unmoved  under 
his  word  as  you  are  ?  Show  me  such  a  place,  I  shall  not  say  any  where 
in  the  Bible,  but  in  any  book  written  by  a  moral  heathen  !  And  yet 
you  hope,  you  persist  to  hope,  you  are  right,  and  can  be  saved  in  this 
way.  When  we  expostulate  with  you,  when  we  entreat  you,  after 
David,  to  "  kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,"  and  so  you  perish  in  this  way 
of  carnal  security,  "  if  his  wrath  be  kindled,  yea,  but  a  little  ;"  you  blame 
us  secretly,  or  openly,  and  are  ready  to  quarrel  with  us  for  bringing  you 
the  unwelcome  message  :  you  will  not  blame  yourselves  for  giving  us 
cause  to  bring  it,  and  obstinately  refuse  to  fall  out  with  the  sins  we 


154  EXPOSTULATION  WITH  SINNERS. 

exclaim  against ;  but  under  the  most  cogent  arguments,  taken  from 
reason  and  the  nature  of  things,  the  most  glaring  proofs  out  of  the  word 
of  God,  the  most  earnest  entreaties  not  to  harden  you  heart,  you  remain 
as  unshaken  as  an  anvil  under  the  workman's  stroke  :  or,  if  you  relent 
a  little,  and  conscience  receives  the  dart  of  conviction,  instead  of  driving 
it  deeper  and  deeper,  you  instantly  shake  it  off,  and  quench  the  Spirit 
of  God  ;  you  run  into  the  company  of  careless  worldlings,  and  are  afraid 
or  ashamed  to  converse  with  those  whose  consciences  are  alarmed,  and 
with  whom  you  might  learn  the  first  principles  of  repentance  never  to  be 
repented  of;  and  thus  you  grow  more  insensible  every  day,  more  averse 
to  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  more  alienated  from  the  life  of  God  in 
your  heart.  And  what  do  you  think  will  be  the  end  of  these  things? 
Has  any  one  hardened  himself  against  the  Lord,  says  the  prophet,  and 
prospered  1  And  do  you  suppose  you  shall  first  prosper  in  that  way  ? 
"  He  that  being  often  reproved,"  says  he  again,  "  hardeneth  his  neck, 
shall  suddenly  be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy;"  and  will  the 
God  of  truth  break  his  word,  and  commence  a  liar,  by  not  spuing  your 
lukewarm  soul  out  of  his  mouth,  by  not  cutting  asunder  such  an  unpro- 
fitable servant,  such  a  rebellious  subject  as  you  are  to  him,  if  speedy  con- 
version does  not  make  him  sheath  the  sword  of  his  vengeance  ?  If  you 
say,  that  passion  makes  me  represent  your  case  worse  than  it  really  is, 
I  put  you  to  the  proof:  show  wherein  I  speak  not  the  words  of  soberness 
and  truth.  You  cannot ;  and  yet  you  condemn  and  slight  them.  If, 
therefore,  I  speak  to  any  more  particularly  than  to  the  rest  of  my  care- 
less hearers,  it  is  to  thee,  whose  heart  is  thus  ready  to  say,  "  I  am  not  a 
rebellious  soul,  but  you  are  a  false  or  enthusiastic  teacher."  Alas ! 
thou  art  the  man — thou  art  the  woman  I  chiefly  address,  and  it  appears 
clear  that  thou  despisest  reproof:  and  he  that  despises  reproof,  says  the 
wise  man,  is  brutish.  "Yea,  because  I  called,"  (says  God  himself,) 
"  and  ye  refused,  and  would  none  of  my  reproof,  I  also  will  laugh  at 
your  calamity,  I  will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh."  And  wilt  not  thou 
yet  take  warning,  wilt  thou  to  the  end  reject  the  very  first  exhortation 
of  our  Church,  wilt  thou  go  on  cloaking  and  dissembling  thy  sins 
before  the  face  of  almighty  God  1  O,  if,  notwithstanding  my  repeated 
endeavours  to  awaken  thee,  thou  persistest  and  diest  at  last  in  this 
impenitency,  remember  me,  sinner,  when  I  stand  at  the  bar  of  God, 
when  the  Lord  maketh  inquisition  for  blood,  and  the  burning  fiery  fur- 
nace of  his  eternal  wrath  is  heated  seven  times  more  for  false  teachers, 
who,  by  healing  slightly  the  wound  of  the  daughter  of  God's  people, 
betray  souls  into  endless  ruin,  appear  as  a  witness  in  my  behalf,  and  ■ 
from  the  midst  of  everlasting  burnings,  let  thy  parched  tongue  send  forth 
some  such  words  as  these  :  "  Let  not  my  teacher  come  into  this  place 
of  torment,  condemn  him  not  on  my  account,  I  clear  him,  Lord,  I  clear 
him  ;  he  brought  me  thy  messages,  whether  I  would  hear  or  whether  I 
would  forbear ;  he  warned  me  of  my  rebellion  against  thee,  and  told  me 
that  these  endless  horrors  would  be  my  portion  if  I  stiffened  my  neck 
and  hardened  my  heart ;  but  I  set  at  naught  all  his  counsels,  and  would 
none  of  his  reproofs."  Yes,  sinner,  despise  me  here  if  thou  wilt,  and 
wonder  why  I  urge  thee  so  much  to  consider  the  things  that  belong  to 
thy  peace,  before  they  be  hid  from  thine  eyes ;  call  me  here  an  enthu- 
siast, and  laugh  at  the  concern  I  feel  for  thy  perishing  soul :  but  here- 


VALUE  OF  WISDOM  IN  SPIRITUAL   THINGS.  155 

after  thou  wilt  do  me  justice,  clear  me  before  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  acknow- 
ledge that  thy  blood  is  upon  thine  own  head,  that  thou  art  undone  because 
thou  wouldst  be  undone,  because  thou  wouldst  take  neither  warning  nor 
reproof. 

Yet  if  now  thou  art  not  quite  given  up  to  a  reprobate  min  1 ;  if  thy 
stupid  conscience  is  not  entirely  past  feeling ;  if  thy  worldly  soul  is  yet 
accessible  to  some  touches  of  Divine  grace,  some  motions  of  God's  Spi- 
rit ;  if  thou  yet  desirest  to  arise  and  return  to  thy  long-despised  Father 
to  that  God  from  whom  thou  hast  so  deeply  revolted  ;  if  this  very  day 
that  thou  hearest  his  warning  voice,  and  hardenest  not  thy  heart,  though 
thou  hast  been  hitherto  most  rebellious,  he  will  yet  show  thee  mercy. 
Rend,  O  rend  your  careless  hearts,  and  not  your  garments,  for  why  will 
ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel  ?  Hath  the  Lord  any  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
him  that  dieth  ?  Does  not  such  a  one  die  because  he  will  die  ?  because 
he  will  not  turn  to  the  Lord  with  weeping,  fasting,  and  praying ;  be- 
cause he  will  not  be  delivered  from  the  w7orld,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil ; 
because  he  will  not  be  presented  to  God  as  a  chaste  virgin  in  Christ? 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,"  said  once  that  dear  Saviour,  "  ye  will  not 
come  unto  me  that  ye  may  have  life  ;"  and  shall  we  still  give  him  room 
to  complain  in  heaven  as  he  did  when  on  earth,  or  shall  we  know  the 
time  of  our  visitation,  and  hasten  to  him  with  all  our  aggravated  guilt  ? 
If  we  choose  this  better  part,  as  the  Lord  liveth  we  shall  find  him  most 
willing  and  able  to  pardon  our  sins,  and  sanctify  our  nature,  to  create 
in  us  clean  hearts,  and  renew  right  spirits  within  us  ;  which  may  God 
grant  unto  us  all  for  his  mercy's  sake. 


Sermon  VIII. —  Value  of  wisdom  in  spiritual  things. 

"  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider 
their  latter  end,"  Deut.  xxxii,  29. 

If  the  dying  words  of  a  good  man  ought  to  make  the  deepest  impres- 
sion upon  us,  (and  precepts  given  by  one  just  launching  into  eternity, 
should  be  valued  so  much  the  more,  as  we  cannot  suspect  him  to  be 
influenced  by  any  motives  but  those  of  love  and  concern  for  our  welfare,) 
what  regard  ought  we  to  pay  to  the  words  of  the  text,  since  they  were 
some  of  the  last  which  were  spoken  by  one  of  the  best  and  greatest  of 
men  that  ever  lived,  namely,  Moses  ! 

The  day  approached  in  which  he  was  to  be  gathered  to  his  fathers. 
For  notwithstanding  the  repeated  prayers  he  had  made  to  enter  into  the 
good  land  of  Canaan,  God,  whose  inflexible  justice  often  punishes  the 
least  faults  in  his  saints,  (how  much  more  the  greatest  sins  in  his  ene- 
mies,) God,  I  say,  having  resolved  to  make  him  an  example  of  his 
invincible  hatred  to  sin,  (and  of  the  necessity  he  stands  under  to  require 
satisfaction  where  it  is  committed,)  had  told  him  that  he  must  submit  to 
die  before  his  time,  for  having  spoken  unadvisedly  with  his  lips  at  the 
waters  of  Meribah.  Moses  worshipped  and  humbly  submitted  to  the 
Lord  ;  well  persuaded  that  his  Redeemer  lived  ;  and  that  though  worms 
should  soon  prey  on  his  body,  the  God  whom  he  served  would  deliver 
his  soul  from  the  pangs  of  the  second  death. 


156  VALUE   OF  WISDOM  IN  SPIRITUAL  THINGS. 

To  spend  the  short  time  he  had  to  live  wholly  in  the  work  of  faith 
and  labour  of  love,  he  called  together  the  people  of  Israel,  read  to  them 
all  the  words  of  God's  law,  brought  to  their  remembrance  the  many 
miracles  which  the  Lord  had  done  for  them,  to  bring  them  out  of  Egypt 
with  a  stretched-out  arm,  opening  a  way  through  the  Red  Sea  ;  destroy- 
ing h  II  their  enemies ;  causing  the  clouds  to  rain  delicious  food,  and  the 
rocks  ;o  yield  water  springs  to  preserve  their  lives  in  the  wilderness.  In 
short,  he  laid  before  them  life  and  death  in  the  most  affecting  manner, 
and  besought  them,  sometimes  by  glorious  promises,  and  sometimes  by 
dreadful  threatenings,  not  to  provoke  the  Lord  their  God,  but  to  cleave 
to  him  with  full  purpose  of  heart,  telling  them  that  the  God  of  their 
fathers  would  bless  them  for  ever,  if  they  would  but  love  him  with  all 
their  souls ;  and  adding,  that  if  they  departed  from  him,  he  would  pur- 
sue them  with  his  severest  judgments,  and  scatter  them  over  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth,  as  we  see  them  in  our  days. 

What  an  awful  sight  must  this  have  been  !  A  whole  nation, — men, 
women,  and  children,  standing  before  the  Lord  !  And  Moses,  the  greatest 
of  prophets,  and  the  friend  of  God,  expostulating  with  them  for  the  last 
time !  Methinks  I  see  the  effect  of  his  pathetic  discourse  spreading 
through  that  numerous  congregation.  Thousands  lift  up  weeping  eyes 
to  heaven  in  an  ecstasy  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  for  God's  mercies  to 
them ;  while  thousands  more  fix  themselves  on  the  ground  with  shame 
and  confusion,  ready  to  say,  "  We  are  Hot  worthy  of  the  least  of  the 
Lord's  mercies,  for  we  are  a  rebellious  people ;  it  is  because  his  com- 
passions fail  not  that  we  are  not  consumed."  On  every  side  the  trem- 
bling hands  of  aged  people,  with  the  feeble  ones  of  children,  are  lifted 
up  to  heaven  to  witness,  that  henceforth  they  will  love  the  Lord,  and 
serve  him  only  ;  and  with  one  consent  they  cry  as  in  the  days  of  Eli- 
jah, "  The  Lord  he  is  the  God  ;  the  Lord  he  is  the  God  :"  he  is  the 
God  to  whom  we  will  cleave  for  ever. 

This  moving  scene  had  a  due  effect  on  Moses :  he  mixed,  no  doubt, 
his  tears  of  joy  with  the  tears  of  repentance,  which  he  saw  in  the  peo- 
ple's eyes.  But,  alas  !  the  knowledge  he  had  of  the  human  heart  made 
him  at  the  same  time  foresee  that  this  goodness  would  not  last  longer 
than  the  early  dew  ,  and  that  prosperity,  with  fulness  of  bread,  would 
soon  cause  them  to  forget  the  Lord,  and  trample  under  foot  the  promises 
and  threatenings  he  had  laid  before  them.  He  foresaw  that  their  hearts 
would  be  drawn  aside  by  the  cares  and  pleasures  of  the  world,  so  as  to 
remember  no  more  the  heavenly  Canaan,  of  which  the  earthly  one  was 
but  a  figure.  He  saw  that  the  little  concerns  of  this  life  would  swallow 
up  the  important  ones  of  that  which  is  to  come.  Therefore,  overwhelm- 
ed with  holy  grief,  he  looked  up  to  heaven,  and  expressed,  in  the  w  ords 
of  the  text,  the  thoughts  of  his  bleeding  heart,  "  O  that  they  were  wise, 
that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end  !" 
Having  breathed  that  solemn  wish,  he  blessed  them  once  more,  and  the 
same  day  went  up  to  Mount  Nebo,  from  which,  having  taken  a  view  of 
the  earthly  Canaan,  he  committed  his  spirit  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord, 
to  carry  it  to  the  heavenly  one,  while  the  dust  of  his  body  returned  to 
dust. 

Having  thus  related  on  what  occasion  the  words  of  the  text  were 
6poken  I  come,  in  the  second  place,  to  dwell  upon  their  general  mean- 


VALUE   07   WISPCCVI  IN  SPIRITUAL  THINGS.  157 

ing  ;  and,  lastly,  I  shall  endeavour  to  apply  them  to  your  hearts.  In  the 
meantime,  may  the  grace  of  God  so  assist  me  in  speaking,  and  you  in 
hearing,  that  "  Moses  and  the  prophets  "  may  never  rise  up  in  judgment 
to  accuse  us  of  having  despised  their  solemn  exhortations. 

1.  Since  no  scripture  is  of  private  interpretation,  the  words  of  the 
text  certainly  imply,  that,  of  those  who  are  called  the  people  of  God, 
whether  they  go  by  the  denomination  of  Israelites,  as  formerly,  or  that 
of  Christians,  as  in  our  days,  far  the  greatest  part  want  true  wisdom  and 
understanding  in  the  things  that  nearly  concern  them  :  so  that  every 
minister  of  the  Gospel  has  as  much  reason  as  Moses  to  break  out  into 
this  prayer,  "  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they 
would  consider  their  latter  end  !" 

It  is  to  be  wished  it  were  harder  to  make  good  the  melancholy  asser- 
tion ;  but  to  the  disgrace  of  our  holy  religion,  nothing  is  easier.  It  has 
been  granted,  by  the  very  heathens,  that  the  sum  of  true  wisdom  is  to  know 
ourselves,  and  what  is  our  business  here.  Now,  suppose  one  was  to  ask 
most  Christians  what  they  do  here  ?  And  what  is  their  business  upon 
earth  ?  If  they  were  to  answer  according  to  the  maxims  they  follow  in 
life,  would  they  not  show  their  folly  rather  than  true  wisdom  ?  Would 
not  the  rich  man  say,  "  I  am  here  to  take  care  of  and  enjoy  an  estate  ; 
to  spend  my  time  in  hunting,  horse  racing,  cards,  and  company  ;  to  clothe 
myself  with  purple  and  fine  linen,  to  fare  sumptuously  every  dav,  and 
contrive  various  diversions  to  kill  time  and  forget  myself?"  Would  not 
the  busy  merchant,  or  anxious  farmer  answer,  "  I  am  in  the  world  to  toil 
early  and  late  :  my  business  is  to  get  an  estate,  and  God  has  blest  me 
therein  ;  for  now  my  ware  houses  or  barns  are  very  nigh  full,  and  I  shall 
soon  say  to  my  soul,  '  Soul,  take  thine  ease  now,  for  thou  hast  much 
property  laid  up  for  many  years  V  "  A  third  class  of  people  would  an- 
swer, "  We  do  not  desire  so  much,  and  the  end  of  all  our  labours  is  to 
pay  every  man  his  own,  and  then  to  settle  in  some  comfortable  way  of 
business,  and  provide  for  our  children."  Now,  all  these  answers  would 
be  reasonable  in  the  mouths  of  heathens  ;  for  "  after  those  things  the 
Gentiles  seek,"  says  our  Lord  :  and  I  make  no  doubt  but  the  beasts  that 
perish,  if  they  were  endued  with  the  faculty  of  speech,  could  give  as 
good  an  account  of  themselves,  and  attain  unto  all  the  wisdom  of  world- 
lings. For  though  to  provide  for  the  body  is  part  of  our  duty,  yet  it  is  but 
the  least  part  of  it.  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  Thus  speak  Christ 
and  true  Christians.  Believe  him  !  Accordingly  their  answer  to  the 
question,  mentioned  above,  would  be  as  different  from  that  of  worldly 
people  as  light  from  darkness. 

"  We  are  everlasting  spirits,  (would  they  say,)  we  came  out  of  God's 
hands  pure,  and  holy,  and  happy.  But  now  involved  in  flesh  and  blood, 
partakers  of  the  guilt  of  fallen  Adam,  and  born  into  the  world  children 
of  wrath,  we  have,  by  nature,  proud  and  hardened  hearts,  whereby  we 
resemble  the  fallen  angels ;  and  earthly,  sensual  souls,  by  which  we  are 
not  unlike  the  beasts  that  perish. 

"  As  for  our  real  business  in  this  life,  it  is  not  to  get  an  estate  ;  for  our 
Lord  forbids  us  expressly  laying  up  treasures  upon  earth.  It  is  not  to 
get  preferment  or  a  title  ;  for  if  all  is  vanity  under  the  sun,  as  Solomon 
says,  such  honours  are  the  froth  of  vanity  itself.     Nor  is  it  to  call  lands 


158  VALUE   OF  WISDOM  IN   SPIRITUAL  THINGS. 

after  our  own  names,  and  leave  them  to  our  posterity ;  for  this  could  not 
redeem  our  souls  from  hell.  But  our  business  is  to  get  in  time  the  '  one 
thing  needful :'  to  recover  a  participation  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  a 
fitness  to  enjoy  God  in  heaven.  Our  short  life  is  all  the  time  we  have 
to  do  that  great  work  in.  We  pass  through  the  world  as  an  arrow 
through  the  air.  For  a  few  months  or  years  we  are  in  a  state  of  flesh 
and  blood,  only  to  try  whether  we  shall  be  for  ever  happy  with  God,  or 
for  ever  miserable  with  the  devil. 

"  This  world  is  but  our  way  to  our  eternal  abode  ;  therefore,  it  is  as 
great  a  piece  of  folly  for  us  to  set  our  hearts  on  any  thing  here,  as  for  a 
traveller  to  fall  in  love  with  every  object  he  meets  in  his  way,  which  he 
has  no  sooner  seen  but  he  must  leave  behind.  These  bodies  of  ours,  so 
far  from  having  a  right  to  engross  all  our  cares,  are  but  our  prisons, 
wherein  our  immortal  souls  are  chained  down  by  fleshly  thoughts,  blinded 
with  false  notions  of  good  and  evil,  and  dead  to  all  taste  of  their  true 
happiness.  In  this  low  state  we  are  called  to  rise  far  higher  than  an 
animal  life;  we  are  called  to  be  'born  again'  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to 
become  members  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  enjoy  everlasting  happiness 
with  the  Father  of  spirits  in  the  realms  of  light.  We  are  called  to  shake 
ofF  those  low  desires,  and  that  extravagant  taste  for  worldly  happiness 
which  makes  us  wander  unconcernedly  in  darkness  and  spiritual  exile 
from  God. 

"  We  are  called  to  give  up  all  thoughts  of  rest  here  ;  to  put  off*  worldly 
tempers ;  to  be  delivered  from  the  folly  of  our  passions,  and  the  slavery 
of  our  natural  appetites.  In  a  word,  we  are  called  to  reform  our  whole 
nature  by  a  death  unto  sin  ;  to  renew  our  souls  in  the  image  of  God,  by 
a  new  birth  unto  righteousness ;  and  to  be  fitted  again  for  conversation 
with  the  holy  angels,  and  communion  with  God  himself. 

"  This  implies  that  we  must  not  only  renounce  presumptuous  sins ; 
such  as  injustice,  oppression,  lying,  deceit,  drunkenness,  and  gluttony, 
with  all  kinds  of  impurity ;  cursing,  swearing,  and  all  branches  of  pro- 
faneness  :  for  wise  heathens  fled  from  those  abominations  as  from  the  • 
face  of  a  serpent;  and  Jesus  says  they  are  works  of  the  devil,  and  that 
those  who  are  guilty  of  them  are  of  their  father  the  devil,  whose  works 
they  do. 

"  But  we  must,  beside,  be  changed  and  renewed  in  all  our  tempers. 
Instead  of  that  pride  which  turned  angels  into  devils,  we  must  be  clothed 
with  humility,  and  take  up  the  cross  of  a  despised  Saviour.  Instead  of 
indulging  covetousness  and  self  seeking,  we  must  learn  to  delight  in 
doing  good,  and  in  spending  and  being  spent  for  others.  Instead  of 
lying  down  in  indolence,  we  must  arise  with  fervency  of  spirit,  and  do 
with  all  our  might  the  good  our  hand  findeth  to  do  ;  remembering  that 
the  night  comes  when  no  man  can  work.  Instead  of  envy,  and  strife, 
and  wrath,  we  must  put  on  the  humble,  loving,  patient,  gentle  mind  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  Instead  of  sensuality,  and  that  turn  of  mind  which 
relishes  nothing  but  earthly  things ;  by  heavenly  mindedness  our  souls 
must  be  so  transformed  that  we  may  be  able  to  say  with  David,  '  Whom 
have  I  in  heaven  but  thee  1  and  there  is  none  upon  earth  I  desire  beside 
thee.'  And,  lastly,  for  those  stony  hearts  of  ours,  we  must  get  hearts 
of  flesh, — hearts  affected  with  a  sense  of  the  love  of  God  made  man,  to  ' 
die  a  shameful  death  for  us ; — hearts  purified  from  vain  desires  by  a 


VALUE   OF  WISDOM  IN  SPIRITUAL  THINGS.  159 

living  faith  ;  exalted  by  a  hope  full  of  immortality ;  and  transformed  by 
Divine  love  into  the  very  image  of  God." 

Brethren,  this  is  our  high  calling.  He  that  knows  these  things,  he 
that  daily  and  hourly  meditates  therein,  does  not  run  like  a  fool  without 
knowing  his  errand  :  and  the  Divine  wisdom  which  has  opened  his  eyes 
to  see  the  great  work  he  has  to  do,  opens  them  farther  to  choose  the 
only  way  of  doing  it.  "  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life.  No 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  He  considers,  then,  that  as 
all  things  were  created  by  the  Son  of  God,  and  "  without  him  was  not 
any  thing  made  that  was  made  ;"  so  are  all  things  redeemed  and  restored 
by  the  same  Divine  person.  As  nothing  ca'me  into  being  without  Jesus, 
so  nothing  can  enter  into  a  state  of  happiness  but  by  him.  He  is,  then, 
continually  applying  to  his  crucified  Lord  for  an  increase  of  spiritual 
wisdom  and  strength ;  he  hangs  upon  him  by  the  desires  of  his  heart ; 
he  lives  by  faith  ;  he  spiritually  eats  his  flesh  and  drinks  his  blood, 
whereby  his  soul  is  nourished  as  with  marrow  and  fatness.  In  a  word, 
by  faith  he  becomes  one  spirit  with  the  Lord,  and  can  say  with  St.  Paul, 
"  I  live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  hi  me  :  and  the  life  that  I  now  live 
in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave 
himself  for  me."  O  that  we  were  thus  wise  !  O  that  we  now  understood 
and  considered  these  things,  and  were  prepared  for  our  latter  end.  Then 
let  the  Bridegroom  come  never  so  unexpectedly,  he  would  find  us  waiting 
for  him,  and  we  should  enter  into  the  joy  of  our  Lord. 

But  to  come  to  the  application  of  the  text :  is  this  our  case  ?  Can 
we  all  say,  we  have  the  wisdom  of  the  holy  man  that  has  been  described  ? 
Nay,  do  we  so  much  as  seek  after  it  in  sincerity?  Suppose  we  had 
attained  unto  it,  should  not  we  show  it  in  our  conversation  ? 

If  the  drunkard,  for  example,  knew  his  calling,  instead  of  quenching, 
in  a  monstrous  abuse  of  God's  mercies,  that  spark  of  reason  he  has ; 
instead  of  setting  himself  below  the  very  brutes,  to  the  disgrace  of 
Christianity,  and  the  shame  of  human  kind ;  would  not  he  prepare  to 
drink  of  that  river  of  pleasure  which  flows  from  the  throne  of  God  ? 
Would  not  he  beg  to  be  enabled  to  say,  by  happy  experience,  with 
David,  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd ;  he  makes  me  rest  in  green  pas- 
tures, aftd  leads  me  along  the  waters  of  comfort :"  he  fills  my  cup  with 
a  foretaste  of  heavenly  joys,  so  that  it  runs  over  even  on  earth.  If  the 
unclean  persons  were  wise,  and  had  used  themselves  to  consider  these 
things,  would  they  sell  themselves  to  work  wickedness  in  the  sight  of  the 
holy  angels  ?  Would  they  make  their  body,  which  was  formed  to  be 
the  temple  of  God,  the  body  of  a  harlot  ?  Would  they  not  rather  serve 
the  God  of  purity  with  soul,  and  body,  and  spirit,  which  he  created  with 
so  much  power,  redeemed  with  so  much  mercy,  and  which  he  still  pre- 
serves with  so  much  patience  ? 

If  the  swearer  had  wisdom  enough  to  understand  his  madness ;  if  he 
considered  the  accuser  of  the  brethren,  writing  down  every  curse  he 
utters,  to  bring  them  all  upon  his  guilty  head  in  a  dying  hour ;  do  you 
think  he  would  provoke  God  to  hasten  his  damnation  ?  Do  you  think  he 
would  be  so  impatient  to  secure  a  place  where  he  may  be  sure  that  curs- 
ing, weeping,  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth  will  be  his  portion  to  all 
eternity  1  No,  they  could  not ;  and  if  any  act  in  that  manner  it  is  be- 
cause they  have  not  one  spark  of  true  wisdom. 


160  VALUE  OF  WISDOM  IN  SPIRITUAL  THINGS. 

Let  us,  then,  join  to  pray  over  them  in  the  words  of  the  text :  «  O  that 
they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they  would  consider  their 
latter  end !" 

And  you,  poor  worldlings,  (if  there  be  any  such  here,)  who  never  yet 
made  religion  your  chief  business  and  concern  ;  who,  with  the  rich  man 
in  the  Gospel,  endeavour  to  take  your  pleasures  in  this  world,  not  con- 
sidering that  this  is  the  way  to  have  your  torments  in  the  next ;  you  who 
drown  all  the  concerns  of  your  immortal  souls  either  in  the  transient 
joys,  or  the  unnecessary  cares  of  life ;  have  you  attained  unto  true  wis- 
dom ?  You  may  imagine  so,  and  carry  your  delusion  so  far  as  to  applaud 
yourselves  on  account  of  your  fancied  goodness  :  but,  alas  !  ere  long  you 
must  be  undeceived  ;  and  death  (if  nothing  else  can)  will  teach  you  that 
true  wisdom  consisted  in  preparing  to  meet  him  with  comfort.  When  he 
looks  you  in  the  face  ;  when  he  shall  summon  you  to  the  bar  of  God — 
where  will  you  seek  for  peace  and  assurance  of  his  love,  if  it  is  not  in 
your  soul  ?  In  the  gold  you  endeavoured  to  hoard  up  ?  "  Perish  the  hour 
(shall  you  say)  in  which  I  was  mad  enough  to  load  myself  with  thick 
clay,  instead  of  running  to  Jesus  fpr  my  life  !"  In  the  money  you  have 
spent  in  vanity  and  self  indulgence  ?  You  will  have  then  what  you  now 
buy  with  it,  fear  and  remorse.  Will  you  seek  relief  in  the  remembrance 
of  your  past  pleasures?  Alas!  it  will  only  awaken  your  guilty  conscience, 
and  add  new  degrees  to  your  horror.  You  expect,  perhaps,  some  con- 
solation from  those  with  whom  you  endeavour  to  forget  your  latter  end  ; 
with  whom  you  squander  away  the  best  of  your  time  in  unprofitable  talk 
or  vain  diversions.  Alas !  you  are  mistaken ;  they  will  be  the  first  to 
turn  their  backs  upon  you  :  and  while  they  go  in  quest  of  companions 
better  able  to  run  after  vanity  and  excess  than  you,  you  shall  be  left  to 
shift  for  yourself  upon  a  dying  bed. 

Meantime  God,  that  almighty  God,  whom  you  take  so  little  care  to 
make  your  friend  now  ;  nay,  whom  you  daily  offend  by  your  impenitence 
and  stubbornness  :  that  almighty  God,  I  say,  will  find  you  there.  And 
what  will  you  do  when  he  says,  "  Away  to  judgment,  unprofitable  ser- 
vant, who  hast  neglected  the  "  one  thing  needful ;"  and  cared  for  every 
thing  more  than  for  the  salvation  of  thy  immortal  soul :  fit  or  unfit, 
launch  into  eternity — hasten  to  thy  latter  abode  !"  Ah  !  surely,  in  that 
hour,  if  not  sooner,  you  will  own  your  want  of  true  wisdom.  And  we 
have  reason  to  pray  also  over  you  in  the  words  of  Moses,  "  O  that  they 
were  wise,  that  they  understood  this  ;  that  they  would  consider  their 
latter  end !" 

And  who  are  those  that  do  not  need  to  consider  it  ?  Not  you,  young 
people,  to  whom  health  and  youth  seem  to  insure  a  long  and  happy  life. 
Ah !  know  that  sickness  may  overtake  you  to-day,  and  that  youth  is  as 
little  able  as  old  age  to  resist  the  spear  of  death.  Witness  many  of  the 
tomb  stones  that  are  set  up  round  these  places  of  worship.  Nothing, 
then,  nothing  can  secure  you  but  an  interest  in  the  blood  of  the  dear  Re- 
deemer, of  him  who,  having  created  you  to  make  you  happy,  has  again 
purchased  you  by  all  the  sufferings  of  his  most  holy  life  and  bitter  death. 

Now,  then,  consider  that  your  highest  wisdom  and  truest  interest  is  to 
give  him  your  hearts,  to  remember  him  in  the  days  of  your  youth,  and 
put  yourselves  under  his  almighty  protection ;  which,  if  you  do,  O  how 
happy  shall  you  bo  in  your  life !   how  triumphant  in  your  death !  how 


VALUE   OF   WISDOM  IN   SPIRITUAL  THINGS.  161 

transcendently  blessed  through  all  the  ages  of  eternity !  "  O  that  you 
were  wise — that  you  understood  this — that  you  would  consider  your 
latter  end !" 

As  for  you,  brethren,  who  see  one  half  of  your  days  run  out  already, 
and  yet  are  tempted  by  the  corruption  of  the  world,  and  your  hearts,  to 
mind  nothing  but  the  affairs  of  this  life,  you  need,  above  all,  to  consider 
your  latter  end.  Alas  !  you  are  too  apt  to  forget  that  the  better  half  of 
your  days  is  gone,  and  gone  for  ever.  Look  back  these  thirty  or  forty 
years  that  you  have  lived.  How  short !  it  is  a  vapour  which  the  wind 
has  carried  away.  O,  consider,  that  in  thirty  or  forty  years  more,  if 
you  live  so  long,  the  whole  of  your  days  will  look  like  the  same  dream ; 
and  learn,  by  what  is  past,  to  redeem  what  is  to  come. 

But  above  all,  forget  not  that  eternity  is  at  the  end  of  your  half-spent 
life.  Eternity,  that  sea  without  either  bottom  or  shore,  in  which  a  thou- 
sand years  are  swallowed  up  as  a  drop  of  rain  in  the  ocean.  Eternity, 
to  which  you  hurry  as  fast  as  the  wings  of  time  can  carry  you.  And 
what  have  you  done  for  eternity  ?  I  do  not  ask,  what  have  you  done  for 
time  ?  The  rivers  of  sweat  that  daily  water  your  face  in  providing  for 
flesh  and  blood,  save  you  the  trouble  of  an  answer.  (Nor  are  you  to  be 
blamed  for  caring  for  the  body,  if  you  do  it  always  in  subordination  to 
the  concerns  of  your  soul.)  But  what  have  you  done  for  eternity?  Have 
you  so  much  as  shed  one  tear  for  the  forgiveness  of  your  manifold  sins  ? 
Have  you  spent  one  hour  in  secret  to  entreat  the  Lord  to  prepare  you 
for  eternity?  Or  do  you  say  by  your  lives,  if  not  with  your  mouths, 
"  There  is  time  enough  to  think  of  that  ?"  Ah  !  if  this  is  your  case,  we 
pray  in  your  behalf,  "  O  that  they  were  wise — that  they  understood  this 
— that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end." 

Here  I  would  also  address  myself  to  those  whose  grey  hairs  are  ready 
to  descend  with  you  into  the  grave,  at  the  first  touch  of  sickness.  I 
would  ask  you  if  you  have  been  wise,  and  if  your  souls  are  as  ripe  for 
heaven  as  your  bodies  for  the  ground?  But  if  your  broken  constitution, 
and  the  infirmities  of  old  age,  have  not  yet  been  able  to  awake  you  into 
a  constant  preparation  for  your  latter  end — what  reason  is  there  to  ex- 
pect that  words  will  do  it  ?  But  I  would  hope  better  things  of  you ;  I 
would  hope  that  you  have  long  ago  devoted  your  lives  to  the  Lord ;  and 
stand  now  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom,  and  ready  for  the 
marriage  feast.  Nevertheless,  if  among  you  there  is  a  grey-headed  sin- 
ner, let  us  with  double  fervour  say  over  him,  "  O  that  he  were  wise ! 
O  that  he  would  understand  this  !  O  that  he  would  consider  his  latter 
end !" 

To  conclude.  Whosoever  thou  art,  O  sinner,  whether  young  or  old, 
rich  or  poor,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  I  call  upon  thee  to  awake  unto 
wisdom.  Let  not  the  god  of  this  world  blind  thine  eyes  any  longer. 
Consider  ere  it  be  too  late.  See  death  behind  thee,  and  eternity  at  thy 
feet.  Renounce  trifles.  Set  aside  the  anxious  cares  of  the  world.  Give 
up  unlawful  pleasures.  Leave  nothing  untried  to  make  thy  calling  and 
election  sure.  For,  in  the  scenes  of  futurity  which  shall  soon  be  dis- 
played in  thy  sight,  there  is  no  room  for  alteration ;  all  is  steadfast,  un- 
movable,  beyond  the  grave.  Whether  we  -are,  then,  seated  on  a  throne, 
or  stretched  on  a  rack,  a  seal  will  be  set  to  our  condition  by  the  hand 
of  everlasting  mercv  or  inflexible  justice. 

Vol.  IV.  11 


162  CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD'S   DOCTRINE. 

Now,  then,  that  the  present  hour  is  still  in  thy  power,  use  it  to  the 
best  advantage.  Throw  thyself  into  the  arms  of  a  merciful  Redeemer, 
and  beseech  him  to  prepare  thee  a  place  in  his  everlasting  habitations, 
and  to  fit  thee  for  the  company  of  God  and  his  angels.  Fear  not,  (if 
thou  art  sincere,)  far  from  casting  thee  away,  he  waits  to  be  gracious, 
and  to  seal  to  thy  heart  by  his  Spirit  the  remission  of  thy  sins.  For 
with  the  Lord  there  is  forgiveness  that  he  may  be  feared.  Come,  then, 
wash  thyself  by  faith  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb — "  the  Lamb  that  takes 
away  the  sin  of  the  world."  And  when  thou  art  made  clean,  "  go  and 
sin  no  more." 

I  repeat  it  once  more :  tarry  not ;  eternity  is  at  stake.  God,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  may  take  away  the  breath  that  is  in  thy  nostrils. 
The  next  hour  sickness  may  impair  thy  reason,  and  deprive  thee  of  all 
power  to  think  or  pray.  The  next  day  the  Lord  Jesus  may  come  to 
judgment,  and  the  trump  of  God  may  sound,  to  put  an  end  to  time  and 
repentance.  If  not,  the  messenger  of  the  Lord,  which  day  and  night 
advances  toward  thee,  death,  will  most  certainly  do  it,  ere  long  ;  and 
what  will  become  of  thee,  if  thou  art  found  in  thy  blood,  in  thy  sins, 
unpardoned,  unconverted  ?  What  horror  !  But  I  choose  to  draw  a  cur- 
tain over  the  deplorable  spectacle,  and  hope  none  of  us  will  harden  his 
heart  against  the  prayer  of  Moses,  and  might  not  I  say  against  the  tears 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  1  O  let  us  remember  him,  as  he  considered  the  sin- 
ners of  Jerusalem  a  few  days  before  his  death  ;  he  wept  over  them,  says 
the  Gospel,  and  cried  out,  like  Moses,.  "  O  that  they  would  know,  in  this 
their  day,  the  things  that  belong  to  their  peace."  Let  not  those  precious 
tears  of  the  Son  of  God;  let  not  the  sacred  streams  that  flowed  from  his 
hands,  his  feet,  his  heart,  flow  unregarded  and  despised  by  us.  From 
this  day,  let  us  all  be  wise  unto  salvation.  And  when  the  wicked  shall 
be  destroyed  with  an  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  and  the  glory  of  his  power  ;  when  they  shall  call  upon  the  hills  to 
fall  on  them,  and  the  mountains  to  cover  them  from  the  wrath  of  an 
offended  God  ;  in  the  inexpressible  enjoyment  of  endless  bliss  we  shall 
ascribe  grace,  mercy,  and  love  to  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and 
to  the  Lamb ;  which  may  God  grant  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  to  whom, 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  one  eternal  God,  be  ascribed  all 
majesty  and  dominion,  from  this  time  forth  for  ever. 


Sermon  IX. — Causes  of  offence  to  our  LoroVs  doctrine. 

"  From  that  time  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with 
him.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  the  twelve,  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  Then  Simon 
Peter  answered  him,  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life,"  John  vi,  66-68. 

In  opening  these  words,  I  shall  endeavour,  first,  to  show  what  offend- 
ed so  much  many  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  that  they  walked  no  more  with 
him.  Secondly,  I  shall  prove  from  St.  Peter's  words,  by  the  grace  of 
the  Lord,  that,  as  out  of  Christ  there  is  nothing  but  eternal  death  for 
sinners,  so  in  Christ  there  is  eternal  life  for  the  chief  of  sinners  that 
come  to  him.  I  shall  then  take  occasion  to  make  some  practical  reflec- 
tions upon  those  two  heads,  by  way  of  application.     And  may  the  Lord 


CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORd's  DOCTRINE.         163 

Jesus  so  shine  upon  our  understandings  by  the  striking  light  of  his  truth, 
and  so  prepare  our  hearts  by  the  softening  power  of  his  grace,  that  we 
may  ail  join  Peter  in  his  glorious  confession  of  faith  :  "  To  whom  shall 
we  go,  O  Lord  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life  ;  and  we  believe, 
and  are  sure,  that  thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  who 
openest  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all  believers. 

I.  I  shall  endeavour  to  show  what  offended  so  much  many  of  our 
Lord's  disciples,  that  they  went  back,  and  walked  no  more  with  him. 

The  sermons  which  our  blessed  Lord  preached  were  plain,  though 
deep ;  sharp  as  a  razor,  though  smooth  as  oil ;  and  the  effect  was  the 
conversion  or  the  confounding  of  his  hearers.  True  doctrine  will  always 
cause  a  division  between  the  chaff  and  the  wheat  of  a  congregation ;  it 
sifts  the  worldlings,  puts  the  formalists  at  a  stand,  and  makes  the  Phari- 
sees and  Sadducees,  the  secret  and  open  infidels  in  all  ages,  to  exclaim 
against  the  severity  and  depth  of  Gospel  truths  :  so  that  some,  unable  to 
bear  it,  run  away  from  the  disagreeable  sound,  as  many  of  our  Lord's 
disciples  did  ;  or,  if  they  come  again,  it  is  to  seek  an  occasion  against 
the  preacher,  and  if  possible,  to  catch  him  in  his  words  as  the  Pharisees. 
Sadducees,  and  lawyers  tried  to  do  by  our  Lord  himself. 

Now,  if  the  eternal  wisdom,  the  lowly,  meek  Lamb  of  God,  who  knew 
how  to  suit  his  discourses  to  the  capacity  and  wants  of  his  followers, 
could  not  declare  the  counsel  of  God  without  exasperating  many  of  his 
hearers,  how  can  it  be  expected  that  we,  who  have  hardly  one  ray  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  should  preach  the  same  Gos 
pel  without  any  of  the  same  inconveniences  ?  Do  not  then  conclude, 
my  brethren,  that  ministers  are  false  teachers,  because  many  rise  up 
against  them,  and  walk  no  more  with  them  ;  and  that  a  doctrine  is  con- 
trary to  truth,  because  it  is  hard  to  flesh  and  blood,  and  is  exploded  by 
the  generality  of  the  hearers.  In  so  doing  you  would  condemn  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  to  say  nothing  of  his  apostles,  whose  plain  ministry  met 
every  where  with  the  greatest  opposition.  And  as  for  you,  my  brethren, 
whose  heart  speaks  still  the  language  of  the  prejudiced  hearers  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  days  of  our  Lord ;  you  who  often  say  or  think, — "  This 
is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  bear  it?" — consider  that,  as  the  heait  of  man 
is  the  same  in  all  ages,  so  is  also  the  Gospel :  the  same  cause  will  produce 
the  same  effect  in  England  as  well  as  in  Judea  :  search,  therefore,  your 
hearts ;  search  the  Scriptures ;  and  you  will  find  that  the  opposition 
which  plain  Gospel  truths  meet  in  you  is  not  owing  so  much  to  the 
uncouthness  or  harshness  of  the  preacher,  as  you  think,  as  to  a  secret 
aversion  which  you  have  to  the  cross  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

St.  John,  in  the  chapter  out  of  which  the  text  is  taken,  gives  us  a  par- 
ticular account  of  the  sermon  which  caused  the  disciples  of  our  Lord  to 
murmur  and  depart  from  him.  It  is  a  close  and  deep  one  indeed,  and 
contains  many  things  which  are  foolishness  to  the  natural  man,  though 
they  are  the  wisdom  of  God  to  every  awakened  sinner.  First :  in  the 
twenty-seventh  verse,  "  Labour  not  for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  (says 
our  Saviour,)  but  for  that  which  endureth  to  everlasting  life."  This  was 
more  than  the  worldling  and  covetous  could  well  bear.  There  are  in 
every  congregation  people  who  bury  themselves  all  the  week  in  worldly 
cares ;  they  think  of  nothing  else  but  of  adding  field  to  field,  or  of 
enlarging  their  business ;  they  have  no  time  to  say  their  prayers,  or  if 


164        CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD's  DOCTRINE. 

they  say  them,  it  is  always  in  a  hurry ;  as  for  death  and  judgment,  hell 
and  heaven,  eternity,  and  such  solemn  points  of  meditation,  they  do  not 
trouble  themselves  about  them  more  than  about  the  most  impertinent 
story  in  the  newspaper,  perhaps  not  so  much.  Now,  how  could  people 
of  this  stamp  bear  the  doctrine  of  our  heavenly  Master  ?  "  Labour  not 
for  the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth  to  eternal  life." 
No  doubt  they  murmured  secretly,  or  went  away  saying,  "  Did  you  hear 
this  Galilean,  this  Son  of  Joseph  ?  He  tells  us  that  we  must  not  work. 
Can  there  be  a  more  abominable  doctrine  ?"  And  thus  grossly  mistaking 
our  Lord,  who  only  endeavoured,  by  those  words,  to  damp  their  desires 
after  earthly  things  that  they  might  begin  to  provide  heavenly  food  for 
their  perishing  souls,  they  ran  away  with  part  of  a  distorted  sentence, 
made  him  an  offender  for  a  word,  and  represented  him  as  a  man  whose 
doctrines  interfered  with  the  duties  of  people's  calling,  and  tended  to 
subvert  the  commonwealth. 

In  the  next  verse,  the  Jews  asked,  "  What  shall  we  do  that  we 
might  work  the  works  of  God  ?"  And  they  expected,  no  doubt,  that 
our  Lord  would  have  said,  "  You  must  go  regularly  to  the  synagogue ; 
you  must  take  care  to  have  your  children  circumcised  the  eighth  day ; 
you  must  religiously  observe  all  the  festivals  and  the  Sabbaths ;  you 
must  pay  tithe,  and  give  alms  out  of  all  you  have ;" — for,  thought  they, 
if  we  do  all  this,  who  shall  do  the  works  of  God  better  than  we  1  But 
our  Saviour,  who  knew  there  were  hundreds  of  hypocrites  and  formal 
Jews  among  his  hearers  who  did  all  this,  and  were  nevertheless  as  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  the  vilest  publican  present,  answered,  to 
their  great  surprise,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him 
whom  he  has  sent."  "  This  is  the  work  of  God  that  we  believe ! 
Why,  this  is  a  new  doctrine,  (thought  some  of  them ;)  how  can  faith  be 
the  work  of  God  ?  That  man  with  his  doctrine  of  faith  will  set  aside 
good  works,  and  then  what  will  become  of  '  the  law  and  the  prophets  ?' " 
This  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  never  was,  and  never  will  be,  under- 
stood  by  the  world,  because  all  the  children  of  the  world  are  self  confi- 
dent, proud,  boasters,  as  St.  Paul  says,  Romans  i,  thinking  that  they  can 
do  good  works  before  their  heart  is  washed  and  changed  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus,  and  little  suspecting  that  what  they  call  their  good  works 
are  only  their  least  iniquities.  "  Without  me,"  says  our  Saviour,  "  you 
?an  do  nothing."  "  If  I  give  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  have 
not  love,"  true  faith,  working  by  love,  says  St.  Paul,  "  I  am  nothing." 
And  now  what  good  works  can  the  best,  moralist  do,  what  good  fruit  can 
the  most  flourishing  bramble  produce,  till  grafted  in  Christ  the  true  vine  ? 
Must  not  faith  make  us  one  with  Jesus  Christ,  the  tree  of  life,  before  we 
;an  bring  forth  fruit  unto  God ;  and  is  not  this  the  work  of  God,  that 
we  believe  on  him  whom  he  has  sent, — that  we  come  to  Christ  by  faith, 
to  have  our  hearts  changed,  and  made  fruitful  in  all  good  words  and 
works?  But  this  our  Lord's  hearers  did  not  like.  Some,  no  doubt, 
blamed  him  for  discouraging  people  from  doing,  as  they  thought,  good 
works  ;  and  others  could  not  bear  to  hear  him  declare  that  they  had  not 
the  true  faith,  and  that  therefore  their  best  works  were  only  the  fruit  of 
Iheir  virtuous  and  hypocritical  pride. 

In  the  fifty-first  verse,  our  Saviour  goes  deeper  yet,  and  tells  the 
lews,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life ;  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall 


CAUSES   OF   OFFENCE  TO   OTJR  LORD'S   DOCTRINE.  165 

live  for  ever."  They  could  not  conceive  what  he  meant  by  the  bread 
of  life,  if  he  did  not  mean  the  manna  which  their  fathers  had  eaten  in  the 
wilderness.  So  in  our  days,  thousands  cannot  conceive  what  our  Church 
means  by  bidding  us  feed  upon  Christ  in  our  heart  by  faith  ;  they  believe 
that  it  means  just  kneeling  at  the  communion  table,  holding  out  their 
hand  to  receive  the  bread,  and  eating  it  with  the  mouth  of  the  body; 
and  they  are  ready  to  quarrel  with  ministers  if  they  insist  upon  an 
inward,  spiritual,  sensible  feeding,  in  the  heart,  on  the  heavenly  virtue  of 
Christ's  hidden  flesh,  and  of  Christ's  blood,  whereby  the  soul  is  refreshed 
and  strengthened,  as  the  body  by  bre  ad  and  wine.  Nor  could  the  Jews 
make  any  thing  of  that  repeated  invitation  to  come  to  our  blessed  Lord, 
in  verses  37  and  65  :  "  He  that  cometh  unto  me  shall  never  hunger ;  he 
shall  live  for  ever.  No  man  can  come  unto  me,  except  the  Father  draw 
him,"  &c.  Strange  doctrine  !  Some  murmured  at  it,  no  doubt,  and  were 
ready  to  interrupt  the  heavenly  Teacher  by  such  words  as  these :  "  Why, 
what  do  you  mean  by  coming  to  you  ?  Are  not  we  come  to  you,  and 
some  of  us  from  far  ?  Do  not  we  now  throng  round  you  ?  We  follow 
you  by  land  and  by  water,  and  yet  you  say,  no  man  can  come  unto  you 
except  the  Father  draw  him.  What  unintelligible  stuff !"  Just  so  it  is 
in  our  days.  If  ministers  enforce  the  duty  of  coming  to  Jesus  for  salva- 
tion, of  coming  spiritually  by  an  inward  and  constant  motion  of  the  heart 
toward  Christ,  they  are  accounted  enthusiastic,  or,  or  least,  are  supposed 
to  affect  new  and  strange  methods  of  leading  their  flocks  out  of  the 
beaten  track.  And  if  they  go  farther  and  declare  that  all  going  to 
church  and  going  to  the  Lord's  table,  without  this  spiritual  coming  of  the 
soul  to  Christ,  is  nothing  but  an  empty  form,  a  round  of  Pharisaical, 
hypocritical  duties,  which,  like  broken  reeds,  will  pierce  the  souls  of 
those  that  lean  on  them ;  the  complaints  run  higher,  and  their  hearers 
openly  murmur  against  them,  as  the  Jews  did  against  our  Saviour  for  the 
same  reason. 

But  the  indignation  of  our  Lord's  disciples  rose  higher  still,  when  he 
added,  in  verse  53 :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you." 
Except  you  get  a  Divine  life,  a  life  begun  and  preserved  by  feeding  in 
an  unspeakable  manner  upon  my  body,  which  shall  be  broken  for  you, 
and  by  drinking  spiritually  my  blood,  which  shall  be  shed  for  you,  you 
will  remain  dead  to  God,  as  you  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and 
ready  for  the  second  death,  for  you  have  no  life  in  you.  At  this  saying, 
many  could  no  longer  contain  themselves,  and  went  away  complaining 
of  the  harshness  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  the  severity  of  his  heavenly 
doctrine.  How  many  do  the  same  in  our  days,  when  we  tell  them,  as 
our  Lord  did  his  followers,  that  they  are  dead,  if  out  of  Christ ;  that 
they  have  no  life  in  them  till  they  get  a  heavenly  power  to  feed  upon 
Christ  in  their  hearts  by  faith ;  that  though  we  enjoy  an  animal  life,  as 
the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  a  rational  life,  as  the  prince  of  the  air  and  his 
angels,  yet  till  we  are  joined  to  Christ  in  one  spirit,  we  are  dead  to  God, 
and  condemned  already  to  the  second  death  !  But  it  is  a  comfort  to  us, 
under  the  opposition  which  we  may  meet  with  in  enforcing  this  funda- 
mental doctrine,  to  see  that  herein  we  only  sip  the  cup  which  our  blessed 
Lord  and  Master  did  before  us ;  for  the  evangelist  observes  in  the  six- 
tieth verse,  that  many  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  when  they  heard  that  we 


166        CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD'S  DOCTRINE. 

are  spiritually  dead,  that  there  is  no  life  in  us  till  we  live  upon  him  by 
faith,  said,  "This  is  a  hard  saying,  who  can  bear  it?"  Here  some 
expect,  perhaps,  that  our  Saviour,  seeing  many  of  his  hearers  offended, 
and  ready  to  leave  him,  began  to  palliate  the  matter,  to  preach  to  them 
in  a  smoother  strain,  and  to  indulge  a  little  their  carnal  and  worldly 
notions.  Just  the  reverse  :  he  stands  to  his  doctrine,  and  enforces  it 
more  than  ever,  though  all  should  forsake  him  and  flee.  Does  this 
offend  you  ?  says  he  ;  what  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascend  up 
where  he  was  before,  how  much  more  incredible  will  it  then  appear  to 
you  that  he  should  give  you  his  flesh  to  quicken  your  dead  soul  ?  And 
what  was  the  consequence  ?  The  text  informs  us  :  "  From  that  time," 
says  the  evangelist,  "  many  of  his  disciples  went  back,  and  walked  no 
more  with  him."  And  are  we  above  our  blessed  Lord  ?  No,  dear  Jesus, 
we  are  not  above  thee  :  and  if,  because  thou  didst  speak  the  plain  truth, 
many  of  thy  disciples,  even  those  who,  the  day  before,  would  have  made 
thee  a  king,  went  back  and  left  thee,  what  can  we  expect  of  sinners  who 
despise  thee,  thy  ordinances,  and  thy  word  !  But  O  leave  us  not  to  our- 
selves, lest  we  betray  both  thee  and  thy  Gospel :  help  us  to  stand  to  thy 
truth,  though  many  of  our  friends  and  acquaintance  should  forsake  us 
for  it ;  yea,  help  us  to  resist  even  unto  blood,  if  thy  providence  call  us 
to  set  to  our  seal  that  thy  word  is  the  word  of  truth  ! 

II.  Having  thus  showed  what  offended  so  much  many  of  our 
Saviour's  disciples,  that  they  departed  and  walked  no  more  with  him  ; 
by  the  assistance  of  the  Lord  I  am  to  prove  next,  that  as,  out  of  Christ, 
there  is  nothing  but  eternal  death  for  sinners,  so  in  Christ  there  is  eter- 
nal life  for  the  chief  of  sinners.  But  these  points  of  doctrine  are  con- 
tained in  St.  Peter's  answer  to  our  Lord.  When  Jesus  saw  that  many 
of  his  disciples  were  gone,  he  said  unto  the  twelve,  "  Will  ye  also  go 
away?  Then  Simon  Peter  answered  him,  To  whom  shall  we  go? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life." 

That  expression — "  To  whom  shall  we  go  ?"  shows  that  man  is  help- 
less as  well  as  wretched,  and  that  he  is  both  spiritually  dead,  and  inca- 
pable to  raise  himself  to  spiritual  life,  since  he  must  go  to  another  for  it. 
"  To  whom  shall  we  go?"  Here  also  appears  an  utter  despair  of  finding 
relief,  not  only  in  one's  self,  but  also  in  any  creature,  thing,  or  means 
under  heaven,  but  in  Jesus  Christ.     To  instance  in  some  particulars  : — 

1.  To  whom  shall  we  go  for  salvation  and  eternal  life  ?  Shall  we  go 
to  bishops,  priests,  or  deacons  ?  Shall  we  go  to  the  apostles  them- 
selves? No,  no  :  they  can  only  point  us  to  Christ,  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life  :  they  are  neither  the  way,  the  truth,  nor  the  life  :  they 
are  but  men,  and  what  says  the  Scripture  ?  "  Cursed  is  he  that  putteth 
his  trust  in  man,"  Jer.  xvii,  5.  It  is  not  so  with  Christ ;  for  though  he 
is  the  Son  of  man,  he  is  also  Jehovah  God',  blessed  over  all ;  in  him, 
therefore,  we  may  safely  trust. 

2.  Shall  we  go  to  the  pope,  the  pretended  successor  of  St.  Peter? 
Behold,  St.  Peter  himself  says  :  "  To  whom  shall  we  go,  but  unto  thee, 
O  Lord?  Lord,  save,  or  I  perish."  And  how  can  St.  Peter's  pre- 
tended successor  help  us,  if  Peter  cannot  help  himself? 

3.  Shall  we  go  to  any  one  denomination  of  Christians,  to  the  Church 
of  England,  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  to  the  Baptists,  Presbyterians. 
Independents,  or  Quakers 7     Behold,  the  twelve  disciples,  the  founders 


CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD'S  DOCTRINE.         16"i 

of  all  Christian  Churches,  the  sacred  college  of  the  apostles,  declare, 
with  one  consent,  by  the  mouth  of  Peter,  Salvation  is  not  in  us  :  to 
whom  shall  we  go  but  to  Christ  ?  If,  therefore,  the  purest  Church  that 
ever  was  or  ever  will  be,  a  Church  composed  of  apostles  only,  must  go 
to  Christ  for  salvation,  how  mistaken  are  those  who  trust  to  the  denomi- 
nation they  belong  to,  as  if  a  Protestant  out  of  Christ  was  a  hair's 
breadth  beyond  a  Christless  Papist,  a  Turk,  or  a  Jew  !  In  the  Revela- 
tion our  Saviour  compares  the  seven  purest  Churches  of  Asia  to  seven 
golden  candlesticks.  Now,  you  know  that  a  golden  candlestick  is  as 
useless  without  a  light  as  a  brazen  one.  Christ  alone  is  the  light  that 
is  or  ought  to  be  placed  in  all  Churches  ;  he  is  alone  the  light  which 
shines  in  darkness,  though  the  darkness  comprehends  it  not.  There  is 
then  no  more  salvation  in  the  purest  Church,  if  Christ  does  not  shine  in 
our  hearts,  than  there  is  light  in  a  candlestick  of  purest  gold,  when  the 
taper  is  put  out. 

What  are,  then,  the  greatest  preachers  in  the  world ;  what  is  Paul 
himself,  who  spake  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  angels,  when  compared 
with  Christ,  the  living  way  ?  Just  as  much  as  a  fingerpost  to  a  traveller, 
and  no  more  ;  as  the  fingerpost  is  not  the  way,  but  shows  the  right  way, 
so  Paul  and  all  the  preachers  in  the  world  are  nothing,  but  as  they  point 
us  to  Christ,  the  way. 

4.  Shall  we  go  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  with  the  Roman  Catholics  ? 
"  Behold,"  says  she,  "my  soul  rejoiceth  in  God  my  Saviour  ;"  therefore 
she  stood  in  need  of  Christ,  as  her  God  and  Saviour,  as  much  as  any 
one  of  us :  salvation  is  not  then  in  her,  though  it  is  in  the  fruit  of 
her  womb. 

5.  Shall  we  go  to  angels  or  departed  saints  ?  Behold,  angels  are  the 
servants  of  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,  so  far  from  being  their 
saviours,  Heb.  i,  14 ;  and  as  to  dead  saints,  they  can  absolutely  do 
nothing  for  us, — "  for  a  living  dog,"  says  Solomon,  "  is  better  than  a 
dead  lion."  If  saints  could  save  us,  it  would  be  rather  living  saints  than 
dead  ones.  It  is  well  for  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints,  that  they  know 
nothing  of  the  prayers  which  poor  superstitious  Christians  address  to 
them :  if  they  knew  of  them,  the  very  thought  of  such  a  piece  of 
idolatry  committed  upon  them,  to  the  horrible  contempt  of  Christ,  the 
only  Mediator,  would  damp  all  the  joy  in  heaven. 

6.  To  whom  shall  we  go  then  ?  Shall  we  go  to  the  writings  of  the 
dead,  to  books  of  piety  and  devotion,  or  to  the  Scriptures  themselves  ? 
Alas !  life  is  not  in  the  letter :  thousands  of  wicked  men  have  written 
and  read  very  good  books  :  good  books  and  the  Scriptures  are  of  infinite 
usi  in  showing  us  the  way  of  life,  but  still  they  are  not  the  way ;  and 
when  all  the  Bibles  and  libraries  in  the  world  shall  be  burnt  up  with  the 
world  itself,  Christ  the  way  will  stand,  and,  as  he  is  the  living  way,  he 
will  live  for  ever  a  mighty  Saviour  to  all  that  come  to  God  through  him. 
"  Search  the  Scriptures,"  said  he  to  the  Jews,  "  for  in  them  you  think 
to  have  life,  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me,"  John  v,  39.  The 
grand  use,  then,  of  all  good  books,  and  of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  is 
to  bear  witness  of  Christ. 

7.  Shall  we  make  a  saviour  of  our  church  walls,  steeple,  and  bells? 
Shall  we  cry  up  the  church  !  the  church  !  as  the  Pharisees  cried  up  the 
temple '  the  temple !     Far  be  such  a  superstitious,  such  a  worse  than 


168  CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD'S  DOCTRINE. 

Popish  notion  from  us :  this  building  has  no  more  in  it  that  can  con. 
tribute  to  our  salvation,  than  the  synagogue,  out  of  which  they  cast  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles.  If  there  was  any  thing  in  any  one  building 
in  the  world  more  than  in  another,  it  was  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  an 
eminent  type  of  Christ,  honoured  several  times  by  his  bodily  as  well  as 
spiritual  presence  ;  and  yet  one  stone  is  not  left  upon  another  on  the 
spot  that  bore  the  consecrated  walls.  But,  blessed  be  God,  the  living 
temple  of  Christ's  body,  that  was  destroyed  for  three  days,  is  now  built 
up  again,  and  stands  for  ever  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  and  in  that 
temple  it  is  that  the  holy  catholic  Church  worships  God  night  and  day, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Vile  drunkards,  abominable  swearers,  filthy 
whoremongers,  covetous  extortioners,  lying  cheats,  profane  Sabbath 
breakers,  all  sorts  of  sons  and  daughters  of  darkness,  resort  at  times 
within  these  walls,  and  remain  unsaved  from  their  wickedness.  Salva- 
tion is  not,  then,  within  the  walls  of  any  one  place  of  worship  in  the 
world,  unless  Christ  manifest  himself  there  as  he  does  not  to  the  world. 

8.  Where  shall  we  go  then?  Shall  we  go  out  of  this  wicked  world, 
and  retire  into  a  wilderness  or  a  nunnery,  as  thousands  do  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  ?  No :  salvation  is  in  neither,  out  of  Christ.  Whom  did 
Christ  find  in  the  wilderness  but  the  tempter  ?  Whom  do  monks  and 
nuns  find  in  convents  but  the  tempter,  and  corrupt  nature,  worse  than 
the  tempter  1  Shall  we  go  to  our  closet  ?  Yes,  to  seek  Christ  there, 
but  not  to  make  our  closet  a  saviour,  as  too  many  do.  Shall  we  go  to 
the  Lord's  table  ?  Yes,  to  seek  Christ  there,  but  not  to  make  the 
ordinance  a  saviour,  as  the  Roman  Catholics  do,  and  too  many  who  call 
themselves  Protestants.  The  Pharisee,  because  he  rested  in  his  devo- 
tions, and  sought  not  Christ  in  them,  was  made  more  the  child  of  hell 
by  his  fasting  and  prayer :  and  when  Judas  received  the  sop,  he 
received  the  seal  of  his  destruction,  the  devil  entering  into  him  instead 
of  God's  good  Spirit.     Therefore  ordinances  help  not,  out  of  Christ. 

9.  To  whom  shall  we  go  then  ?  Will  you  give  me  leave  to  put  off, 
for  a  moment,  the  character  of  a  preacher  of  Christ's  righteousness, 
such  as  I  desire  to  be  found  among  you,  and  to  put  on  that  of  a  fash- 
ionable preacher  1  Will  you  permit  me  to  "  prophesy  smooth  things  to 
you,  to  prophesy  deceit  ?"  Well,  then,  I  say,  "  O  man,  you  ask,  with 
St.  Peter,  to  whom  you  shall  go  for  salvation  ?  To  whom  but  to  your- 
self, to  your  own  endeavours  ?  Do  your  best,  O  man.  Fulfil  all  relative 
and  religious  duties.  Be  honest,  and  go  to  church  ;  wrong  no  man, 
murder  nobody,  be  courteous  and  civil  to  all :  and  if  those  good  works 
do  not  take  you  quite  up  to  heaven,  then  Christ  will  lend  you  a  hand  at 
the  last."  This  is,  my  brethren,  the  diabolical  scheme  which  prevails 
almost  every  where,  in  opposition  to  the  Bible  and  the  doctrine  of  our 
Church ;  this  is  the  masterpiece  of  Satan ;  this  is  nothing  but  Deism 
refined,  nothing  but  heathenish  morality  gilt  over  with  the  name  of 
Christianity.  This  overturns  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  makes  man  his 
own  saviour  in  part,  if  not  in  whole ;  this  tramples  under  foot  the  glo- 
rious robe  of  Christ's  righteousness,  to  exalt  the  filthy  rags  of  man's 
own  righteousness  ;  this  sets  at  naught  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  Spirit  of 
God,-  and  the  operations  of  Divine  grace  upon  the  hearts  of  men.  This 
supersedes  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  fall  in  Adam,  and  the  new 
birth  in  Jesus  Christ.     This,  instead  of  ascribing  salvation  to  Him  that 


CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LOP.d's  DOCTRINE.         169 

sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever,  impiously  ascribes  it 
to  free  will  and  Pharisaical  morality.  And  what  is  this  but  saying,  "I 
will  remain  in  myself  for  salvation  ;  I  have  the  words  of  everlasting 
life  ;"  than  which  there  can  be  no  greater  blasphemy  ;  for  it  is  the  very 
quintessence  of  Luciferian  pride.  This  is  the  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing, 
which  destroys  the  lambs  of  the  Lord  by  thousands  ;  this  is  the  detesta- 
ble doctrine  which  Paul  overturns,  and  curses,  with  the  preachers  of  it, 
in  his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians :  "  Though  an  angel  from  heaven,"  says 
he,  chap,  i,  8,  "  preach  any  other  Gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we 
have  preached,  let  him  be  accursed."  And  what  is  that  Gospel,  but  that 
which  is  contained  in  the  text :  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life."  Yes,  O  thou  Lamb  of  God,  tha*. 
takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  we  are  dead,  lost,  damned  for  ever, 
without  thee  !  Our  souls,  like  Noah's  dove,  cannot  find  whereon  to  fix 
themselves  in  all  the  creation :  thou  alone  art  the  true,  the  living  ark 
built  by  the  living  God,  to  save  souls  alive.  There  is  neither  health  nor 
life  in  us  ;  but  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  health  and  life.  Ah,  Lord, 
speak  them  to  thy  servants,  and  we  shall  be  whole  !  Restore  thou  them 
that  are  penitent.  Lord,  save,  or  we  perish !  O  Lord,  make  speed  to 
save  us ;  O  Lord,  make  haste  to  deliver  us  !  This  is  the  language  of 
Peter,  of  our  Church,  and  of  every  penitent  sinner.  May  it  be  that  of 
all  our  hearts,  till  the  Lord  shall  have  turned  our  prayer  into  praise  ! 

Here,  brethren,  I  would  conclude  this  head,  did  not  I  think  it  will  be 
agreeable  to  you  to  have  the  contents  of  it  supported  by  some  plain  scrip- 
tures, showing  that  there  is  no  safety,  no  salvation,  but  in  Christ,  and 
that  he,  and  he  alone,  has  the  words  of  everlasting  life.  Moses  and  Peter, 
speaking  of  him,  say,  "  Your  God  shall  raise  unto  you  a  prophet  from 
among  your  brethren,  and  whosoever  will  not  hear  that  prophet,  [receive 
his  doctrine,]  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  the  people,"  that  is  to  say,  cut 
off  from  God's  people,  and  consigned  to  outer  darkness,  Acts  iii,  22. 
Peter  tells  the  Jews  that  Jesus  Christ  is  "  the  stone  which  is  set  at  naught 
by  the  builders,  but  is  nevertheless  the  head  of  the  corner,"  that  which 
supports  the  whole  building  of  each  believer's  salvation.  "  Neither  is 
there  salvation  in  any  other,"  adds  he,  "  for  there  is  none  other  name 
under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved,"  chap,  iv, 
12.  In  the  next  chapter,  verse  31,  the  same  apostle  declares,  that  "God 
has  exalted  Jesus  Christ  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour, 
and  to  give  repentance  and  forgiveness  of  sins  to  Israel."  And  else- 
where, Acts  x,  43,  he  says,  "  To  him  give  all  the  prophets  witness,  that, 
through  his  name,  whosoever  believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins."  The  third  chapter  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  may  be 
looked  upon  as  a  short  comment  upon  the  text :  part  of  it  runs  thus : 
"  Every  mouth  must  be  stopped,"  says  the  apostle,  "  and  all  the  world 
become  guilty  before  God  ;  therefore,  by  the  deeds  of  the  law,"  by  what 
a  man  can  do  in  obedience  to  the  law,  "  shall  no  flesh  be  justified.  But 
now  the  righteousness  of  God,"  or  God's  way  of  saving  sinners,  "  is 
manifested"  in  the  Gospel,  "  by  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and  upon 
all  that  believe,  for  there  is  no  difference,  for  all  have  sinned  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God  :  so  that  all  must  be  justified  freely  by  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  whom  God  has  set  forth 
to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood  for  the  remission  of  the 


170  CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD'g  DOCTRINE. 

sins  that  are  past."  By  these  scriptures,  not  to  quote  any  more,  you 
see,  my  brethren,  that  if  we  remain  in  ourselves,  in  our  sins  or  self  right- 
eousness, or  that  if  we  go  to  any  other  person  or  means  but  to  the  eternal 
Son  of  God,  through  all  such  means  we  have  not  the  least  chance  to 
escape  endless  ruin  ;  and  that  if  we  go  to  him  with  all  our  sins  and  guilt, 
with  all  our  misery  and  helplessness,  he  has  the  words  of  eternal  life ; 
he  can  and  will  speak  peace,  pardon,  and  heaven  into  our  souls,  and  then 
from  his  kingdom  of  grace  translate  us  into  his  kingdom  of  glory. 
Having  thus  showed  what  offended  many  of  the  disciples  of  our  Lord, 
so  that  they  walked  no  more  with  him ;  and  having  proved  that  Peter 
spoke  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  Gospel  when  he  said,  "  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life  ;"  I  shall  conclude  by 
an  application  of  what  has  been  delivered. 

Some  of  you  are  ready  to  find  fault  with  us  for  telling  and  pioving  to 
you,  that  every  natural  man,  every  unconverted  person,  is  in  a  damnable 
state,  yea,  is  condemned  already :  you  think  this  is  a  monstrous  doctrine, 
not  fit  to  be  mentioned  in  a  pulpit.  What !  is  that  which  is  so  plainly 
laid  down  in  the  Bible  monstrous,  and  not  fit  to  be  mentioned  in  the  pul- 
pit? Well,  then,  the  Bible  is  not  fit  to  be  read  in  the  desk.  O,  my 
brethren,  how  is  it  that  you  are  yet  without  understanding  in  this  point? 
How  is  it  you  cannot  see  that  your  hard  thoughts  or  hard  speeches  fall 
not  upon  us,  but  Upon  that  sacred  book,  and  upon  the  holy,  just,  glori- 
ous, and  eternal  God,  who  sent  it  to  you  from  heaven  ?  And  how  will 
you  stand  at  the  bar  of  God  when  this  very  book  shall  be  opened  for 
your  trial,  and  your  secret  murmurings  or  ungodly  speeches  against  it 
stare  you  in  the  face,  with  all  your  other  sins  ?  To  whom  will  you  go 
then  for  the  words  of  eternal  life ;  to  God  Almighty  ?  Hear  what  St. 
Peter  says :  "  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  to  the  humble." 
"  At  the  proud  he  looketh  afar  off,"  says  David  ;  yea,  he  frowned  Satan 
into  hell  for  his  pride ;  and  what  greater  pride  can  there  be  in  people 
that  are  born  in  sin,  and  children  of  wrath  by  nature,  as  you  and  I  are, 
than  to  oppose  the  plain  word  of  God,  and  to  absolve  ourselves  when  the 
Lord  condemns  us,  instead  of  pleading  guilty,  and  going  to  Christ  now 
for  life  and  salvation  ?  Will  you  go  to  him  in  the  hour  of  death  ?  Do  you 
think  he  will  give  you  heaven  then  for  having  trampled  his  doctrine  under 
foot?  Will  he  take  you  in,  who  fight  against  his  word,  when  he  shuts 
out  the  foolish  virgins  who  assented  to  all  that  it  contains  ?  Or  shall  we 
go  in  that  awful  day  to  our  good  works  for  salvation  ?  Our  good  works ! 
I  should  be  glad  to  know  which  they  are  ?  Our  oaths  and  curses,  our 
threats  and  passions,  our  whoredom  and  drunkenness,  our  filthy  talking 
and  jesting,  our  vain  and  covetous  practices,  our  lying  and  slandering, 
our  breaking  the  Sabbath,  and  making  sport  of  those  who  want  to  fear 
the  Lord,  our  keeping  away  from  the  house  of  God's  worship  when  others 
resort  to  it,  and  our  openly  refusing  to  walk  with  a  crucified  Saviour, 
when  the  sacred  mystery  of  his  dying  love  is  celebrated  at  the  altar, — 
are  these  our  good  works  ?  Will  these  save  us  ?  Having  been  guilty  of 
such  things,  shall  we  ever  dream  of  salvation  by  our  works?  When 
thieves  are  saved  from  the  gallows  by  the  robbery  they  have  committed, 
we  may  fancy  to  be  saved  from  hell  by  the  works  we  have  done.  When 
the  Pharisee  shall  go  justified  to  his  house,  we  may  hope  to  be  pardoned 
on  account  of  our  good  deeds.     And  when  the  pope  shall  have  turned 


CAUSES  OF  OFFENCE  TO  OUR  LORD  S  DOCTRINE.         IV J 

Christ  out  of  heaven,  and  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  out  of  the  Bible,  we 
may  dissent  from  Peter  in  the  text,  and  instead  of  saying  with  him, 
"  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life  ;"  we 
may  say  with  all  Deists,  "  Lord,  we  need  not  go  to  thee,  for  we  have  the 
words  of  eternal  life  at  our  command  ;  our  endeavours,  works,  and  right- 
eousness will  save  us  ;  the  pope  has  shown  us  this  door,  and  though  thou 
tellest  us  thou  art  the  door,  yet  we  are  determined  to  go  in  at  our  own 
door."  This  I  do  not  speak,  my  brethren,  to  set  you  against  good  works, 
but  to  show  you  the  need  of  coming  to  Christ  first,  that  the  tree  may  be 
made  good  before  you  can  do  works  good  in  the  sight  of  God.  "  Make 
the  tree  good,"  says  our  Lord,  "  and  then  the  fruit  shall  be  good ;"  till 
then,  "  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance ;"  and  when  you  stand  in 
the  Lord  by  faith,  when  you  are  grafted  in  Christ,  when  God  has  given 
you  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  take  St.  Paul's  advice, 
1  Cor.  xv,  58,  "  Be  steadfast,  unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord  :  forasmuch  as  you  know  that,"  though  your  labour  would 
be  in  vain  in  yourselves,  yet  it  "  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

But  I  would  hope  that  many  of  you,  instead  of  finding  these  sayings 
false  and  hard,  find  them  true  and  just ;  and  that  were  our  Lord  to  say 
unto  you  as  he  did  to  the  twelve,  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  you  would 
answer  as  well  as  Peter,  "'Lord,  to  whom  should  we  go?'  God  is  a 
consuming  fire  out  of  thee  ;  angels  and  saints,  bishops  and  priests,  books 
and  ordinances,  good  works  and  endeavours  cannot  save,  for  thou  alone, 
O  Christ,  hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life."  But  can  .you  say  this 
from  your  heart  as  well  as  with  your  lips  1  Are  you  entirely  reconciled  7 
Are  you  really  well  pleased  with  God's  way  of  saving  sinners  through 
faith  alone  in  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Do  you  ro- 
nounce  the  devil  and  all  his  works  ;  yea,  and  all  dependence  upon  your 
own  works  1  Can  you,  with  St.  Paul,  desire  to  be  found  in  Christ,  not 
having  your  own  righteousness,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  his 
blood  ?  Are  you  determined  to  glory  only  in  the  Lord ;  to  rejoice  in 
nothing  so  much  as  in  the  cross  of  Jesus  your  Lord,  which  is  to  crucify 
the  world  unto  you,  and  you  unto  the  world  ?  Though  all  men  should 
go  back*  to  the  world,  and  walk  no  more  with  Christ  in  the  way  of  the 
regeneration,  are  you  resolved  (the  Lord  being  your  helper)  to  follow 
Christ  and  his  word,  and  to  stand  to  your  Bible  even  unto  death  ?  If 
this  is  the  case,  rejoice,  you  dearly  beloved  of  the  Lord ;  the  good  work 
is  begun  in  your  souls  ;  you  are  already  called  out  of  the  world.  "  Mar- 
vel  not,  then,"  says  St.  John,  "  if  the  world  hate  you  ;"  it  hated,  it  for- 
sook, it  crucified  your  Lord  and  Master  before  you,  and  so  it  will  do  by 
the  servant  in  a  measure.  O,  bear  your  cross  with  patience ;  your 
Saviour  who  bore  it  first  comes  to  meet  you  with  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness, and  a  crown  of  glory.  O  faint  not  in  the  meantime  ;  faint  not  in 
this  day  of  reproach,  scandal,  temptation,  and  darkness.  You  see  many 
who  call  themselves  disciples,  and  Churchmen,  exclaiming  against  the 
plain  doctrine  of  Christ  and  of  our  Church,  and  refusing  to  walk  with 
our  reformers  in  the  narrow  path  pointed  out  in  the  word  of  God,  and 
in  our  articles  and  homilies.  But  O,  follow  not  a  multitude  in  the  broad 
way ;  choose  rather  with  Moses  to  endure  affliction  and  reproach  with 
the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  and  smiles  of  the  world 
for  a  season.     Take  the  good  part  of  Mary,  take  the  good  part  of  Peter, 


172  ON  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE. 

and  though  all  the  world  should  not  only  forsake  Christ,  but  also  rise  up 
in  arms  against  you  for  cleaving  to  his  word,  stand  to  the  text.  In  you 
there  is  nothing  but  sin,  death,  and  damnation,  says  our  Church.  "  In 
me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  (says  Paul  himself,)  dwelleth  no  good  thing." 
Dp  then  with  the  apostle ;  not  only  renounce  with  him  all  other  saviours, 
but  go.  this  moment  go,  to  him  whom' God  has  exalted  to  be  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour  for  you.  Say  not  only,  "  To  whom  shall  we  go  ?"  but  go 
directly,  with  all  your  sins,  with  all  your  misery,  to  your  dying  Saviour. 
Tell  him,  "  Lord,  thou  hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life  :  speak  them  in 
my  soul."  Give  him  no  rest  till  he  say  to  you,  as  he  did  to  David,  "  I 
am  thy  salvation ;"  till  he  give  you  the  blessing  which  he  gave  to  the 
thief  upon  the  cross,  to  Zaccheus  upon  the  tree,  to  Nathanael  under  the 
fig  tree,  to  the  harlot  that  wept  behind  him,  to  the  woman  who  touched 
the  hem  of  his  garment,  to  the  returning  prodigal,  to  the  penitent 
publican  in  the  temple.  Fear  not ;  only  believe  ;  one  grain  of  the  faith 
of  the  centurion  will  remove  all  your  sins  upon  Christ,  who  took  them 
away  upon  the  cross.  Hear  what  David  says  :  "  As  the  heaven  is  high 
above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his  mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him  ;  as  far 
as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  has  he  put  our  sins  from  us."  Look 
up  then,  believe,  and  live.  Does  not  the  Lord  even  now  speak  the  word 
that,  going  justified  to  your  houses  through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting 
covenant,  you  may  praise  and  serve  him  without  fear  all  the  days 
of  your  lives  ? 


Sermon  X. — On  what  terms  Christ  gives  life. 
"  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might  have  life,"  John  v,  40. 

Last  Sunday  I  showed  that  Christ  has  an  indubitable  right  to  call  us 
to  receive  spiritual  and  eternal  life  at  his  hands ;  because,  having  stood 
as  our  surety,  he  has  fully  satisfied  Divine  justice,  and  exactly  answered 
the  demands  of  the  Divine  law  :  so  that  now  he  is  the  author  of  eternal 
salvation  to  all  those  that  seek  it  through  his  merits.  I  expostulated 
next  with  the  convinced  and  awakened  sinners ;  answering  their  most 
common  objections  for  putting  off  their  coming  to  Jesus  Christ  for  life. 
But  as  time  did  not  permit  me  to  do  such  an  important  subject  justice,  I 
shall  to-day,  by  the  grace  of  God,  show  more  particularly  upon  what 
terms  Christ  gives  life  to  those  that  come  unto  him  :  describe  four  classes 
of  sinners  who  will  not  come  to  Christ  that  they  might  have  life  :  prove, 
by  some  unanswerable  arguments,  that  unbelief  (or  not  coming  to  Christ 
for  life)  is  the  most  abominable  and  damning  of  all  sins  ;  and  then  I  shall 
conclude  by  exhorting  those  who  are  guilty  of  it  to  arise,  and  go  to  their 
Saviour  for  pardon  and  life.  And,  in  the  meantime,  may  the  power  of 
Divine  grace,  and  the  virtue  of  Jesus'  name,  be  so  present  to  wound  and 
to  heal  our  souls,  as  to  make  us  willing  and  able  to  come  to  him  now, 
that  henceforth  we  may  live  to  the  glory  of  him  who  died  for  us! 

I.  I  am  to  show  upon  what  terms  Christ  gives  life  unto  those  that 
come  to  him. 

To  come  to  Christ  that  we  may  have  life  is,  in  general,  to  believe  in 
him  only  for  salvation.     It  is  to  pass  through  faith,  from  a  state  of  nature 


ON  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE.  173 

unto  a  state  of  grace  :  from  a  state  of  guilt  and  sin,  into  a  state  of  peace 
and  holiness  :  it  is  to  forsake  the  old  Adam  and  his  deeds,  and  to  go  unto 
Christ  so  as  to  dwell  in  him,  and  to  have  him  dwelling  in  us.  It  is,  in 
short,  to  make  an  exchange  of  what  we  are,  for  what  Christ  is  or  hath  :  " 
giving  all  we  are  worth  to  buy  this  pearl,  as  the  wise  merchant  in  the 
Gospel. 

This  exchange,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  get  life,  implies  four 
things  chiefly. 

1.  The  giving  ourselves  to  him ;  head,  heart,  tongue,  body,  soul, 
because  he  bestows  himself  upon  us  freely.  Then  we  are  enabled  to 
say  with  the  believing  soul,  Cant,  vi,  3,  "  I  am  my  beloved's,  and  my 
beloved  is  mine."  When  we  do  this  sincerely,  we  sit  already  in  heavenly 
places  with  our  blessed  Saviour.  His  Father  is  our  Father :  his  throne 
is  our  throne ;  and  we  reap  the  benefits  of  his  triumphs  over  death,  hell, 
and  the  devil. 

2.  Coming  to  Jesus  Christ  for  life  implies  giving  all  our  sins  to  Christ ; 
confessing  them,  loathing  them,  leaving  them,  casting  them  upon  that 
Lamb  of  God,  so  as  to  receive  rest  for  our  souls  from  the  guilt  and 
power  of  them.  When  we  do  this  we  are  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him,  who,  though  he  knew  no  sin,  yet  was  made  a  sin  offering 
for  us. 

3.  Believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  or  coming  to  him  for  life,  implies  a 
giving  up  our  name,  pleasure,  profit,  life,  for  him  and  his  Gospel ; 
because  he  gives  his  crown  and  honour,  his  life  and  all  unto  us.  Thus, 
when  nothing  seems  to  be  delightful  and  glorious  unto  us  but  Christ,  he 
takes  us  into  a  share  of  all  his  delights  and  glory. 

4.  Our  blessed  Lord  expects,  when  we  come  unto  him  for  life,  that 
we  forsake  all  dependence  upon  our  own  righteousness,  and  place  our 
entire  reliance  upon  his  merits  ;  and  then  we  shall  obtain  absolution  from 
guilt,  and  be  fully  and  freely  "  accepted  in  the  beloved."  Now,  glorious 
as  these  conditions  are,  it  is  remarkable  that  no"  one  ever  submitted  to 
accept  of  them  till  be  was  driven  to  an  extremity;  no  sinner  ever  coming 
to  Jesus  Christ  for  life  till  he  sees  that  he  is  a  dead  man  without  him. 
We  all  shift  for  our  ourselves,  as  long  as  we  can,  upon  the  stormy  sea 
of  the  world,  caring  little  whether  Christ  is  far  or  near,  whether  he 
wakes  or  sleeps ;  but  if,  happily  for  us,  a  storm  arise  in  our  conscience, 
and  we  see  ourselves  just  ready  to  sink  into  the  gulf  of  God's  judgment, 
then,  and  then  only,  are  we  made  willing  to  come  to  Jesus  Christ :  then, 
and  then-  only,  we  cry  with  the  trembling  disciples,  "  Lord,  save  us,  we 
perish !  Lord,  quicken  our  souls  by  thy  saving  health,  or  we  die  the 
second  death  !" 

And  to  convince  you  of  the  truth  of  this  amazing  assertion,  I  come, 
II.  To  describe  four  classes  of  sinners  who  make  up  almost  the  whole 
of  Christ's  visible  Church  in  our  day,  and  yet  will  not  come  to  Christ 
for  life. 

1.  The  first  class  consists  of  those  who  have  well  nigh  filled  up  the 
measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  sinned  away  their  day  of  grace.  These, 
hke  Cain  and  Judas,  seeing  their  sins  very  great,  and  feeling  their  hearts 
almost  past  relenting,  scorn  to  sigh  and  mourn,  and  ask  for  mercy :  and 
unable  to  bear  the  consideration  of  their  dangerous,  desperate  state, 
hke  mad  dogs  they  break  the  chains  of  restraining  grace,  and  run  to  the 


174  ON  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE. 

vomit  of  sin  up  m  the  dung  hill  of  profaneness,  till  they  leap  into  the  lake 
that  burnetii  with  unquenchable  fire.  Of  these  (humbling  and  melan- 
choly thought !)  there  are  not  a  few  among  us.  These  you  will  find 
running  into  excesses  and  debauchery,  as  far  as  their  shaken  constitution 
and  shallow  purse  will  permit.  These  are  noted  for  rambling  from  one 
house  of  public  entertainment  to  another  ;  for  breaking  the  Sabbath,  as 
far  as  the  fear  of  the  laws  will  allow  them  ;  despising  all  religious  wor- 
ship, and  scoffing  at  all  those  that  seem  soberly  and  religiously  inclined. 
These  are  the  first  born  of  Satan,  and  the  boldest  of  his  visible  agents 
among  men :  they  worship  openly  their  Father ;  and  were  their  lip 
prayers  (if  they  pray  at  all)  to  be  weighed  in  a  balance  with  their  hearty 
curses  and  desperate  wishes  for  damnation,  you  would  find  that  the  ser- 
vice they  offer  to  God  Almighty  bears  no  proportion  to  that  which  they 
offer  to  the  devil.  These  people  are  each  of  them  a  living  hell ;  sunk 
into  brutish  lusts,  and  worse  than  brutish  stupidity :  swelled  with  diabo. 
lical  passions,  they  have  nothing  human  but  the  shape,  and  (blessed  be 
God  !)  a  capacity  to  come  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  may  rescue  them  from 
the  jaws  of  eternal  death.  But  to  these,  among  us,  he  says  in  vain, 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life."  Formerly,  indeed, 
such  publicans  and  sinners  flocked  to  hear  the  word,  and  entered  into 
life  before  the  righteous  Pharisees  and  learned  scribes  ;  but  in  our 
degenerate  days  both  publicans  and  Pharisees  seem  to  vie  who  shall 
slight  the  Gospel  most. 

2.  The  second  class  of  those  who  refuse  to  come  to  Jesus  Christ  for 
life,  is  that  of  careless,  reputable  sinners,  who,  trusting  in  themselves  that 
they  are  righteous,  (or  at  least  that  they  are  safe,  because  less  unright- 
eous than  others,)  slight  the  invitations  of  Christ's  messengers.  Do  they 
hear  an  offer  of  Christ  ?  Instead  of  wondering  at  the  love  of  the  Lord, 
in  making  it  to  them,  they  regard  it  not.  After  the  most  searching 
sermon  they  go  home  as  unaffected  with  grace  and  sin  as  if  they  had 
been  hearing  a  ballad,  \>r  seeing  a  horse  race.  You  may  know  them  by 
such  language  as  this,  when  the  tedious  discourse  is  over :  "  It  is  very 
fine  weather  to-day.  Well,  what  do  you  say  of  the  man?  For  my 
part  I  believe  he  means  well ;  but  do  you  not  think  he  overdoes  the 
matter  ?  Did  you  see  such  a  one  at  church  ?  We  had  but  a  thin  con- 
gregation to-day,  the  roads  are  so  dirty."  Thus  he  will  speak  of  the 
weather,  the  congregation,  the  minister,  the  sermon,  and  what  not  ?  but 
if  ever  you  hear  him  mention  the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  or  the  sinfulness 
of  his  heart,  and  the  danger  of  his  unconverted  state,  represented  in  the 
sermon,  you  may  wonder,  for  the  leopard  has  changed  one  of  his  spots. 
These  careless  sinners,  who  are  every  where  the  most  numerous  tribe,  . 
are  for  the  world,  their  farm,  their  merchandise,  their  wife ;  they  have 
married  or  intend  to  marry,  and  the  care  of  the  perishing  body  engrosses 
almost  all  their  thoughts.  As  the  Gadarenes,  disturbed  about  the  loss  of 
their  herd  of  swine,  came  to  Jesus,  and  besought  him  to  depart  out  of  their 
coasts  :  or  like  the  devils,  who,  when  our  Lord  was  going  to  cast  them 
out  of  the  man,  cried,  "  What  have  we  to  do  with  thee  ?  Art  thou  come 
to  torment  us  before  the  time  ?"  So  these  worldly,  careless  sinners,  when 
we  invite  them  to  rend  their  hearts,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  with  weep- 
ing, fasting,  and  praying,  account  our  ministry  troublesome  and  danger- 
ous.  They  wish  we  would  depart  out  of  their  coasts,  or  complain  that  we 


ON   WHAT   TEEMS   CHRIST   GIVES  LIFE.  175 

try  to  make  them  uneasy  before  the  time.  Scorning  to  yield  to  convic- 
tion, and  stifling  the  checks  of  their  own  conscience,  they  soon  grow  so 
careless,  or  rather  so  hardened,  that  they  make  no  more  of  the  offer  of 
Christ  than  of  the  offer  of  a  straw.  Were  a  good  bargain  put  to  them, 
they  would  forget  all  their  business  to  accomplish  it :  but  when  it  is  only 
Jesus  Christ  and  life  that  they  are  invited  to,  they  suppose  it  time  enough 
to  think  of  that ;  they  pray  to  be  excused  for  the  present ;  or  madly 
suppose  that  they  have  already  accepted  him.  I  want  words,  brethren 
to  express  the  greatness  of  the  danger  of  these  Laodicean  sinners,  who 
say,  "  I  am  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing." 
I  shall  only  observe,  that  if  the  blood  of  Abel  cried  to  heaven  for  ven- 
geance against  Cain,  the  blood  of  Christ  will  one  day  cry  much  louder 
against  these  unbelievers,  who,  by  slighting  it,  spill  it  afresh  every 
moment.  To  these,  then,  as  well  as  against  desperate  unbelievers,  the 
man  of  sorrows  and  Lord  of  glory  says,  with  great  reason,  "  Ye  will  not 
come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life." 

3.  The  third  sort  of  sinners  that  reject  this  kind  offer  cf  our  Lord,  is 
that  of  presumptuous  unbelievers  ;  who,  seeing  what  sins  they  have  com- 
mitted, and  it  may  be,  having  now  and  then  some  touches  of  sorrow  for 
them,  catch  notionally  at  Christ,  and  hope  to  be  saved  by  him,  before 
ever  they  come  to  feel  sin  as  a  heavy  curse.  These  catching  notionally 
at  Christ,  and  hoping  that  they  have  him  already,  shut  him  out  of  the 
future,  and  so  in  fact  reject  him.  This  is  the  case  of  most  of  those  who 
are  only  half  awakened.  The  Prophet  Micah  describes  them  in  these 
remarkable  words :  "  The  sin  of  Israel  is  great,  and  unrepented  of,  yet 
will  they  lean  upon  the  Lord  and  say,  Is  not  the  Lord  among  us  ?  None 
evil  can  come  upon  us,"  Mic.  iii,  11.  You  will  never  hear  people  that  are 
in  this  dangerous  state  complain  of  their  utter  want  of  faith,  but  only  of 
the  weakness  of  their  faith ;  and  they  will  not  be  beaten  off  from  the 
notion,  that  they  are  true  but  weak  believers.  Let  them  hear  never  so 
much  of  their  real  misery,  and  see  never  so  much  of  their  desperate  sin- 
fulness, yet  they  will  hold  their  imaginary  trust  in  Christ :  as  if  one  could 
savingly  trust  in  Christ,  before  he  has  truly  experienced  the  bitterness 
of  sin,  and  been  clearly  convinced  of  unbelief,  John  xvi,  9.  Therefore, 
these  also,  (though  they  profess  with  their  lips  and  conversation  to  come 
to  Christ  for  life,)  yet  in  fact  keep  at  a  distance  from  him  with  their 
heart,  as  well  as  desperate  and  careless  unbelievers.  This  was  the  case 
of  the  foolish  virgins.  They  made  great  profession  of  going  to  meet  the 
bridegroom,  as  well  as  the  wise  ones,  and  really  thought  they  had  oil  in 
their  vessels,  or  faith  in  their  hearts ;  but  being  mistaken,  they  justly 
perished  for  their  wilful  delusion. 

4.  The  fourth,  and  last  class  of  unbelievers,  who  make  Christ  com- 
plain, that  they  will  not  come  unto  him  that  they  might  have  life,  is  that 
of  those  who  are  convinced  they  have  not  life, — they  perceive  in  general 
that  they  are  in  a  bad  state, — they  have  some  confused  sight  of  their 
sins,  and  of  their  need  of  Jesus  Christ, — but  after  all,  they  do  not  know 
whether  they  had  best  come  to  him  or  not.  They  see  some  good  in  a 
Saviour,  for  which  they  fain  would  have  him ;  such  as  peace,  grace, 
pardon,  and  heaven  :  but  they  see  many  things  in  his  offer  of  life  that 
overbalance  those  advantages.  They  must  bid  adieu  to  all  their  foolish 
pastimes,  and  vain  diversions :  the  drunkard  must  renounce  his  cups, 


176  ON  WHAT  TEEMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE. 

and  the  silly  virgin  her  love  of  dress :  the  gamester  must  part  with  his 
cards  and  dice,  and  the  jovial  man  with  his  foolish  talking  and  jesting : 
the  covetous  man  must  cut  his  right  hand,  that  is,  give  to  the  poor  what 
he  laid  up  for  himself :  the  unclean  person  must  pluck  out  his  right  eye, 
that  is,  part  with  the  gratifying  of  some  base  lust,  which  is  dearer  to  him 
than  a  right  eye  ;  and  Nicodemus  must  confess  Jesus  openly,  even  before 
Pontius  Pilate  :  all  must  take  up  the  cross  of  their  Saviour,  and  follow 
him  through  evil  report,  slander,  and  cruel  mockings.  Now  all  this  is 
very  hard  to  flesh  and  blood  ;  and  people  who  are  disturbed  by  the 
dread  of  the  cross,  and  the  fear  of  man,  being  drawn  by  the  love  of  the 
world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride  of  life,  of  course  remain  irreso- 
lute and  unsettled  in  their  principles :  they  will  lean  this  way,  and  that 
way  ;  now  they  put  their  hand  to  the  plough,  and  the  next  moment  they 
look  back  :  to-day  they  resolve  to  sell  all,  to  buy  the  pearl  of  great 
price  ;  but  to-morrow  they  think  it  is  venturing  too  far,  and  begin  to  hope 
that  they  can  be  saved  at  a  lower  rate.  With  the  young  man  in  the 
Gospel,  they  will  ask  you  in  a  fit  of  devotion,  "  What  they  must  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life  ?"  But  if  you  tell  them  that  all  the  good  they  have 
done  from  their  youth  up,  or  can  do  to  their  dying  breath,  will  stand 
them  in  no  stead  without  Christ ;  that  they  must  sell  all,  renounce  all 
their  sins,  without  excepting  the  most  delightful,  fashionable  ones,  and 
follow  their  Saviour  through  the  regeneration  ;  though  they  have  perhaps 
not  much  of  this  world's  goods,  yet  they  will  go  away  sorrowful,  as  well 
as  he  that  had  great  possessions.  If  ministers  could  show  them  some 
by-way  to  steal  into  heaven  without  bearing  the  reproach  of  the  cross, 
and  denying  the  flesh,  then  they  would  embrace  the  Gospel :  if  we  could 
teach  them  how  to  follow  the  world  and  Christ  at  the  same  time,  and 
how  to  die  the  death  of  the  righteous  after  having  lived  the  life  of  the 
worldly,  they  would  rank  us  among  the  best  preachers  :  if  we  gave 
them  to  understand  that  they  might  compound  the  matter  between  Christ 
and  Belial,  and  keep  upon  fair  terms  with  the  world  and  God  at  the  same 
time,  they  would  be  converted  this  very  day.  But  from  such  half  con- 
version, good  Lord,  deliver  us  and  them !  Of  such  half  conversion  our 
Saviour  speaks,  Matt,  xiii,  20 :  "  He  that  receiveth  the  seed  into  stony 
places,  the  same  is  he  that  heareth  the  word,  and  anon  with  joy  receiveth 
it :  but  as  he  hath  not  root  in  himself,  he  dureth  only  for  a  while  ;  for 
when  tribulation,  temptation,  or  persecution  ariseth  because  of  the  word, 
by  and  by  he  is  offended,"  and  falleth  back  to  the  world.  These  sinners 
are  the  most  unhappy  of  all :  they  enjoy  neither  the  pleasures  of  sin, 
nor  those  of  godliness  :  they  have  neither  earth  nor  heaven  ;  for  as  they 
halt  between  Baal  and  God,  and  serve  neither  faithfully,  they  are  re- 
warded by  neither.  They  are  a  kind  of  mongrels  in  religion,  a  mon- 
strous compound  of  Christianity  and  worldliness.  One  day  they  cry, 
"  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,"  and  seem  to  confess  him  in  his  doc- 
trine, and  the  next  day,  drawn  away,  or  overawed  by  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  of  the  age,  they  join  the  general  cry,  "  Away  with  him,  his 
doctrine  is  too  strict ;  his  conditions  are  too  hard  ;  his  offers  are  too  full 
of  restriction  ;  at  this  rate  who  can  be  saved  ?"  Thus  these  also,  in  the 
end,  are  found  despisers  of  Christ,  as  well  as  desperate  sinners,  careless 
sinners,  and  presumptuous  sinners ;  all  refusing  to  come  unto  him  that 
they  might  have  life  upon  his  own  terms.     I  hasten  now, 


OX  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE.  17? 

III.  To  show  the  greatness  of  their  sin,  which  consists  in  wilful 
unbelief;  or,  in  other  terms,  in  not  coming  to  Christ  that  they  might 
have  life. 

1.  It  is  the  most  heinous  of  all  sins.  By  committing  all  other  ima- 
ginable sins,  we  indeed  trample  under  foot  the  holy  law  of  God  :  but  by 
the  sin  of  unbelief,  by  not  coming  to  Christ  to  receive  life  from  him,  we 
trample  under  foot  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  look  upon  it  as  a 
common  thing  :  and  in  this  state  there  is  absolutely  no  salvation  for 
us,  Heb.  vi,  6. 

2.  If  you  are  guilty  of  murder  and  adultery,  of  drunkenness  and 
injustice,  you  sin  against  the  justice  and  holiness  of  God  :  but  by  unbe- 
lief, by  not  coming  to  Christ  for  life,  you  sin  not  only  against  the  justice 
and  holiness  of  God,  but  against  his  mercy  too ;  and  thus  shut  against 
yourself  the  only  door  at  which  you  can  escape  from  endless  ruin. 

3.  Unbelief,  or  not  coming  to  Jesus  Christ  for  life,  is  the  only  damning 
sin  under  the  Gospel.  In  fact,  suppose  a  reprobate,  guilty  of  all  the 
abominations  of  Manasses,  the  extortions  of  Zaccheus,  the  oaths  of  Peter, 
and  the  wickedness  of  the  dying  thief:  if  such  a  monster,  loaded  with 
these  mountains  of  repeated  and  aggravated  guilt,  comes  sincerely  to 
Jesus  for  life  and  pardon,  will  the  Son  of  God  cast  him  out  1  Or  will  he 
save  to  the  uttermost  the  chief  of  sinners  ?  He  will,  he  must  save  him. 
The  promise  hath  passed  his  lips.  He  can  in  no  wise  cast  him  out. 
For  he  that  believeth  in  him,  though  he  were  dead  in  all  manner  of  sins, 
yet  shall  he  live,  and  with  Manasses  and  David  shall  praise  a  pardoning 
God.  So  true  it  is,  that  a  grain  of  living  faith  will  remove  the  highest 
mountain  of  sin  into  the  sea  of  Jesus'  blood.  On  the  other  hand,  sup- 
pose a  man  as  exact  in  all  religious  and  social  duties  as  the  Pharisee 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel  :  suppose  again,  if  you  please,  that  he  has 
always  lived  as  sober,  as  pious  a  life  as  the  hopeful  young  man  that  had 
kept  the  letter  of  all  the  commandments  from  his  youth ;  yet  what  will 
that  avail  him  in  that  day  ?  If,  resting  upon  his  goodness,  as  the 
Pharisee,  or  thinking  the  Gospel  terms  too  hard,  as  the  young  man,  he 
never  comes  to  Jesus  Christ  for  life,  or  goes  away  sorrowful  before  he 
receives  it,  he  must  perish  in  his  blood,  he  must  die  the  second  death,  as 
surely  as  if  he  had  the  guilt  of  all  the  sins  of  David  and  Manasses  upon 
his  conscience.  And  that  for  two  reasons  :  first,  dying  out  of  Christ,  he 
dies  in  the  old  Adam,  dies  a  natural  man,  dies  unrenewed ;  and  such  a 
one  can  never  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  John  iii,  3.  Secondly,  there  is 
but  one  way  to  get  into  that  kingdom,  namely,  Christ,  the  way,  John 
xiv,  6.  And  if  a  child  of  Adam  should  be  never  so  circumspect  in  his 
conduct,  without  entering  this  way,  he  could  never  see  life,  but  must 
inevitably  perish  :  unless  you  suppose  he  can  climb  up  some  other  way, 
contrary  to  John  x,  1.  Upon  these  considerations,  it  is  acknowledged 
by  all  sound  divines,  that  had  Judas  come  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling  as 
Peter  did,  he  would  have  been  pardoned  as  well  as  he,  notwithstanding 
his  most  horrible  crime ;  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  Nicodemus,  with  all 
his  piety  and  morality,  would  have  been  damned  as  well  as  Judas,  had 
he  not  come  to  Jesus  that  he  might  have  life.  Whence  flows  that 
Christian  axiom  which  sounds  like  blasphemy  in  the  ears  of  every 
unconvinced  sinner,  but  which  will  stand  as  long  as  the  Gospel  stands: 
one  single  sin  will  damn  for  ever  the  best  liver,  if  he  does  not  come  to 

^ol.  IV.  12 


178  OX  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE. 

Jesus  Christ  that  he  may  have  life,  and  be  born  again  of  the  Spirit. 
And  on  the  other  hand,  all  manner  of  sins  and  blasphemies  shall  be 
forgiven  to  him  that  comes  to  Jesus  for  life  :  so  that  the  once  abominable 
Manasses,  dying  in  Christ,  lifts  up  his  eyes  in  endless  glory ;  and  the 
virtuous  Pharisee,  dying  out  of  Christ,  lifts  them  up  in  eternal  torments. 
So  true  is  that  saying  of  our  Lord,  "  The  last  shall  be  first,  and  the 
first  last." 

4.  It  is  the  sin  that  God  will  punish  with  the  hottest  place  of  hell. 
Capernaum  was  a  town  where  our  blessed  Lord  often  invited  people  to 
come  to  him  for  life,  both  by  his  preaching  and  miracles :  but  it  was 
then  as  it  is  now,  they  made  light  of  the  invitation.  Some  went  to  their 
farms,  and  others  to  their  merchandise,  and  not  a  few  reviled  our  Saviour 
and  his  doctrine,  accounting  him  uncharitable,  or  out  of  his  senses.  This 
engaged  the  Son  of  God,  mild  and  gentle  as  he  was,  to  make,  for  our 
warning,  this  amazing  declaration  :  "  Thou  Capernaum,  that  art  exalted 
to  heaven,"  that  supposest  thou  art  in  the  way  to  heaven,  and  as  it  were, 
already  there,  "  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell :"  thy  inhabitants  shall  be 
consigned  to  hell,  and  shall  have  the  hottest  place  there  :  "  For  I  say 
unto  you,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  in  the  day  of  judgment  for  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  yea,  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  than  for  you."  Who  could 
ever  have  believed  this,  had  not  the  Son  of  God  revealed  it  again  and 
again  ?  What !  shall  those  who  call  themselves  God's  people,  and  think 
they  are  sure  of  heaven ;  who  lead  a  moral  life,  and  attend  God's  ordi- 
nances, as  the  Capernaites ;  shall  they  be  more  severely  punished  than 
those  impure  children  of  Belial,  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom,  who  met  a  hell 
upon  earth,  and  were  visibly  driven,  by  flakes  of  fire  from  heaven,  into 
a  lake  burning  with  brimstone  in  hell  1  Yes !  so  heinous  in  the  sight  of 
God,  so  abominable  is  that  sin  of  unbelief,  of  not  coming  to  Christ  for 
life,  that  He  who  judgeth  righteous  judgment  has  pronounced  it  shall  be 
more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  than  for  Bethsaida,  in  the  day 
of  judgment.  Archbishop  Usher,  in  one  of  the  sermons  that  I  read  to 
vou  last  summer,  accounts  boldly  for  that  amazing  instance  of  Divine 
severity.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Sodom,"  says  he,  "  sinned  against  nature, 
and  their  own  blood ;  whereas  unbelievers  sin  against  grace,  and  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God." 

5.  It  is  the  sin  which  brings  the  greatest  dishonour  to  God.  It  is  not 
only  an  open  contempt  of  his  authority,  but  of  his  mercy  and  love.  It 
is  also  a  direct  reflection  upon  the  Divine  veracity  :  for  "  he  that  believ- 
eth  not  God,  hath  made  him  a  liar  ;  because  he  believeth  not  the  record 
that  God  gave  of  his  Son."  The  prodigal  son  made  himself  vile  and 
abominable  by  his  riotous  living  ;  but  yet  pity  and  mercy  pleaded  for  him 
in  his  father's  breast.  But  suppose  he  had  refused  the  kiss  of  peace 
which  his  father  gave  him,  had  slighted  the  best  robe,  and  determined 
still  to  wear  his  filthy  rags ;  would  not  such  behaviour  have  stabbed  his 
father  to  the  heart,  and  have  appeared  more  monstrous  in  his  sight  than  all 
his  former  miscarriages  ?  This  is  exactly  the  case  with  us  :  till  we  come 
to  Jesus  Christ  for  life,  we  are  all  prodigal  children  :  we  have  all  squan- 
dered away  our  portion — the  Divine  favour  and  image :  we  have  all  fed 
the  devil's  swine  far  from  our  native  country,  heaven :  we  have  all  in- 
dulged our  sinful  appetites,  and  kept  at  a  distance  from  God  with  our 
hearts,  even  when  we  drew  near  to  him  with  our  lips.     And  now  that 


ON  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE.  179 

our  Father  is  come  from  heaven,  in  the  person  of  the  Son  of  his  love, 
and  sends  to  us  day  by  day  the  ministers  of  his  Gospel,  to  offer  us  the 
kiss  of  peace,  and  the  best  robe  of  righteousness ;  can  we  fill  up  the 
measure  of  our  iniquities  in  a  manner  more  cutting  to  his  loving  heart, 
than  by  spurning  his  mercy,  and  finding  fault  with  the  terms  on  which 
he  offers  us  salvation  ? 

6.  It  is  the  most  desperate  of  all  sins.  If  a  man  has  cursed  and  sworn 
a  hundred  times  in  his  life,  I  grant  that  he  has  a  hundred  times  sold  his 
soul  to  the  devil  for  naught,  and  given  himself  a  hundred  deadly  wounds  ; 
but  yet  his  case  is  not  hopeless.  If  he  come  to  the  Son  of  God  for  life, 
he  will  bring  him  back  from  the  jaws  of  destruction,  and  cure  all  his 
wounds  with  the  balm  of  Gilead,  his  most  precious  blood  :  but  if  he  only 
neglect  to  come  to  Jesus  Christ,  he  desperately  rejects  the  only  remedy : 
"  There  remaineth  no  other  sacrifice  for  sin,"  says  St.  Paul ;  he  cannot 
be  renewed  to  repentance  any  other  way  than  that  into  which  he  refuses 
to  come.  In  short,  he  cuts  his  own  throat,  and  then  madly  refuses  the 
surgeon's  help,  and  dies  as  stubborn,  presumptuous,  and  hardened  as 
Lucifer  himself.  This  is  the  lamentable  end  of  all  those  who  let  Christ 
complain  in  vain,  that  they  will  not  come  to  him  that  they  might  have 
life.  And  I  cannot  but  incline  to  the  opinion  of  many  eminent  divines, 
among  whom  is  Bishop  Latimer,  who  affirms,  this  wilful  unbelief,  this 
careless  neglect  of  Christ  and  his  blood,  if  persisted  in  to  the  end,  is  the 
only  unpardonable  sin,  because  it  overturns  the  very  means  of  forgive- 
ness by  rejecting  the  application  of  the  blood  of  Christ. 

7.  It  is  a  sin  of  so  deep  a  dye,  that  all  the  devils  in  hell  cannot  com- 
mit the  like.  Our  Saviour  never  prayed,  wept,  bled,  and  died  for  devils. 
He  never  said  to  them,  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  might  have 
life."  They  can  never  be  so  madly  ungrateful  as  to  slight  a  Saviour. 
Mercy  never  wooed  their  stubborn,  proud  hearts,  as  it  does  ours.  Thev 
have  abused  grace,  it  is  true,  but  they  never  trampled  mercy  under  foot : 
this  more  than  diabolical  sin  is  reserved  for  thee,  careless  sinner,  who 
goest  on  in  vanity  without  calling  on  Christ  for  a  broken  and  contrite 
heart,  and  supposest  thyself  safe,  though  the  blood  of  Christ  never 
washed  thy  filthy  soul,  and  melted  thy  stubborn  heart.  O  what  despair- 
ing reflections  dost  thou  prepare  for  thyself,  when  Christ,  in  his  turn, 
shall  bid  thee  depart !.  Now  thou  hearest  him  compassionately  say,  in  the 
text,  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,"  and  thou  remainest  unmoved.  Shut 
up  in  unfelt  guilt  and  unbelief,  thou  wonderest  perhaps  what  we  mean, 
by  speaking  so  much  of  coming  to  Christ  for  life  :  but  the  time  cometh 
when  thou  shalt  wonder  at  thy  madness  for  making  light  of  the  gracious 
offer.  The  time  cometh  when  Jesus,  who  meekly  intreats,  shall  sternly 
curse :  when  he  who  in  tender  patience  says,  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto 
me  for  fife,"  shall  thunder  in  righteous  vengeance,  "  Depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed  ;  depart  unto  the  second  death,  the  fire  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels."  In  vain  wilt  thou  plead  then  as  thou  dost  now,  "Lord, 
I  am  no  adulterer,  I  am  no  extortioner,  I  used  to  eat  at  thy  table,  I  was 
baptized  in  thy  name,  I  was  a  true  Churchman,  there  are  many  who 
are  worse  than  I  am."  In  vain  shalt  thou  thus  say,  "  Lord,  Lord  :"  this 
will  not  admit  thee  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  His  answer  will  be,  "  I 
know  you  not :  you  never  came  unto  me  for  life."  This  is  the  con- 
demnation, says  he,  John  iii,  19,  this  is  the  true  cause  of  your  condem- 


180  ON  WHAT  TERMS  CHRIST  GIVES  LIFE. 

nation — "  the  light  [Christ  and  his  grace]  is  come  into  the  world,  and 
you  love  darkness  rather  than  light :"  you  remain  shut  up  in  your  natural 
darkness,  and  care  not  for  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  which  shines 
again  in  Christ  upon  believing  souls.  Yea,  some  are  so  far  from  caring 
for  it,  that  they  explode  it  as  the  visionary  dream  of  men  whose  brain  is 
turned  by  religion,  or  whose  tongue  is  actuated  by  hypocrisy.  But  wis- 
dom  shall  be  justified  of  her  children.  In  the  meantime  our  commission 
stands  in  full  force  :  "  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  And  what 
is  that  Gospel  ?  "  He  that  believeth,  he  that  cometh  to  the  Son  that  he 
might  have  life  shall  be  saved ;  he  that  believeth  not,  he  that  cometh 
not  to  the  Son  for  spiritual-  life,  for  a  new  birth  of  the  Spirit,  shall  be 
damned,"  Mark  xvi,  16.  For  he  only  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life  ;  and 
he  that  hath  not  the  Son,  were  he  as  good  a  man  as  Nicodemus,  or 
Cornelius,  hath  not  life,  1  John  v,  12  ;  yea,  is  condemned  already,  John 
iii,  18  :  he  shall  not  see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him, 
John  iii,  36. 

And  will  you  remain  any  longer  in  this  state,  my  dear  brethren  ? 
Estranged  from  Jesus  Christ,  the  source  of  all  life,  grace,  and  glory  ? 
Will  you  thus  continue  without  God,  and  without  Christ  in  the  world  ? 
Straftgers  to  the  hope  of  Israel,  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  and  unacquainted  with  the  love  of  God,  which  flows  from  the 
sense  of  that  forgiveness  ?  Can  neither  the  broken  law,  which  curses 
you  1  Nor  the  arm  of  Divine  justice  lifted  up  against  you,  till  you  are 
grafted  into  Christ  ?  Nor  hell,  moved  from  beneath  to  meet  you  at  your 
coming  ?  Nor  the  consideration  of  your  manifold  aggravated  sins,  that 
cry  for  their  wages,  your  eternal  death  ?  Can  none  of  these  things  drive 
you  to  Jesus  Christ,  in  prayers  of  distress  and  faith  ?  Shall  he  still  com- 
plain that  you  will  not  come  to  him  that  you  might  have  life  ?  Shall  he 
still  weep  over  ungrateful  Jerusalem,  and  say,  "  O  how  often  would  I 
have  gathered  you  as  a  hen  gathprf  th  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  but 
ye  would  not !  Behold  I  am  come  from  heaven  to  seek  my  lost  sheep  : 
I  am  the  good  Shepherd,  that  have  laid  down  my  life  for  the  sheep  :  I 
call  them  by  name  :  my  every  look,  my  every  breath,  says,  Sinners, 
come  unto  me  for  life  :  but  you  know  not  my  voice,  you  follow  strangers. 
The  world  never  sweat  blood  for  you,  and  yet  you  leave  me  for  the 
world :  the  flesh  never  opened  to  you  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  yet 
you  forsake  me  to  fulfil  the  desire  of  the  flesh :  the  devil  never  expired 
upon  a  cross  for  you,  and  yet  you  renounce  me  to  cleave  to  the  devil  and 
his  works  !  O  hard-hearted,  ungrateful  sinners,  what  can  I  do  more  for 
you  7  Can  tears  move  you  ?  Behold  I  have  poured  out  my  soul  in  tears 
and  strong  cries  to  God  on  your  behalf,  Heb.  v,  7.  Will  you  not  be 
wrought  upon  but  by  tears  of  blood  ?  Behold,  all  my  pores,  like  so 
many  weeping  eyes,  distil  blood,  great  drops  of  blood  falling  to  the 
ground,  to  wash  away  your  sins ;  and  yet  you  will  not  come  to  me  that 
you  might  have  life.  Must  you  see  me  pant,  and  bleed,  and  die  for  you 
in  unknown  agonies  of  body  and  soul  ?  Behold  me  nailed  to  an  accursed 
cross,  a  spectacle  to  angels  and  men !  I  stand  your  surety  between 
earth  and  heaven.  I  discharge  your  debt  in  blood.  I  make  reconcilia- 
tion :  I  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness  :  I  expire  for  your  sins.  Now 
the  covenant  is  sealed :  my  heart,  my  loving  heart  is  pierced  for  your 
transgressions  :   the  fountain  of  purifying  blood  and    living   water  is 


DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED.  181 

opened :  you  may  come,  wash,  and  be  clean.  And  if  you  suppose  that,  be- 
cause I  died  for  your  sins,  I  cannot  give  you  life :  see  me  rising  trium- 
phantly for  your  justification.  Now,  the  eternal  conqueror  of  death  and 
hell,  I  sit  upon  my  throne,  offering  life  to  all  mankind,  and  to  you  ;  and  yet 
'  ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  you  might  have  life.' "  Thus  complains  the 
lover  of  souls  in  the  text.  Ah !  my  dear  fellow  sinners  !  let  us  yield  to 
his  gentle  rebuke  and  moving  expostulation.  Let  us  go  to  him,  for  he 
only  has  the  words  of  eternal  life.  This  moment  let  us  cast  our  helpless, 
guilty,  damned  souls  upon  his  atoning  blood.  Through  faith  let  us  draw 
life  out  of  his  death,  and  more  abundantly  life  out  of  his  resurrection. 
Behold,  sinners  !  the  ark  is  ready.  The  storm  of  God's  judgments 
gathers  amain.  A  flood  of  Divine  vengeance  is  going  to  sweep  away 
the  wicked  from  the  earth.  The  patience  of  God  is  well  nigh  exhausted ; 
and  the  true  Noah,  Jesus  Christ,  says  once  more,  "  Come  unto  me  that 
ye  may  have  life."  O  come  now  !  Enter  the  ark  to-day  !  In  the  ark 
there  is  salvation.  In  Christ,  and  in  him  alone,  there  is  pardon  and  life. 
"  But  will  he  indeed  receive  me  ?  Will  he  take  in  such  a  leprous,  guilty 
soul  as  mine  ?"  Yes,  thou  poor,  afflicted,  dejected  sinner !  he  will,  he 
does  take  thee  in :  for  he  came  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to 
repentance.  Only  let  thy  heart  close  with  his  heaut,  thy  soul  with  his 
soul,  thy  sins  with  his  blood,  and  thou  shalt  find  that  thy  life  is  bound  up 
in  his  life ;  and  that  where  he  is,  there  shall  his  servant,  his  spouse,  his 
member  be.  Thus  shut  up  safe  in  the  true  ark,  thou  shalt  outride  all  the 
storms  of  sin,  temptation,  death,  and  judgment,  which  will  soon  overwhelm 
a  Christless  world. 


Sermon  XI. — Danger  of  the  wicked. 

"  O  son  of  man,  I  have  set  thee  a  watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  there- 
fore thou  shalt  hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  warn  them  from  me.  When  I  say 
unto  the  wicked,  O  wicked  man,  thou  shalt  surely  die  ;  if  thou  dost  not  speak  to 
warn  the  wicked  from  his  way,  that  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity  ;  but  his 
blood  will  I  require  at  thy  hand.  Nevertheless,  if  thou  warn  the  wicked  of  his 
way  to  turn  from  it ;  if  he  do  not  turn  from  his  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ; 
but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul,"  Ezekiel  xxxiii,  7-9. 

The  king,  by  his  pious  proclamation,  the  Church,  throughout  the  ser- 
vice we  have  performed,  and  God  himself,  in  the  solemn  words  of  the 
text,  call  upon  all  preachers  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  indolence,  and  put 
on  the  armour  of  God,  on  this  mournful  day.*  At  all  times  we  are  bound 
to  be  instant  in  preaching  the  word,  both  in  season  and  out  of  season ; 
but  on  such  a  day  as  this,  we  are  especially  commanded  to  cry  aloud 
and  spare  not,  to  draw  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  keenest  word  of  God, 
and  sheath  it  in  the  very  bowels  of  profaneness.  We  must  attack,  un- 
mask, and  overthrow  vice,  with  a  holy  violence,  and  strike  at  the  heart 
of  sin  with  the  boldness  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  in  the  spirit  of  Elijah. 
You  see,  by  the  words  of  the  text,  that  God  has  set  us  as  watchmen  unto 
the  house  of  Israel ;  and  bids  us  say  to  the  wicked,  "  Thou  shalt  surely 
die."  He  adds,  that  if  we  do  not  warn  the  wicked  from  his  way,  he  shall 
die  in  his  iniquity,  but  his  blood  shall  be  required  at  our  hands ;  and  after 

*  This  sermon  was  preached  on  a  fast  day,  in  1762. 


182  GANGER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

so  express  a  commission,  who  can  be  offended,  if,  superior  to  the  frowns 
or  smiles  of  sinners,  we  obey  our  heavenly,  yea,  and  our  earthly  king's 
commands,  and  deliver  our  own  souls  by  warning  the  wicked  of  impend- 
ing ruin. 

Without  any  apology  for  my  plainness,  I  shall  therefore  endeavoui, 
first,  to  convince  the  wicked  man  both  of  his  wickedness  and  danger : 
and  then  conclude  by  giving  such  directions  as  will  be  a  means  (through 
Divine  mercy)  either  to  save  his  soul,  or  deliver  my  own. 

I.  I  shall  endeavour  to  convince  the  wicked  man  both  of  his  wicked- 
ness and  danger. 

It  is  agreed  by  all  divines  that  the  wicked  man  never  repents  till  he  is 
convinced  of  his  wickedness  ;  and  David  tells  us  that  "  he  flattereth  him- 
self in  his  own  eyes,  until  his  iniquity  be  found  to  be  hateful,"  Psalm 
xxxvi,  2.  For,  till  then,  he  thinks  it  is  delightful,  fashionable,  profitable, 
and  not  very  perilous.  The  preacher  has  then  but  one  way  to  take  in 
order  to  convince  him,  and  that  is,  to  lay  before  him,  out  of  the  word  of 
God,  the  picture  of  his  wickedness  in  such  true  colours,  that  he  may  be 
constrained  to  say,  "I  am  the  man."  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  he 
loath  himself,  discover  his  imminent  danger,  and  begin  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  Therefore,  that  each  may  know  whether  he  is  the  man, 
let  him  attentively  consider  whether  his  conscience  does  not  plead  guilty 
to  one  of  the  eight  following  marks  of  "  wickedness ;"  for  if  but  one  of 
these  be  seen  upon  him,  he  is  the  man. 

1.  A  numerous  tribe,  among  which  the  wicked  man  is  often  found,  is 
that  of  practical  Atheists.  Thousands  there  are,  (it  is  to  be  feared,)  who, 
by  gross  ignorance,  shameful  neglect  of  instruction,  and  abominable  con- 
tempt of  godliness,  open  the  way  for  all  those  that  go  the  downward 
road,  and  are,  as  it  were,  in  the  front  of  the  battle,  and  next  to  the  prince 
of  darkness.  Their  heart  is  darkened  by  the  mists  of  pride  and  the 
clouds  of  presumption,  and  they  are  such  utter  strangers  to  their  want  of 
spiritual  light  and  Divine  grace,  that  they  seldom  or  never  call  upon  God 
for  help  with  any  solemnity.  The  unhappy  heathenish  families  who  are 
of  this  stamp  meet  regularly  everyday  to  eat,  drink,  and  make  provision 
for  the  flesh ;  but  how  seldom  do  they  meet  to  read  and  pray,  to  seek, 
and  partake  together  of  the  bread  of  angels,  and  the  water  of  life.  You 
will  find  almost  as  much  godliness  among  the  wild  Indians  as  among 
these  practical  Atheists.  But  why  should  I  call  them  Atheists  ?  They 
have  many  gods.  The  world  is  their  god,  pleasure  is  their  god,  vanity 
is  their  god,  money  is  their  god,  their  belly  is  their  god  :  to  some  or  other 
of  these  idols  they  sacrifice  their  hearts  and  their  time.  As  for  the  God 
of  heaven,  the  great  and  eternal  Jehovah,  they  put  him  off  with  a  care- 
less attendance  on  his  public  worship  on  Sunday  morning,  if  the  weather 
suits  them  ;  and  it  is  well  if  to  this  they  add  sometimes  the  babbling  over 
of  the  Lord's  prayer  and  the  creed,  which,  after  all,  in  the  manner  in 
which  they  do  it,  is  no  better  than  a  solemn  mockery  of  the  Saviour, 
whom  they  constantly  crucify  afresh.  Do  you  belong  to  such  a 
heathenish,  prayerless  family,  and  are  you  hurried  down  the  stream  of 
its  profaneness  ?  If  you  do,  suffer  me  to  deliver  my  soul  by  telling  you 
that  you  are  the  very  first  person  to  whom  I  am  bound  to  say,  "  Thou 
shalt  surely  die."  Read  your  sentence  in  Psalm  lxxix,  ft:  the  Lord  will 
"  pour  out  his  wrath  upon  the  heathen  that  have  not  known  him,  and 


» 


DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED.  183 

upon  the  kingdoms  that  call  not  upon  his  name."  What!  Shall  the 
indignation  of  the  Lord  fall  upon  prayerless  families  among  the  heathens, 
and  shall  it  pass  by  the  nominally  Christian,  but  prayerless  family  to 
which  you  belong?  No,  no  :  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will  do  right,  he 
will  repay  you  to  your  face.  "  Verily,"  says  the  Son  of  God  himself  to 
those  who  call  themselves  Israelites  or  Christians,  and  are  not :  "  Verily, 
verily,  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of 
judgment  than  for  you,"  Matt,  xi,  21.  O  repent  and  turn;  turn  and 
live ;  for  why  should  you  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God,  and  know 
him  a  consuming  fire  to  the  profane  ? 

2.  The  wicked  is  often  known,  to  others  and  to  himself,  by  his  injus- 
tice, oppression,  cruelty,  deceit,  and  unfair  dealing.  Did  you  ever 
make  a  prey  of  the  poor  and  helpless,  as  the  stronger  beasts  used  to  do 
of  the  weaker  ?  Are  you  like  the  horse  leech,  crying,  "  Give,  give," 
still  wanting  more  profit,  and  never  thinking  you  have  enough  ?  Do 
you  take  more  care  to  lay  up  treasures  upon  earth  than  in  heaven  ? 
Have  you  got  the  unhappy  secret  of  distilling  silver  out  of  the  poor 
man's  brows,  and  gold  out  of  the  tears  of  helpless  widows,  and  friendless 
orphans  ?  Or,  which  is  rather  worse,  do  you  directly  or  indirectly  live 
by  poisoning  others,  by  encouraging  the  immoderate  use  of  those  re- 
freshments, which,  taken  to  excess,  disorder  the  reason,  ruin  the  soul, 
and  prove  no  better  than  slow  poison  to  the  body  1  If  your  business 
calls  you  to  buy  or  sell,  do  you  use  falsehood,  do  you  equivocate,  do  you 
exaggerate  or  conceal  the  truth,  in  order  to  impose  upon  your  neigh- 
bour, and  make  your  profit  of  his  necessity  or  credulity  ?  If  any  one 
of  these  marks  be  found  upon  you,  it  is  enough  ;  God's  word  singles 
you  out,  and  draws  you  to  the  bar  of  Divine  justice  to  hear  your  doom 
in  the  text :  "  The  wicked  shall  surely  die  ;"  or  that  more  particular 
sentence  in  Isaiah  xxx,  12  :  "  Because  you  trust  in  oppression,  per- 
verseness,  and  deceit,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  this  iniquity  shall  be  as  a 
breach  ready  to  fall,  swelling  out  in  a  high  wall,  whose  breaking  cometh 
suddenly  at  an  instant."  O  see  your  danger,  repent,  and  make  restitu- 
tion !  Why  should  you  meet  the  unjust  steward  in  hell,  when  you  may 
yet  follow  Zaccheus  into  heaven  ? 

3.  But  if  you  have  always  been  free  from  these  two  marks  of  a 
wicked  man,  are  you  equally  free  from  another,  that  is  not  less  sure  than 
either  of  the  former  ?  There  is  a  fearful  sin,  which  has  in  it  no  profit, 
no  pleasure,  no,  not  sensual  sweetness  enough  to  bait  the  hook  of 
temptation.  The  only  enticement  to  it  is  the  diabolical  disposition  of 
the  wicked  man,  and  the  horrid  pride  he  takes  in  cutting  a  figure  among 
the  children  of  Belial.  I  speak  of  oaths  and  curses, — those  arrows 
shot  from  the  string  of  a  hellish  heart,  and  the  bow  of  a  Luciferian 
tongue,  against  heaven  itself.  Those  are  some  of  the  sparks  of  hell  fire, 
which  now  and  then  come  out  of  the  throat  of  the  wicked  man.  Do 
they  ever  come  out  of  thine  ?  A  year  ago  I  laid  before  you  the  horror* 
of  that  sin,  and  besought  you  by  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  to  leave  it  to  Satan  and  his  angels,  and  to  act  no  more  the  part, 
I  shall  not  say  of  a  wicked  man,  but  of  an  incarnate  devil.  But  have 
you  strictly  complied  with  the  solemn  request  ?  Has  not  heaven  been 
pierced  with  another  fiery  dart  ?  Have  not  good  men,  or  good  angels, 
(if  any  attend  you  still,)  shuddered  at  those  imprecations  which  you 


184  DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

have  used,  perhaps  without  remorse  ?  Has  not  the  prince  of  darkness 
smiled,  and  hell  exulted,  to.  hear  that  some  of  their  hideous  sounds  pro- 
ceed yet  out  of  your  ungodly  mouth  ?  If  your  conscience  pleads  guilty 
here,  and  you  have  not  wept  bitterly,  and  obtained  pardon  for  the  black 
transgression,  you  are  the  "wicked;"  you  "shall  surely  die,"  unless 
tears  of  repentance  speedily  flow,  and  the  blood  of  a  dying  Saviour 
wash  out  the  hellish  stain.  To  you  it  is  that  David  speaks  in  Psalm 
cix,  18  :  "  As  he  clothed  himself  with  cursing  as  with  a  garment,  it 
shall  come  into  his  bowels  like  water,  and  like  oil  into  his  bones."  O, 
will  you  still  pull  down  this  fearful  curse  upon  your  head,  and  entail  the 
Almighty's  judgments  upon  this  guilty  land  ?  Will  3-ou  die  for  the  mere 
pleasure  of  cursing  and  dying  ?  Merciful  Saviour,  forbid  it  !  Pluck 
these  brands  out  of  the  fire,  and  quench  them  in  thy  blood. 

4.  But  perhaps  your  conscience  bears  you  witness  that  you  are  not  a 
swearing  Christian,  or  rather  a  swearing  infidel.  Well  :  but  does  not 
the  threatening  of  the  text  light  upon  you  on  some  other  account  1  To 
instance  in  a  fourth  particular:  are  you  clear  in  the  point  of  adultery, 
fornication,  or  uncleanness  ?  Does  not  the  guilt  of  some  vile  sin,  which 
you  have  wickedly  indulged  in  time  past,  and  perhaps  are  still  indulging 
from  time  to  time,  mark  you  for  the  member  of  a  harlot,  and  not  the 
member  of  Christ;  for  a  child  of  Belial,  and  not  for  a  child  of  the  God 
of  purity  ?  Do  not  you  kindle  the  wrath  of  Heaven  against  yourself  and 
your  country,  as  the  men  and  women  of  Gomorrah  did  against  them- 
selves and  the  other  cities  of  the  plain  ?  If  you  cherish  the  sparks  of 
wantonness,  as  they  did,  how  can  you  but  be  made  with  them  to  suffer 
the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ?  And  do  not  flatter  yourself  with  the 
vain  hope  that  your  sin  is  not  so  heinous  as  theirs.  If  it  be  less  in 
degree,  is  it  not  infinitely  greater  in  its  aggravating  circumstances? 
Were  these  poor  Canaanites  Christians?  Had  they  Bibles  and  ministers  ? 
Had  they  sermons  and  sacraments  ?  Did  they  ever  vow,  as  you  have 
done,  to  renounce  the  devil,  and  all  the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh  ?  Did 
they  ever  hear  of  the  Son  of  God  sweating  great  drops  of  blood,  in  an 
agony  of  prayer,  to  quench  the  fire  of  human  corruption  ?  Now,  you 
have  heard  of  this ;  you  profess  to  believe  it ;  and  yet  you  sin  on,  both 
against  the  heavenly  light  and  the  heavenly  blood.  O  what  horrible 
guilt  do  vou  bring  upon  yourself,  and  upon  the  whole  land  !  "  Know 
you  not  that  your  body  is,"  or  ought  to  be,  "  the  temple  of  God  ?  Now 
if  any  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him  will  God  destroy,"  1  Cor.  vi,  18. 
O  acknowledge  your  guilt  and  danger,  and  by  deep  repentance  prevent 
infallible  destruction. 

5.  Some  will,  perhaps,  secretly  triumph  here,  as  the  Pharisee  once 
did,  because  they  are  "  not  as  other"  wicked  "  men,  unjust,  extortioners, 
adulterers,"  and  unclean :  but,  suppose  the  dart  of  sin  has  not  wounded 
their  breasts,  are  they  in  a  better  case  if  they  run  the  sword  of  intempe- 
rance through  their  own  bowels  ?  Gluttony  and  drunkenness  are  the 
two  idols  to  which  many  sacrifice  the  marrow  and  fatness  of  the  land, 
together  with  their  time  and  strength.  He  is  a  glutton  who  eats  barely 
for  the  pleasure  of  eating :  he  is  a  drunkard  who  drinks  for  the  bare 
pleasure  of  drinking,  though  he  should  be  so  "  mighty  to  mingle  strong 
drink,"  as  not  to  discompose  either  his  reason  or  constitution.  The  men 
of  the  old  world  were  "  eating  and  drinking,"  says  our  Lord,  (as  if  that   v 


DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED.  165 

had  been  the  end  of  their  creation,)  when  God  swept  them  away  by  the 
floods  the  Israelites  had  yet  in  their  teeth  the  meat  which  they  had  wan- 
tonly desired,  when  God  arose  and  slew  the  wealthier  of  them.  "  The 
people  sat  down  to  eat  and  drink,  and  rose  up  to  play,"  says  St.  Paul, 
"  and  there  fell  of  them  that  day  about  three  thousand  men,"  by  a 
fearful  judgment  of  God.  Yea,  the  very  sin  of  Sodom  is  said  to  have 
been  indulgence  and  fulness  of  bread  at  first, — epicurism  naturally 
leading  into  all  debauchery  and  excess.  Whether,  therefore,  you  dig 
vour  grave  with  your  teeth,  and  entomb  in  your  own  bowels  that  which 
should  be  the  support  of  your  family  and  of  the  poor  ;  or  whether,  to 
indulge  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  or  only  to  please  and  countenance  your 
carnal  acquaintance,  you  can  spend  the  best  part  of  a  day  in  pouring 
drink  offerings  into  the  shrine  of  Belial  which  you  carry  about  you  ;  St. 
Paul  describes  your  sins,  and  tells  you  your  danger  in  Phil,  iii,  18  : 
"  For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  have  told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even 
weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  whose  end  is 
destruction,  whose  god  is  their  belly,  and  whose  glory  is  in  their  shame, 
who  mind  earthly  things."  Observe  the  words,  "  whose  end  is  destruc- 
tion." Walk  on  then,  O  man,  according  to  the  desire  of  thy  heart,  the 
lust  of  thy  eye,  and  the  way  of  the  world  ;  pull  down  the  judgments  of 
a  righteous  God  upon  the  land,  upon  thy  family,  and  thyself,  by  the 
cords  of  surfeiting,  drunkenness,  or  indulgence ;  "  but  remember,  that 
for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  thee  to  judgment."  O  might  we  all, 
on  this  grand  day  of  humiliation,  humble  ourselves,  call  for  the  atoning 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  be  washed  from  this  iniquity,  before  it  be  our 
eternal  ruin  of  body  and  soul. 

6.  I  cannot  pass  in  silence  the  detestable,  though  fashionable  sin, 
which,  joined  to  the  last  I  spoke  against,  has  brought  down  the  curse  of 
Heaven,  and  poured  desolation  and  ruin  upon  the  most  flourishing  king- 
doms :  I  mean,  pride  in  apparel.  After  the  fall,  God  gave  our  first 
parents  coats  to  cover  their  shame,  but  their  children  use  them  to  declare 
their  pride :  and  even  in  this  place,  where  poverty,  hard  labour,  and 
drudgery  would,  one  should  think,  prevent  a  sin  which  Christianity  can- 
not tolerate  even  in  kings'  houses,  there  are  not  wanting  foolish  virgins 
who  draw  iniquity  with  cords  of  vanity,  and  betray  the  levity  of  their 
hearts  by  that  of  their  dress.  Yea,  some  women  that  should  be  mothers 
in  Israel,  and  that  should  adorn  themselves  with  good  works  as  holy  and 
godly  matrons,  openly  affect  the  opposite  character.  You  may  see  them 
offer  themselves  first  to  the  idol  vanity,  and  then  sacrifice  their  children 
upon  the  same  altar.  As  some  sons  of  Belial  teach  their  little  ones  to 
curse,  before  they  can  well  speak ;  so  these  daughters  of  Jezebel  drag 
their  unhappy  offspring  (before  they  can  well  walk)  to  the  haunts  of 
vanity  and  pride.  They  complain,  perhaps,  of  evening  lectures,  but  run 
to  midnight  dancings.  If  you  believe  them,  it  is  almost  abominable  to 
meet  a  minister,  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  sing  his  praises ;  but  they  can, 
with  a  good  conscience,  meet  a  harper,  and,  at  the  sound  of  his  harp, 
make  their  children  go  through  the  fire  of  vanity,  that  Moloch  of  our 
days  !  O  that  such  persons  would  let  the  prophet's  words  sink  into  their 
frodiy  minds,  and  fasten  upon  their  careless  hearts  :  "  Because  the  daugh- 
ters of  Sion  are  haughty,"  says  the  Lord,  "and  walk  with  stretched  forth 
necks  and  wanton  eyes,  the  Lord  will  smite  with  a  sore  the  crown  of 


186  DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

their  head,  and  discover  their  shame  :  instead  of  well-set  hair  there  shall 
be  baldness,  and  burning  instead  of  beauty."  Nor  will  the  punishmenfcstop 
here  ;  for  this  abominable  sin  of  vanity  and  pride  calls  for  the  judgments 
of  God  upon  the  whole  nation  that  indulge  it ;  and  therefore  the  prophet 
adds  immediately:  "Thy  men  shall  fall  by  the  sword,  and  thy  gates 
shall  lament  and  mourn,"  Isa.  iii,  25.  Thus  this  fashionable  sin,  which 
the  god  of  this  world  represents  as  a  piece  of  good  breeding,  according 
to  God's  words,  will  end  in  burning  for  those  who  commit  and  encourage 
it,  and  in  destruction  for  the  city  or  kingdom  that  suffers  it,  if  speedy 
reformation,  and  the  intercession  of  Christ,  do  not  prevent  the  operations 
3f  the  avenging  sword. 

7.  Will  you  give  me  leave,  my  brethren,  to  lay  before  you  another 
mark  which  shows  that  the  man  on  whom  it  is  found  is  certainly  "  wick- 
ed" before  God,  though  in  the  account  of  men  he  may  be  religious  and 
upright ;  I  mean  no  less  a  sin  than  that  of  perjury,  which  implies,  first 
taking  an  oath  rashly,  and  then  breaking  it  wickedly.  I  question  whether 
any  thing  under  heaven  can  be  more  solemn  than  taking  an  oath,  and 
any  thing  on  this  side  hell  more  abominable  than  falsifying  it.  And  yet, 
what  is  more  common  !  How  many  perjured  persons  do  the  flaming 
eyes  of  almighty  God  see  throughout  the  kingdom  !  "  Because  of  swear- 
ing the  land  mourneth,"  said  a  prophet  of  old  ;  but  had  he  lived  in  our 
degenerate  days,  he  would  have  added,  "  because  of  perjury  the  land 
groaneth."  To  go  no  farther  than  that  spot  which  we  inhabit;  how 
many  of  us,  who  have  been  from  time  to  time  entrusted  with  public 
offices,  have  wilfully  broken  the  oaths  administered  unto  us ;  I  shall  not 
say  in  one,  but  perhaps  in  a  hundred  instances !  How  many  open  and 
notorious  drunkards,  fighters,  Sabbath  breakers,  blasphemers  of  God's 
word,  cursers  of  men,  and  other  notorious  sinners  have  escaped  deserved 
censure,  I  shall  not  say  by  the  accidental  neglect,  but  by  the  downright 
perjury  of  officers  !  And  if  those  that  should  repress  wickedness  make 
no  conscience  of  breaking  their  oath,  that  is,  of  committing  themselves 
the  greatest  piece  of  wickedness  under  heaven,  how  will  they  make  con- 
science of  repressing  lesser  abominations  in  others  !  Nor  does  the  gene- 
rality of  this  Atheistical  and  damnable  sin  make  it  more  excusable  in  the 
sight  of  God.  It  would  have  been  no  excuse  for  Satan,  or  for  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Sodom,  to  say  that  they  hoped  their  rebellion  was  trifling,  because 
thousands  of  wicked  angels,  or  wicked  men,  shared  in  it.  And  it  will 
be  no  cloak  for  the  forsworn  person  to  say,  "  I  am  not  alone,  and,  if  per- 
jury be  a  damning  sin,  God  help  us  all !"  The  very  heathen  have  pun- 
ished perjury  with  death  ;  and  how  the  righteous  God  will  punish  it  in 
professed  Christians,  I  leave  you  to  infer  from  these  words  of  the  pro- 
phet, "I  turned  and  lifted  up  my  eyes,"  says  he,  "and  behold  a  flying  roll. 
And  he  said  unto  me,  What  seest  thou  ?  And  I  answered,  I  see  a  flying 
roll,  the  length  whereof  is  twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  ten 
cubits.  Then  said  he  unto  me,  This  is  the  curse  that  goeth  forth  over 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth  ;  for  every  one  that  sweareth  shall  be  cut  off 
according  to  it.  I  will  bring  it  forth,  saith  the  Lord  :  it  shall  enter  into 
the  house  of  him  that  sweareth  falsely  by  my  name,  and  it  shall  remain 
in  the  midst  of  his  house,  and  shall  consume  it,  with  the  timber  thereof, 
and  the  stones  thereof."  If  you  want  to  know  what  that  roll  of  cursing 
is,  according  to  which  the  perjured  sinner  shall  be  cut  off,  I  answer,  tha( 


DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED.  187 

it  includes  all  the  plagues  written  in  the  book  of  God.  "  So  help  me 
God,"  says  he  who  takes  an  oath ;  and  then  he  bows  and  kisses  the 
Bible  :  that  is  to  say,  "  Let  God  so  truly  help  me,  according  to  the  pro- 
mises of  this  book,  as  I  will  be  true  to  my  oath ;"  which  implies,  that  if 
he  falsify  it,  he  prays  that  all  the  lamentations,  curses,  and  woes,  written 
in  that  book,  may  fall  upon  his  perjured  head  :  and  the  angry  God  will 
answer  his  horrible  prayer,  if  the  perjurer  do  not  speedily  repent  of  his 
sin,  and  seek  shelter  in  the  wounds  of  a  crucified  Saviour. 

8.  For  the  sake  of  brevity,  I  shall  crowd  into  another  article  many 
classes  of  wicked  men  ;  as  the  day  would  be  too  short  to  give  you  a  par- 
ticular account  of  their  guilt  and  danger. 

At  the  head  of  these  1  would  put  the  hypocrites  ;  they  that  appear,  or 
try  to  appear  to  be  godly,  out  of  vain  glory  and  for  private  interest,  or 
some  selfish  and  sordid  end.  These  are  the  very  spawn  of  the  crooked 
serpent,  and,  like  him,  attempt  to  transform  themselves  into  angels  of 
light,  in  order  more  effectually  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  kingdom 
of  darkness.  From  these  pests  may  God  deliver  our  Church  and  state  ! 
These  bring  a  curse  upon  us,  as  Achan  did  upon  the  Israelites  of  old. 
If  any  such  be  here,  may  the  dagger  of  conviction  make  a  wound  in  their 
seared  consciences,  and  pierce  their  callous  hearts ! 

Next  to  these  I  would  put  enthusiasts ;  that  is  to  say,  those  people 
who  dare  to  talk  of  the  workings  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  their  minds  and 
hearts,  when  yet,  by  their  words  or  works,  they  show  that  they  are  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirit  of  pride  and  malice,  or  of  covetousness  and  lust,  in 
short,  by  the  spirit  of  the  devil.  Wherever  God  begins  to  work,  Satan 
will  counterwork  ;  and  he  does  it  often  by  dressing  up  some  of  his  children 
as  Christians,  teaching  them  something  of  the  language  of  Canaan,  and 
then  putting  them  upon  doing  the  works  of  darkness,  that  the  children 
of  the  world  may  conclude  that  all  pretenders  to  the  workings  of  God's 
Spirit  are  either  fools  or  knaves,  mere  enthusiasts,  and  no  better  than 
these  deceived  ones.  O  let  none  of  us  countenance  these  first  born  of 
Satan :  let  us  try  to  detect  them,  and  turn  out  the  wicked  from  among 
us,  lest  they  make  spiritual  Christians  stink  for  ever  in  the  nostrils  of 
them  that  are  without,  and  bring  a  curse  upon  us  and  our  Church. 

Next  to  these  I  would  place  the  followers  of  Judas  and  Demas — peo- 
ple who  make  profession  of  Christianity,  come  to  church,  are  strict  in 
some  points,  and  regularly  receive  the  bread  and  cup  at  the  altar.  They 
kiss  our  Saviour  with  their  lips,  as  Judas  ;  but  they  hug  the  bag  in  their 
hearts.  They  call  themselves  Churchmen,  as  Demas ;  but  they  love 
this  present  world.  These  "  wicked"  persons,  though  they  do  not  pre- 
tend to  spiritual  Christianity,  yet  because  they  pretend  to  Christianity  in 
general,  shall  have  their  portion  appointed  them  with  hypocrites,  unless 
their  hearts  be  wounded  by  true  repentance,  and  healed  by  the  balmy 
blood  of  the  Saviour. 

In  the  fourth  rank  you  may  place  all  the  busy  agents  of  the  devil. 
And  who  are  these?  I  answer,  (1.)  All  lying,  envious,  spiteful,  wrathful, 
revengeful  people  :  (2.)  All  those  who  speak  evil  of  any  one,  unless  in 
order  to  give  necessary  cautions  and  useful  information  to  magistrates, 
ministers,  and  officers :  (3.)  All  those  that  fight,  quarrel,  or  willingly 
live  at  variance  with  any  one.  The  Christian  has  many  enemies  ;  but 
is  himself  an  enemy  to  none.     If  at  any  time  he  speaks  of  the  evil  that 


188  DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

is  in  his  neighbour,  it  is  out  of  love  and  compassion,  not  out  of  malice  or 
envy.  Universal  benevolence,  a  constant  disposition  to  forgive  and 
oblige,  to  make  peace,  and  to  suffer  rather  than  to  do  wrong,  are  his 
peculiar  characteristics.  But  how  many  are  destitute  of  such  charac- 
teristics, and  yet  think  and  call  themselves  Christians !  Now  all  these 
are  "  wicked  "  men  ;  and  these  I  called  the  devil's  agents ;  because,  as 
they  do  his  work,  so  they  deserve  his  name.  "  Satan,"  in  Hebrew,  means 
an  opposer,  and  Ai<x§oXof,  devil,  in  Greek,  means  a  slanderer :  because 
that  unhappy  spirit  delights  in  opposing  and  slandering  mankind  in  gene- 
ral, and  good  men  in  particular :  so  that  those  who  oppose  and  slander 
their  neighbours,  and  much  more  those  who  hurt  and  persecute  them, 
show  plainly  what  spirit  they  are  of,  what  master  they  serve,  and  what 
wages  they  shall  have  ;  if,  on  their  reformation  and  conversion,  Divine 
mercy  do  not  speedily  reverse  the  sentence  gone  forth  against  them. 

Thus,  under  the  eight  foregoing  particulars,  I  have  showed  you  who 
are  the  "  wicked"  that  "  shall  surely  die  :"  and  I  hope  that  in  whichever 
class  of  them  your  particular  case  was  touched,  you  have  suffered  con- 
science to  make  the  application. 

II.  I  now  proceed  to  lay  before  you  such  directions  as  may,  through 
Divine  mercy,  save  your  precious  souls,  notwithstanding  all  this  great 
wickedness  ;  or,  at  least,  deliver  my  own. 

1.  Let  us  all  humble  ourselves  before  almighty  God  ;  not  transiently, 
like  bulrushes,  which  bend  to  the  storm  for  an  hour,  and  then  return  again 
to  their  former  state  ;  but  for  all  the  days  of  our  life.  No  unhumbled,  no 
stout-hearted  sinner  can  be  in  a  state  of  salvation.  "  Except  ye  repent," 
says  our  Saviour,  "  ye  shall  all  perish."  The  unhumbled  sinner  is,  then, 
in  double  danger  of  perishing  ;  first,  on  account  of  his  sins,  and  secondly, 
on  account  of  the  stoutness  of  his  heart,  which  makes  his  lip  repentance 
entirely  ineffectual. 

2.  To  prove  the  sincerity  of  our  humiliation  and  repentance,  instead 
of  cloaking  and  extenuating  our  manifold  sins,  let  us  confess  them  with 
deep  sorrow,  and  return  to  the  Lord  with  mourning  and  prayer,  as  well 
as  with  fasting ;  bearing,  each  of  us,  the  load  of  our  own  private  iniqui- 
ties,  the  additional  load  of  the  iniquities  of  our  families,  and  the  im- 
mensely accumulated  load  Of  the  iniquities  of  our  country  at  large. 

3.  Let  us  meditate,  with  redoubled  sorrow,  on  all  the  aggravating  cir- 
cumstances of  our  sins  ;  for  instance, 

(1.)  Let  us  meditate  on  their  universality.  From  the  gilded  palace 
to  the  thatched  cottage,  our  guilt  cries  to  heaven  for  vengeance  ;  as  if 
the  blood  of  Abel  were  found  on  the  door  posts  of  almost  all  the  houses 
in  the  land ! 

(2.)  Let  us  dwell  on  the  commonness  and  frequency  of  our  sins, 
which  add  a  prodigious  weight  to  our  guilt.  They  are  not  sins  com- 
mitted but  once  in  all  our  life ;  but  they  return  every  year,  perhaps 
every  month,  or  week ;  and,  in  too  many  cases,  alas !  every  day,  and 
every  hour ;  as  often  as  temptation  urges ;  yea,  sometimes  before  any 
temptation  solicits. 

(3.)  Let  us  not  conceal  a  third  aggravation  of  our  guilt,  still  more 
heinous  than  the  former  ;  I  mean,  our  having  sinned  with  an  uncommon 
boldness,  and  boasted  of  our  sins.  Wickedness  is  become  so  fashion- 
able, that  he  who  refuses  to  run  with  others  into  vanity,  intemperance, 


DANGER   OF  THE  WICKED.  189 

or  profaneness,  is  in  danger  of  losing  his  character,  on  one  hand  ;  while, 
on  the  other,  the  son  of  Belial  prides  himself  in  excesses,  glories  in  dia- 
bolical practices,  and  scoffs  with  impunity  at  religion  and  virtue.  O  how 
inconceivably  provoking  is  this  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  God ! 

(4.)  But  this  is  not  all.  Where  have  we  committed  these  abomina- 
tions ?  Is  it  in  a  land  of  the  shadow  of  death,  in  some  dark,  unhappy 
corner  of  the  earth,  where  God  never  manifested  himself,  either  by  any 
choice  blessing,  or  by  the  light  of  his  Gospel  ?  No  !  Just  the.  reverse  ! 
These  scenes  of  wickedness,  profaneness,  and  vanity,  are  transacted  in 
the  most  favoured  spot  of  the  universe  ;  in  a  country  where  Divine  good- 
ness seems  to  have  endeavoured  to  soften  every  heart  by  showers  of 
temporal  and  spiritual  blessings.  O,  England !  England !  happy,  yet 
ungrateful  island !  Dost  thou  repay  fruit  fulness  by  profaneness,  plenty 
by  vanity,  liberty  by  impiety,  and  the  light  of  Christianity  by  excesses 
of  immorality  ? 

After  such  aggravations  of  our  guilt,  how  justly  might  God  have 
scourged  us  by  those  that  have  risen  up  in  arms  against  us ;  how  justly 
might  he  have  said  to  the  sword,  "  Go  through  the  very  heart  of  this 
land,"  or  to  the  pestilence,  "  Arise,  and  devour."  Let  us  acknowledge 
this,  and  confess  that  "  it  is  of  the  Lord's  mercy  that  we  are  not  con- 
sumed," as  a  nation,  and  that  each  of  us  is  not  cast  as  a  Jonah  into  the 
sea  of  God's  judgments,  for  the  sport  of  Satan,  that  great  leviathan. 

4.  But,  above  all,  let  our  humiliation  and  confession,  our  acknowledg- 
ment of  our  aggravated  guilt,  and  condemnation  of  ourselves,  be  attended 
with  a  visible  reformation.  We  cannot  mend  the  whole  land,  I  grant ; 
but  let  each  of  us,  through  the  grace  offered  us  this  day,  mend  one  at 
least ;  and  let  every  head  of  a  family  vow  before  God,  that,  let  others 
do  as  they  will,  yet  "  he  and  his  house  will  serve  the  Lord."  Fasting 
without  reformation  is  but  abomination.  Turning  from  our  wicked  way, 
and  doing  that  which  is  lawful  and  right,  through  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ,  that  we  may  save  our  souls  alive,  is  the  very  soul  of  repentance ; 
and  repentance  is  the  very  soul  of  fasting.  So  that  take  repentance 
from  fasting,  or  take  reformation  from  repentance,  and  there  remains 
nothing  but  detestable  formality  and  abominable  hypocrisy. 

5.  Not  only  cease  to  do  evil,  but  learn  to  do  good.  You  never  will, 
you  never  can,  leave  oft' serving  mammon  and  the  flesh,  unless  you  give 
yourselves  up  wholly  to  the  service  of  the  living  God.  You  may  have  good 
desires,  yea,  and  good  resolutions  too  ;  but  till  you  come  to  make  it  the 
main  business  of  your  life  to  seek  and  serve  the  Lord,  in  spite  of  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  I  take  heaven  and  your  conscience  to  witness, 
that  I  warn  you  this  day  of  the  consequence.  Your  resolutions  will 
never  come  to  any  thing,  and  you  shall  surely  die  in  the  iniquity  you 
have  committed.  Therefore,  that  this  may  not  be  your  lamentable  case, 
give  all  for  all ;  the  praise  of  men  for  the  praise  of  God  ;  earth  for 
heaven.  Sell  all,  to  buy  the  pearl  of  Divine  love.  Sell  all  to  get  the 
knowledge  of  Him  who  says,  "  Except  a  man  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me,  he  is  not  worthy  of  me  ;  he  cannot  be  my 
disciple." 

6.  Lastly:  as  you  tender  the  prosperity  of  the  king,  the  good  of  oui 
Church,  and  the  welfare  of  our  country;  as  you  would  not  bring  a  pri- 
vate curso  upon  yourself,  your  house,  and  vour  dearest  friends ;  as  vou 


190  DANGER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

value  the  honour  of  almighty  God,  and  dread  his  awakened  wrath  ;  as 
you  would  not  force  him  to  make  our  land  a  field  of  blood,  or  to  break 
the  staff  of  our  bread,  and  send  famine,  pestilence,  Popery,  or  some  other 
fearful  judgment  among  us ;  I  pray,  I  beseech,  I  entreat  each  of  you, 
my  dear  brethren !  as  upon  my  bended  knees, — in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus,  and  by  those  bowels  of  Divine  mercy,  against  which  we 
have  madly  kicked  in  times  past,  and  which,  nevertheless,  still  yearn 
over  us, — I  entreat  you  not  to  rest  in  outward  humiliation  and  reforma- 
tion. Christians  must  go  one  step  beyond  the  Ninevites.  O  seek  then, 
with  all  true  Christians,  a  righteousness  superior  to  that  of  the  scribes 
and  Pharisees.  Seek  it  in  Christ.  Never  rest,  till  you  are  sure  of  your 
interest  in  him,  till  you  feel  the  virtue  of  his  blood  applied  to  your  heart 
by  the  power  of  his  Spirit.  Without  this  all  the  rest  will  stand  you  in 
little  stead.  It  is  the  blood  of  the  true  paschal  Lamb,  sprinkled  upon 
our  souls,  that  makes  the  destroyer  sheath  his  flaming  sword,  and  pass 
over  the  protected  heads  of  true  believers.  O  get  an  application  of  this 
blood  ;  get  this  seal  of  the  living  God  upon  your  heart ;  and  then,  marked 
unto  the  day  of  redemption,  safe  in  your  Saviour's  wounds,  and  rejoicing 
even  in  the  midst  of  tribulation,  you  will  experience  the  truth  of  what 
David  says,  Psalm  cxii :  "  Unto  the  upright  there  ariseth  light  in  the 
darkness.  Surely  he  shall  not  be  moved  for  ever.  He  shall  not  be 
afraid  of  evil  tidings.  His  heart  is  fixed,  trusting  in  the  Lord.  His 
heart  is  established ;  he  shall  not  be  afraid,  until  he  see  his  desire  upon 
his  enemies," — sin,  death,  hell,  and  the  grave.  May  this  be  our  happy 
iot,  for  Christ's  sake !     Amen  ! 


BRIEF  OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS. 


The  outlines  here  presented  to  the  public  have  been  selected  from  a 
great  number  of  others, — regard  being  had  rather  to  the  important  sub- 
jects on  which  they  treat,  than  to  the  skilful  disposition  of  the  matter 
which  they  contain.  It  must  always  be  considered  injurious  to  the 
deserved  posthumous  reputation  of  an  able  minister,  to  have  such  slender 
helps  to  thought,  as  these  are,  exposed  to  public  view.  Yet  in  the  few 
specimens  which  follow,  meagre  though  they  be,  the  intelligent  reader 
may  trace  the  master  mind  of  the  author  of  the  Checks,  and  the 
Christian  zeal  and  charity  of  the  vicar  of  Madeley.  They  will  also  be 
perused  with  considerable  interest  by  all  those  who  have  rightly  esti- 
mated the  spirituality,  fervour,  and  unction  which  accompanied  the 
ministrations  of  this  eminent  Christian  pastor;  and  on  beholding  the 
judicious  (yet  very  imperfect)  array  of  his  Scriptural  materials,  every 
pious  man  will  be  tempted  to  apply  to  them,  in  an  accommodated  sense, 
the  expression  of  the  banished  Grecian  orator  concerning  his  celebrated 
rival :  "  What  would  you  have  felt  had  you  heard  Fletcher  himself 
deliver  them  in  their  perfect  form  with  Divine  pathos !" 


OUTLINE  I. 

"And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,"  &c. 
Genesis  i,  26. 

Introduction. — Man  created  last.  The  finishing  stroke,  (1.)  For 
humility.     (2.)  That  his  palace  might  be  furnished. 

The  word  of  command, — now,  of  deliberation.  Trinity  in  our  crea- 
tion,— so  in  our  regeneration. 

I.  God's  natural  image,  lost  in  part. 

1.  Clear  understanding, — now  dark. 

2.  Pure  reason, — now  carnal. 

3.  Upright  will, — now  sinful. 

4.  Holy  affections, — now  disordered. 

5.  Strong  memory, — now  losing  good. 

6.  Immortality,  lost  as  to  the  body,  which  would  have  suffered  no 
violence,  hunger,  pain,  or  old  age. 

II.  Totally  lost. 

1.  Dominion  over  the  creatures. 

Exceptions. — Seas,  fishes,  rocks,  earth.  (Moses.)  Sun,  moon. 
(Joshua.)  Fire.  (Elijah.)  Iron.  (Elisha.)  Seas,  fishes,  trees,  winds. 
(Jesus  Christ.) 

Faith  as  mustard  seed. 

2.  Impassibility. — (Naked,)  insects,  vermin,  thorns,  &c 

3.  Intuitive  knowledge. — Creatures,  angels. 

4.  Glory. — (ISfaked,)  garment  of  light. 


192  OUTLINES   OF   SERMONS. 

5.  Knowledge  of  God. — Adam  hiding,  quibbling,  &c. 

6.  Love  of  God. — He  fled  from  him. 

7.  Righteousness  and  true  holiness. — Innocency,  propensity  to  gooa. 

8.  Peace  and  happiness. 

III.  How  is  the  mighty  fallen  !  Ox  for  stupidity.  Wild  ass  for 
refractoriness.  Lion  for  rage.  Fox  for  craftiness.  Dog  for  greediness. 
Swine  for  impurity.     Devil  for  sin.     Covetousness  beside. 

IV.  Inferences. — 1.  If  we  are  born  in  sin,  we  are  fallen.  Satan's 
image. 

2.  If  God  created  us,  let  us  obey  him.  Leave  the  usurper, — return 
to  our  first  Master. 

3.  No  safety  or  bliss  till  God's  image  is  recovered. 

4.  How  rational  the  doctrine  of  the  new  birth. 

5.  It  is  God's  work.     Let  us  make;  created  again. 

6.  How  precious  Christ,  the  second  Adam,  whose  image  we  are 
called  to  recover.  "  We  all  with  open  face,  beholding,"  &c,  2  Cor 
iii,  18. 

7.  How  empty  formality  and  morality. 

8.  How  invaluable  the  workings  of  the  Spirit. 

9.  How  deluded  professors  not  new  created. 

V.  Application. — 1.  Careless  sinners. — Know  whence  you  are 
fallen.  Awake.  See  your  calling  in  Christ  Jesus  :  a  King,  a  Priest,  a 
Prophet,  a  Son  of  God.  •  Confess  what  you  are  :  groan  for  what  you 
are  not.     If  you  remain  sinners,  like  to  like. 

2.  Distressed  souls. — See  the  second  Adam,  "  made  to  you  of  God, 
wisdom,"  &c.  You  can  do  all  things  through  Christ.  Innocency,  hap- 
piness, garments  of  righteousness,  and  glory  in  him.  Believe,  till  you 
are  changed.     Plead,  God  was  your  Father. 

3.  Children  of  God. — Grow,  walk  in  his  image.  Show  you  are  born. 
Know  your  privileges  in  Jesus  Christ  are  greater  than  in  Adam.  Se- 
riousness, majesty,  dignity,  heavenly  mindedness,  contempt  of  earth, 
become  you. 

dfHj"  "  Whose  image  and  superscription  hath  it  ?"  See  by  thoughts, 
words,  actions.  See  by  the  contrary,  the  glass  of  the  law  and  the 
Gospel.  O  !  pray,  that  God  would  deface  with  Jesus'  blood,  and  stamp 
you  with  his  Spirit.  New  heart :  till  then,  all  is  against  you,  creation, 
redemption,  &c. 


OUTLINE  II. 

"  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time ;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation," 
2  Cor.  vi,  2. 

Introduction. — Two  grand  devices  of  Satan,  and  mistakes  of  men. 

1.  Unbelief. — "  God  will  not  save  us  now." 

2.  Impenitency. — "  He  will  do  it  at  death." 
1.  What  is  "  the  accepted  time  ?" 

1.  When  God  offers  sinners  to   accept  their  persons,  and  pardon 
their  sins. 

2.  When  sinners  can  close  with  that  offer. 

Time  of  rejection. — Foolish  virgins.     Prov.  i.     Esau. 


OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS.  193 

II.  What  is  "  the  day  of  salvation  ?" 

1.  As  to  Christ:  days  of  his  flesh,  birth,  temptation,  agony,  death, 
resurrection,  intercession. 

2.  As  to  the  Spirit :  when  he  saves  sinners  by  an  application  of  what 
Christ  has  done  and  suffered. 

(1.)  From  stupidity,  by  awakenings. 

(2.)  From  guilt,  by  a  pardon. 

(3.)  From  uneasiness,  by  peace  and  joy. 

(4.)  From  a  spiritual  hell,  by  a  taste  of  heaven. 

(5.)  From  sin,  by  righteousness  and  a  new  birth. 

OCT  A  day. — Short  space,  wasting,  soon  gone,  to  work  in  :  followed 
by  the  night.  Day  of  life,  day  of  grace,  Lord's  day,  day  of  health,  day 
of  youth,  day  of  the  Gospel,  day  of  power. 

Remember  Felix,  Lot's  sons,  Jerusalem. 

III.  v  Now  is  the  accepted  time,"  &c. 

The  Father  calls,  Jesus  intercedes,  ministers  plead,  the  Spirit  strives. 
While  you  have  conscience  to  reprove,  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear,  senses, 
health   leisure. 

Now  Christ  stands ;  now  saints  pray ;  now  mercy  courts ;  now 
sceptre  of  love ;  now  door  of  heaven  opened ;  now  well  of  life  un- 
sealed ;  now  the  scale  hovers  ;  now  a  breath  ;  now  death  is  coming ; 
now  Gospel  trump  sounds ;  God  about  to  summons ;  now  that  others 
enter  in. 

Behold,  consider.     Let  not  Satan,  world,  flesh,  blind  thee. 

Behold,  soon  the  time  of  rejection,  no  time.     Soon  the  day  of  death, 
of  judgment,  of  condemnation.     The  day  when  the  wheels  of  opportu 
nity  shall  be  fast.     O  who  shall  bear  that  day  of  God,  that  last  day  ? 

Application. — To  sinners. — Jesus  weeps  over  you.  Know,  squan- 
der not  your  day ;  kill  not  time,  soul,  and  Saviour  together. 

Mourners. — Publicans,  now,  Zaccheus,  no  to-morrow. 

Believers. — Know,  tell,  show  ;  day  of  glorification  near. 


OUTLINE  III. 

"This  is  the  heir;  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  let  us  seize  on  his  inheritance," 
Matt,  xxi,  38. 

Introduction. — Speech  both  of  the  Jews,  and  of  every  unbeliever, 
at  least  in  their  hearts  and  actions.  Barbarous  mothers.  Herod  and 
Pharaoh  kill. 

I.  Jesus  is  the  Son  and  heir. 

1.  Son,  Isa.  ix,  6  ;  Matt,  hi;  Heb.  i;  Psalm  ii.  One  in  nature 
and  essence,  dignity.  As  old  as  his  Father,  as  venerable  ;  always  be- 
gotten, and  always  in  begetting  ;  as  brightness,  and  the  sun. 

2.  Heir,  Heb.  i,  2  ;  Rom.  viii,  17,  and  iv,  13. 
II.  What  is  his  inheritance  ? 

1.  Heaven. — That  part  of  it  people  do  not  trouble  themselves  much 
about. 

2.  Earth. — "The  uttermost  parts"  of  it,  PsaL.i  ii,  8.  For  this 
many  fight :  they  will  seize  on  houses  and  lands,  and  those  refined 
particles  of  the  earth,  called  silver  and  gold,  with  all  its  fruits. 

Vol.  IV.  13 


1  04  OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS. 

3.  "  The  heathen  for  his  inheritance." — All  nations,  our  souls  and 
bodies,  our  senses,  powers,  members,  hearts,  are  Christ's,  though  we 
seize  upon  them  as  our  own. 

III.  The  unbelieving  heart,  the  Jew  within,  says,  "  Let  us  kill  him." 
Let  us  see  him  killed  without  taking  his  part.  Let  us  reject  him.  Let 
us  not  entertain  him.  Let  us  account  his  blood  a  common  thing.  Let 
us  crucify  him  by  sin.  Let  us  look  on  him  as  dead  and  lost.  Let  us 
"  seize  on  his  inheritance."  He  is  come  to  take  possession  of  thy 
thoughts  and  heart ;  seize  them  not ;  they  are  his  right,  as  Son,  as 
Redeemer,  and  heir. 

Application. — 1.  Unconverted. — Too  long  have  ye  murdered  him 
afresh  ;  perhaps  doubly  on  his  holy  days. 

2.  Ye  unbelievers,  though  you  do  not  kill  him,  yet,  Pharaoh  like,  you 
take  him  not  up,  you  nurse  him  not,  as  Pharaoh's  daughter  did  Moses. 
Mind  now. 

This  is  the  heir,  the  Son ;  come  let  us  kiss  him,  adore,  serve  him. 
Let  us  restore  him  his  inheritance.  Let  us  kiss  him,  with  the  shep- 
herds ;  restore  his  own  with  the  wise  men  :  in  so  doing  you  will  become 
heirs  and  joint  heirs. 

3.  Ye  believers,  be  as  busy  every  one  in  saying,  "  This  is  the  Son, 
believe  on  him,"  as  the  Jews  were  in  crying,  "  Crucify  him  !"  Re- 
member,  you  are  his  peculiar  possession. 


OUTLINE  IV. 

"  Ye  desired  a  murderer  to  be  granted  unto  you,  and  killed  the  Prince  of  life," 
Acts  iii,  14,  15. 

Introduction. — "  Killing"  not  literal.  Four  soldiers.  Uriah  killed 
by  David  and  the  Ammonite's  sword :  so  Christ  by  the  Roman  spear. 
Sin  is  the  true  cause. 

I.  We  have  desired  a  murderer  to  be  granted  to  us. 

1.  Barabbas  within,  who  hath  made  insurrection  against  God,  supe- 
riors,  conscience,  law,  Gospel. 

2.  Who  hath  committed  murder  on  our  souls  and  bodies,  and  on  those 
,of  others.     Yea,  Christ  himself  has  been  stabbed. 

0^T  Sin  is  the  butcher  of  mankind,  subtle  poison,  sharp  dagger,  en- 
venomed dart.  It  brings  lethargy  and  spiritual  death,  grieves  and  drives 
the  Author  of  life,  gilds  the  pill,  sweetens  the  cup,  comes  in  disguise, 
lets  in  a  troop. 

II.  How  our  sins  have  particularly  murdered  Christ  and  us. 

Priests,  magistrates,  people,  pursue  him  to  the  garden ;  bound  by  the 
chain  of  our  sins.  We  wander  ;  he  is  led  captive.  We  execute  ;  he  is 
silent.  We  shut  our  eyes  ;  he  is  blindfolded.  We  pamper  the  flesh  ;  he 
sheds  blood,  and  agonizes.  We  seek  ease ;  he  faints  under  the  cross. 
We  are  proud  ;  he  is  crowned  with  thorns,  and  naked.  We  abuse  our 
hands  and  feet ;  he  is  pierced.  We  are  intemperate ;  he  thirsts,  and 
hath  vinegar  and  gall.  We  are  unclean  ;  he  is  bathed  in  blood.  We 
are  impatient ;  he  was  railed  at.  We  are  accursed  by  the  law  ;  he  was 
upon  the  tree.  We  are  hard  hearted  ;  his  heart  was  pierced.  We  are 
careless ;  he  h?d  strong  cries  and  agonies. 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  195 

Barticularly,  envy  of  priests,  covetousness  of  Judas,  fear  of  Pilate, 
condescension  of  the  multitude  in  submitting  to  priests  and  elders,  Matt, 
xxvii,  20,  backbiting  and  slander,  lies  and  wrong  construction  of  witnesses. 

III.  Christ  is  the  Prince  of  life. 

"  Tbe  resurrection  and  the  life,"  John  xi.  "  The  way,  the  truth,  and 
the  life,"  John  xiv,  6.  "  In  him  is  the  water  of  life,"  Rev.  xxii.  "  He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,"  1  John  v.  "  I  am  come  that  they  might 
have  life,"  &c,  John  x.  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,"  &c,  John  v,  40. 
"  I  live  not,  but  Christ  lives  in  me,"  Gal.  ii. 

Christ  our  life. — He  is  the  giver  and  preserver  of  spiritual  and  animal 
life.     "  He  breathed  the  breath  of  lives,"  upholds  it,  will  restore  it. 

Inferences. — 1.  Aggravation  of.     Killed  a  Prince.     That  of  life. 

2.  Condescension  of  Christ,  and  the  worth  of  his  death.  He  is  the 
Prince  of  life  and  life  itself. 

3.  Certainty  of  his  resurrection,  and  power  to  raise  the  dead. 
Application. — Desire  no  more  the  murderer.     Pursue  him  in  public 

and  secret.  Plot  against  him  day  and  night.  Find,  bind,  drag.  Not 
only  bind,  spit,  strike,  crucify,  but  kill  and  pierce  Delilah  through  the 
heart.     Repent,  as  David,  Psalm  li,  6.     Wash  in  the  blood. 

1.  Sinners. — Dread. 

2.  Mourners. — Rejoice.  Jesus  lives  and  pardons.  Thirst.  Begin 
at  Jerusalem,  Luke  xxiv,  47. 


OUTLINE  V. 

"  John  truly  baptized  with  water :  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
not  many  days  hence,"  Acts  i,  5. 

Introduction. — Last  words  of  our  Lord.      Dispensation  of  John  : 
baptized  with  water,  not  in. 

I.  Use  of  John's  water.     Baptism. 

1.  A  sign  of  universal  pollution,  from  the  womb.     Repentance. 

2.  Acknowledgment  of  guilt,  and  need  of  pardon. 

3.  Acknowledgment  of  corruption,  and  need  of  holiness. 

4.  Profession  of  thirst  after  refreshing  comfort. 

5.  Profession  of  helplessness.     None  baptized  themselves. 

6.  Profession  of  cleansing  the  outside. 

II.  Insufficiency  of  John's  baptism. 

1.  Material  water  cannot  clease  the  soul. 

2.  It  is  not  saving.     Witness  Simon  Magus.     "You  shall  be  bap- 
tized," &c. 

3.  The  water  flows  off,  dries  up  :  the  effect  superficial. 

4.  The  testimony  of  John  himself:  "I  indeed." 

5.  The  declaration  of  Christ  in  the  text. 

III.  General  necessity  of  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

1.  All  tainted  with  original  sin.     Must  be  born  again. 

2.  All  guilty.     Must  be  pardoned,  (Act.  ii,  and  x.) 

3.  All  unholy.     Must  be  sanctified.     Catechism,  (Rom.  viii.) 

4.  The  corruption  is  spiritual  and  deep.     Fire  refines. 

5.  All  are  miserable,  and  need  the  Comforter  and  kingdom. 

6.  All  helpless  and  Christless  till  then.     "  If  any  man,"  &c 


196  OUTLINES  OF   SERMONS. 

7.  All  are  unfit  for  heaven  and  bliss,  without  love,  melting,  uniting 

8.  Particular  necessity  for  ministers :  to  preach  the  word  with  power. 
To  bear  up  under  troubles  and  persecutions.  To  be  directed  into  all 
truth,  and  to  testify  of  Jesus,  though  not  to  work  miracles  and  speak  with' 
tongues. 

IV.  When? 

"  Not  many  days  hence."  When  prepared  with  prayer  and  faith, 
united  in  one  accord  and  tried.  The  day  is  not  fixed,  that  we  may  ex- 
pect daily  and  yet  not  faint. 

Application. — 1.  Unconverted. — Rest  in  no  baptism,  but  that  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  fire.     Water  baptism  will  condemn  you  alone. 

2.  John's  disciples. — Promised,  the  thing  promised,  the  time.  O  con- 
tinue praying  with  one  accord  ! 

3.  Believers. — You  want  fresh  baptism,  till  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
grace,  fill  your  soul. 


OUTLINE  VI. 

"  Awake,  awake,  put  on  thy  strength,  O  Zion,  put  on  thy  beautiful  garments, 
O  Jerusalem,"  Isaiah  lii,  1. 

[.  A  description  of  Zion  and  Jerusalem. 

1.  Asleep,  in  the  dust. 

2.  Without  strength. 

3.  Naked. 

4.  Captives.     Bands  on  neck,  (v.  2.) 

5.  A  thoroughfare  for  the  uncircumcised  and  unclean. 

6.  Sold  by  themselves  for  naught. 

II.  The  first  command. 

"  Awake,  awake !"  Deep  sleep  is  a  great  danger.  Open  the  eyes 
uf  thy  understanding.  Dream  no  more.  Be  no  more  idle.  Hear,  rise, 
shake  thyself  from  the  dust,  from  the  sleep  of  sin,  ignorance,  death. 
Awake  by  the  trumpet  of  Sinai,  the  groans  of  Calvary,  those  of  dying 
neighbours,  the  last  trumpet ;  or  now  by  the  Gospel  trumpet.  Awake, 
to-night,  and  sin  not.     "  Shake  off  thy  sin,"  &c. 

III.  The  second  command. 

"  Put  on  thy  strength."  Put  on  Christ,  who  is  the  mighty  God, 
Isaiah  xlv,  24  ;  John  xv  ;  Romans  v,  6.  "  The  Lord  will  be  the  strength 
of  Israel,"  Joel  iii,  16.  "  Strength  made  perfect  when  weak,"  Romans 
viii,  3;  2  Cor.  xii,  9.  "Wait,  renew  their  strength,"  Isaiah  xl,  31. 
Samson  : — "  Tell  me  wherein  thy  strength  lieth."  Believe  in  the  Lord, 
thy  strength.  Lay  hold  on  it.  Thy  Jesus  gave  himself, — was  weak  for 
us.  Use  thy  strength  in  shaking,  rising,  fighting,  believing,  praying, 
pulling  down  strong  holds ;  break  thy  bonds. 

IV.  The  third  command. 

"  Put  on  thy  beautiful  garments."  Innocency,  righteousness,  true 
holiness.  Joshua  and  [his]  filthy  garments,  Zech.  iii,  4.  Robe  of  the 
elder  brother,  Esau.  Best  robe  for  the  prodigal.  Beautiful  in  the  eyes 
of  the  law,  of  God,  of  men,  of  angels.  Put  on  Christ,  the  Lord  thy 
righteousness.  Tear  not  that  garment.  Walk  in  white.  Stand  with 
the  redeemed,  with  robes  washed  in  the  blood.    Go  to  court.     Go  work 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  197 

for  thy  God.  Be  clothed  with  humility.  Patch  not  the  old  garment. 
Obtain  the  wedding  garment.  Spread  thy  garment  in  the  way.  Dyed 
garment  from  Bozrah,  Isaiah  lxi,  10. 

Application. — 1.  The  ungodly. — Awake,  before  hell  awakes  you. 
God  will  put  on  his  strength.  You  cannot  withstand  him — naked  you 
are  before  an  all  infinite  power. 

2.  Mourners. — Christ  your  strength,  righteousness,  is  very  near.  Put 
him  on.  See  Jesus,  naked,  fainting,  dying,  rising,  &c.  The  sword 
awoke  the  shepherd,  &c. 


OUTLINE  VII. 

"Then  hath  God  also  to  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life,"  Acts  xi,  18. 

Introduction. — There  are  dreadful  mistakes  about  the  fundamentals. 
Few  are  converted.     Few  penitents :  why  ? 

T.  What  that  repentance  is,  which  is  not  unto  life  ? 

1.  Repentance  in  words.  "  I  have  sinned."  Saul,  1  Samuel 
xv,  24. 

2.  General,  not  particular ;  not  every  sin. 

3.  Particular,  not  universal ;  merely  one  sin. 

4.  Afraid  of  sin's  shame,  pain,  and  punishment :  not  of  sin  itself 

5.  When  any  excuses  are  made  ;  mouth  stopped. 

6.  When  in  a  fit  of  affliction  only.     Judas. 

7.  When  no  reform,  or  a  partial  one,  follows. 

8.  When  life,  pardon,  and  the  Spirit  are  not  obtained. 

II.  What  is  repentance  unto  life  ? 

1.  Abstaining  from  all  known  sin. 

2.  Practising  all  known  duties.     Cornelius,  Acts  x. 

3.  Inquiring  after  the  way  and  people  of  God. 

4.  Listening  for  life,  till  we  are  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
can  magnify  God. 

5.  Till  we  obtain  life,  a  pardon,  Christ,  and  the  Spirit. 

This  repentance  is  hearty,  universal,  particular,  lasting,  uniform,  trans- 
forming. 

III.  By  whom,  and  to  whom  it  is  granted. 

1.  By  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  exalted  to  give  it.  It  is  not  our  gift.  No 
repentance  in  Adam  and  Eve  before  the  promise,  Genesis  iii,  15.  It  is 
granted.     It  is  a  favour,  not  a  judgment. 

2.  "  To  the  Gentiles  also."  Ignorant  and  wicked,  excommunicated 
from  Christ  and  the  Gospel.     Not  to  the  Jews  only. 

Application. — 1.  You  who  are  openly  impenitent,  consider  your 
state,  sin,  law,  curse,  God,  death,  judgment,  hell.  There  is  no  repent- 
ance in  death. 

2.  You  that  deceive  yourselves  with  false  repentance  ;  O  let  God  by 
this  text  convince  you  ! 

3.  Seekers  of  true  repentance. — Behold  Jesus. 

4.  Penitents. — Magnify  God,  and  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repent- 


198  OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS. 

OUTLINE  VIII. 

"  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked ;  who  can 
know  it  ?"  Jeremiah  xvii,  19. 

Introduction. — Wound  of  the  body  and  soul  to  be  opened. 

I.  What  is  the  heart  ? 

Soul,  spirit,  will,  mind,  affections,  conscience,  and  memory.  "  Lest 
they  understand  with  their  heart,"  &c,  Isaiah  vi,  10. 

The  heart  and  understanding  opened  in  Lydia,  Acts.  Disciples  to 
Emmaus,  Luke  xxiv,  31,  32. 

It  denotes  conscience,  John  iii,  19,  21.  "If  our  heart  condemn  us 
not,"  &c. 

It  implies  memory. — "  Out  of  tae  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,"  Matt. 

II.  Description  of  it. 

It  is  in  young  and  old  ;  moral  and  immoral. 

(1.)  "  Desperately  wicked." 

Adam,  conception,  infancy,  childhood,  youth,  age,  old  age. 

1.  The  heart  is  blind. 

Adam  hid  himself.  A  veil  hides  it.  "  From  blindness  of  heart,  good 
Lord  deliver  us  !"     "  Not  given  a  heart  to  perceive,"  Deut.  xxix,  4. 

2.  Hard,  stout. 

Pharaoh,  disobedience,  unrelenting,  insensible,  stony,  not  flesh,  Josiah ; 
2  Kings  xxii,  19.     "  Rend  your  heart,"  &c.     "  Contrite  heart." 

3.  Stupid. 

Daniel  iv,  16.  The  heart  of  a  beast,  drowsy,  sleepy.  It  has  nothing 
to  say  to  God  and  man.  "  Awake  my  heart,"  says  David.  "  Fat  at. 
brawn." 

4.  Proud. 

"  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  should  obey  him  ?"  Exodus.  Who  are  the 
magistrates,  ministers?  It  rises  against  superiors,  against  their  word, 
reproof,  rod. 

5.  Passionate. 

Saul,  Jonah.  Full  of  hatred.  Notice  Eccles.  x,  13.  Revengeful, 
envious,  Hazael.     Madness  in  their  head. 

6.  Perjured. 

Covenant  breakers,  false  to  God,  man,  self.  Inconstant  in  spirituals, 
temporals,  Peter. 

7.  Ungrateful,  covetous,  lustful. 

8.  Full  of  hatred  to  God. 

Carnal  mind.  Lovers  of  the  world.  Haters  of  God,  his  ways,  and 
people. 

9.  Full  of  unbelief  to  Christ. 
Presumptuous,  despairing,  doubtful. 

10.  Full  of  resistance  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  My  Spirit  shall  not 
always  strive  with  man." 

(2.)  "  Deceitful  above  all  things." 

Above  the  sea,  the  weather,  the  look,  the  tongue,  the  devil,  deceitful. 

1.  Deceit  begins  at  home. 

Deceives  self,  excuses  sin,  magnifies,  shows  of  good,  puts  light  for 
darkness,  calls  evil  good.     "  I  have  a  good  heart !"  Pharisee. 

2.  Deceives  neighbours. 


OUTLINES   OF   SERMONS.  199 

It  appears  honest,  chaste,  godly",  kind,  disinterested,  to  cheat  others. 

3.  Tries  to  deceive  God  himself. 

Hypocrite,  formalist. — Heart  far  off,  lips  near.     Body  without  soul. 

4.  Cheats  God  of  his  service,  men  of  love,  and  self  of  a  kingdom  of 
grace  and  glory.     Yea,  it  cheats  his  soul  into  hell.     Foolish  virgins. 

III.  "  Who  can  know  it  ?" 

Not  the  natural,  learned,  trading  man  ;  but  God,  the  searcher  of  hearts. 
Christ,  "  who  needed  not  that  any  one  should  testify  of  man."  The 
Spirit,  "who  searcheth  the  deep  things,"  &c,  1  Cor.  ii,  10.  And  those 
who  are  taught  by  him. 

Inferences. — 1.  "  He  that  trusteth  his  own  heart  is  a  fool." 

2.  "  Watch,  and  keep  your  heart  with  all  diligence." 

3.  How  great  the  necessity  of  a  new  birth. 

4.  How  glorious  the  promise  of  a  new  heart  of  flesh. 

5.  How  do  those  who  boast,  show  the  deceitfulness  of  their  hearts. 

6.  No  change  of  life  sufficient  without  a  corresponding  change  of 
heart. 

7.  The  fountain  being  bad,  so  are  the  streams. 

8.  The  necessity  of  Christ's  heart  being  pierced,  and  the  Spirit  to  open 
and  change  ours. 

Application. — Study  your  hearts.  Pray  for  light.  Examine  what 
passes  in  sudden  temptations,  in  dreams,  in  thoughts. 


OUTLINE  IX. 

"  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom, 
righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption,"  1  Cor.  i,  30. 

Introduction. — Know  thyself  and  thy  advantages,  believer ! 

I.  "Ye  are  of  him." 
Accepted,  born,  sons,  heirs. 

II.  "  In  Christ  Jesus." 

The  second  Adam,  to  whom  you  are  united  by  faith  and  love.  On 
his  part,  by  water,  blood,  and  the  Spirit.     He  made  himself  man. 

Reflection. — How  noble  the  Christian !  How  should  he  despise 
earth  and  sin !  Believe  in  Christ,  walk  in  Christ,  and  you  will  be  God's. 
Wicked  men  are  of  the  devil,  in  Adam. 

III.  "  Christ  is  made  of  God." 

Christ  is  the  masterpiece  of  Divine  wisdom,  power,  love,  mercy, 
justice. 

IV.  "To  us." 

Enemies,  foolish,  guilty,  polluted,  wretched  as  long  as  we  are  out  of 
Christ.     Who  sees  it  ? 

V.  Christ  is  our  Magazine. — All  fulness.  Wisdom,  brightness,  right- 
eousness.     He  did  and  suffered  all  for  us.  t 

Priest. — Sanctification.  Holy  in  himself.  Making  us  so  by  faith  as 
physician. 

Redemption. — He  redeemed  himself  and  us,  in  rising  from  the  dead. 
As  King  and  Saviour  he  redeemed  us  from  sin,  misery,  death. 

ft3»  Christ  not  only  offered,  designed,  but  made. 


200  OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS. 

Application. — Close  with  the  bargain.  Reject,  neglect  not  Christ 
Benighted,  wandering  ones,  foolish  slaves  of  sin,  receive  Christ  as  wis- 
dom. Guilty  ones,  receive  him  as  righteousness.  Unclean  ones,  receive 
him  as  sanctification.     Miserable  ones,  receive  him  as  redemption. 

Observe  the  order. — Justification  is  before  sanctification.  A  chain 
with  four  links,  one  draws  the  other.  Believers,  what  a  treasure  !  draw, 
buy  out. 


OUTLINE  X. 

"To  him  that  overcometh,  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  0:1  my  throne,  even  as< 
I  also  overcame  and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  on  his  throne,"  Rev.  iii,  21. 

Introduction. — Important  words.  "  He  that  has  an  ear  to  hear,  let 
him  hear." 

I.  Jesus  overcame. 

1.  The  world. — Its  crowns,  smiles,  pomps,  pleasures,  profit,  applause. 
By  standing,  or  flying. 

2.  The  flesh. — Ease,  gratifications,  lusts.  By  fasting,  abstinence,  pain, 
want,  agony  of  the  cross. 

3.  The  devil. — By  resisting,  and  the  word.  The  prince  in  his  powers 
of  darkness,  and  temptations,  was  conquered. 

4.  Sin. — By  bleeding  and  dying  for  it. 

5.  Death. — By  being  swallowed  up  by  it.     Hell. 

II.  His  reward  as  man. 

He  sits  down  with  the  Father  on  his  throne.  Union,  rest,  triumph, 
power,  glory. 

III.  We  must  overcome  as  he  did :  and  by  his  victory,  the  believer 
overcomes  in  Christ,  1  John  v,  4. 

IV.  Promise. 

"  Sitting"  denotes  rest. 

"  With  Christ,"  signifies  union,  delight. 

"  On  his  throne," — power,  glory. 

"  Even," — like  cross,  like  crown. 

"  Will  I  grant," — favour  to  us  by  Christ's  righteousness. 

Motives. — Love,  gratitude,  safety,  rest,  honour,  power,  and  dominion 
for  ever. 

Encouragement. — Christ  has  overcome  before,  and  for  you. 

Prize. — The  person,  and  the  throne  of  Christ.  Honour  superior  to 
that  of  angels. 

Fight  the  world  as  Shadrach,  the  flesh  as  Paul,  the  devil  as  Christ, 
sin  as  Joseph, — death  as  the  conquerors,  1  Cor.  xv,  57. 

Application. — Worldlings, — Fight  not  in  the  wrong  cause,  or  you 
will  sit  in  hell. 

Seekers. — Strive  ev%n  to  Dlood.  Fight  till  you  overcome.  On  your 
knees. 

Believers. — Overcome,  till  you  sit  down. 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  201 

OUTLINE  XI. 

"From  henceforth  thou  shalt  catch  men,"  Luke  v,  10. 

Introduction. — Business  of  preachers  to  catch  men. 
I.  From  what  place  ? 

1.  The  muddy  pool  of  ignorance. 

2.  The  streams  of  vanity. 

3.  The  foaming  sea  of  corruption,  original  and  actual. 

4.  The  cistern,  whirlpool,  of  self.  These  all  lead  to  the  lake  burning, 
&c.     There  that  leviathan  takes  his  pastime. 

II.  For  what  end  ? 

1.  To  save  them  from  the  lake,  and  the  leviathan. 

2.  To  bring  them  to  the  fountain  opened  for  sin.  To  the  river  that 
gladdens  Sion.  To  the  ocean  of  Divine  love,  the  living  fountain  of 
water,  the  well  of  life. 

III.  How? 

Not  by  cunningly  devised  fables,  not  by  flattery,  but  by  the  truth  ol 
the  law  to  frighten,  of  the  Gospel  to  allure. 

Satan  catches  by  lies.  His  bait  is  pleasure,  profit,  honour ;  not  Jesus 
love.     He  is  in  the  night,  we  in  the  day. 

Application. — Compared  to  fishes.  They  devour  each  other.  Care 
not  for  heaven. 

Sinners. — Let  me  catch  you,  by  conscience.  God  will  catch  you  at 
last  out  of  every  pool. 

Mourners. — Come  to  Jesus. 

Backsliders. — Escape  his  net.     No  more  be  taken. 

Saints. — Catch  others. 


OUTLINE  XII. 

"  Then  he  answered  and  spake  unto  me,  saying,  This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord 
unto  Zerubbabel,  saying,  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain  ?  before  Zerubbabel  thou  shalt 
become  a  plain ;  and  he  shall  bring  forth  the  head  stone  thereof  with  shoutings, 
crying,  Grace,  grace  unto  it,"  Zech.  iv,  6,  7. 

I.  Temple. 

Difficulties  in  the  way  of  erection,  as  a  great  mountain  blocking  up 
the  way. 

Alps,  Hannibal. 

II.  Direction  given. 

1.  Negatively. — "Not  by  might"  of  man's  body,  soul,  parts,  wealth. 
"  Nor  by  power"  of  temporal  and  ecclesiastical  rulers. 

2.  Positively. — "  But  by  my  Spirit."  He  turns  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  works  effectually  when  man  gives  all  up.  "  The  Lord  of  hosts." 
Superior  might  says  so. 

O^T  The  power  of  the  Spirit  in  Elijah,  Christ,  and  his  apostles.  Man 
is  weakened  before  God  works.     Jacob's  thigh. 

III.  Gracious  promise  of  God. 

1.  Authority  and  power  of  God. — "Who  art  thou,"  Pharaoh,  Senna 
cherib,  Sanballat,  Satan  ? 


202  oltl::,es  or  sermons. 

2.  "  Great  mountain." — Corruptions,  prejudice,  outward  powers,  sins. 

3.  "  Before  Zerubbabel." — Christ,  the  builder  of  the  world  and  repairer 
of  the  breach,  raising  the  temple  of  his  body  in  three  days. 

4.  "  Thou  shalt  become  a  plain." — A  valley  filled. 

5.  "The  head  stone,  and  foundation  stone  with  shoutings." — Of  all 
good  men,  and  angels,  through  joy.     Of  bad  men,  through  fear. 

6.  "  Grace,  grace  unto  it !" 
Grace  in  God,  toward  man  immense. 
Application. — Apply  this, 

1.  To  the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking. 

2.  To  the  difficulties  of  our  salvation. 

Grace  is  to  begin  and  conclude.  Every  stone  brought  is  put  in  with 
the  heavenly  shout. 

Have  you  no  power?  "Not  by  your  power."  Zerubbabel  hath 
power. 

Have  you  no  might?  Christ  hath  the  Spirit.  "  By  my  Spirit."  By 
the  power  of  the  spirit  of  prayer,  spirit  of  faith,  love,  patience. 

Look  at  the  sin  of  the  world,  a  great  mountain  :  before  Jesus  it  was 
a  plain. 

Look  at  the  state  of  Christianity.  Twelve  poor  fishermen.  It  was 
a  plain,  instead  of  a  mountain,  when  Zerubbabel  took  the  matter  in  hand. 

Look  at  the  reformation. 

Look  at  the  late  revival. 

J^/5  Adam  lost,  Christ  regains  and  gives  paradise.  As  a  proof,  the 
thief,  his  greatest  miracle.  Breaking  of  the  rocks,  graves,  the  earth 
quake,  rending  of  the  veil  of  the  temple,  are  less  glorious. 

Trophy  !  The  shame  of  the  company  of  the  two  thieves  redounded 
to  his  greater  glory. 


OUTLINE  XIII. 

"  And  he  said  to  Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom 
And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
paradise,"  Luke  xxiii,  42,  43. 

I.  Power  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  manner  of  conversion. 

1.  All  men  are  robbers,  murderers,  despisers  of  Christ. 

2.  The  greatest  blessings  or  plagues  humble  them  not. 

3.  The  prayer  of  Christ,  and  grace  in  answer  to  it,  do  humble  them. 

4.  Works  are  not  the  cause  of  pardon. 

5.  The  meritorious  cause  is  Christ.  He  is  God.  The  Lord  gives 
paradise. 

6.  Instrumental  cause,  faith  and  prayer.     "  Remember  me." 
II.  The  heart  of  Christ  is  toward  sinners. 

1.  In  these  dreadful  circumstances,  Christ  takes  notice  of  an  ejacu- 
lation. 

2.  "  Verily,"  truth  of  the  promise. 

3.  "  Thou,"  base,  guilty  as  thou  art. 

4.  "  With  me,"  what  company  ! 

5.  "  Paradise,"  abode  of  the  blessed. 

6.  "  To-day,"  no  delay,  now  is  the  accepted  time. 


OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS.  203 

III.  The  marks  and  effects  of  true  faith. 

1.  It  judges  not  by  appearances.  Christ  was  crucified,  yet  he  was 
Lord  and  King. 

2.  It  sees  Christ  glorious,  though  before  it  valued  him  not. 

3.  It  prays,  "  Remember  me,"  humbly.  Not,  "Let  me  sit  down  with 
thee  on  thy  throne." 

4.  It  takes  Christ's  part,  and  sees  his  righteousness.  "  He  hath  done 
nothing  amiss." 

5.  Hatred  of  sin.  Fear  of  God.  Reproof:  "  dost  thou  not  fear 
God,  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation  ?" 

6.  A  vindication  of  justice  :  "  we  indeed  justly." 

7.  An  open  confession  :  "  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds." 
6.  He  had  but  a  heart  and  a  tongue  at  liberty  :  both  are  used. 
Application. — Sinners. — He  is  exalted  still  to  give  repentance  and 

pardon.  Abuse  not  God's  goodness  that  leads  you  to  it.  You  cannot 
outwit  God.  Thou  fool.  Wicked  servant,  Matt,  xxiv,  48.  God  will 
harden  you  as  the  other  thief.  Apoplexy,  fever  in  the  brain.  As  a 
thief  he  comes.  How  will  you  escape  hell  and  damnation  ?  O  be 
concerned,  rise  against  sin,  go  as  far  as  the  thief. 

Mourners. — Ask,  seek,  knock.  See  Christ's  readiness  to  receive 
sinners,  to  grant  petitions,  and  to  exceed  them.     He  upbraids  not. 

Objection. — "  The  thief  had  never  heard  Christ  before."    Peter  had. 

Self  righteous. — Be  not  angry  at  this  prodigal  entering  into  paradise 
at  the  same  door.     One  way  and  door. 

Believers. — See  your  privilege.  Assurance.  Answer  to  prayer. 
Knowledge  of  pardon,  and  certainty  of  paradise.  Make  the  best  of  a 
short  life.  Speak  for  Christ  on  a  death  bed.  Esteem  him  the  more,  for 
the  revilings  of  sinners.  Make  a  stand  against  sin.  Be  patient  on  the 
cross.     Be  humble. 


OUTLINE  XIV. 

'•Beginning  to  sink,  he  cried,  saying,  Lord,  sa*e  me,"  Matt,  xiv,  30. 

Introduction. — Woman  drowned.* 

1.  Power  of  faith. 

It  walks,  1.  Upon  a  sea  of  iniquity. 

2.  A  sea  of  temptations. 

3.  A  sea  of  tribulation  and  danger. 

4.  It  crosses  the  Jordan  of  death. 

5.  It  stands  the  storms  and  billows  of  judgment. 

II.  The  behaviour,  in  danger,  of  one  who  hath  little  faith.     "  O  thou 
of  little  faith." 

1.  He  walks  on  no  more  ;  but  begins  to  sink. 

2.  He  cries  out  to  Jesus,  "Lord,  save  me  !" 

3.  He  is  happily  saved  :  "  Jesus  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  caught 
nim." 

*  This  sermon  appears  to  have  been  delivered  soon  after  the  interment  of  a 
woman  who  was  drowned  by  crossing  the  Severn  in  a  boat. 


£04  OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS. 

III.  The  misery  of  unbelievers,  those  that  sink  and  cry  not. 

1.  The  floods  go  over  their  head. 

2.  They  are  in  the  most  deplorable  condition. 

H.  They  sink  as  easy  as  the  corpse  of  the  drowned. 
4.  O  that  you  might  lift  up  your  head  above  the  floods  of  worldliness 
ai:d  ignorance.      See  your  danger  and  cry  out. 

IV.  The  misery  of  applying  to  any  but  Christ. 

1.  No  help  in  the  rotten  boat  of  the  flesh. 

2.  No  help  in  many  worldly  goods,  or  works,  or  self. 

3.  No  help  in  our  fellow  sinners. 

4.  No  catching  at  man  without  disappointment. 

5.  No  crying  to  man  with  success. 

V.  How  happy  the  case  of  those  who  fly  to  Christ. 

1.  He  hath  come  out  of  sin,  flesh,  world,  grave. 

2.  Christ  is  every  where,  all  love  and  power. 

3.  If  we  lay  hold  of  him  he  will  not  be  angry.  Consider  the  woman 
with  the  bloody  issue.  "  He  that  comes  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out." 

4.  If  we  cannot  catch  him,  he  will  catch  us. 

Therefore  cry  to  him  now.  Lay  hold  on,  and  stand  in  his  strength, 
Drepared  for  the  worst. 


OUTLINE  XV. 

"  There  is  yet  one  man  by  whom  we  may  inquire  of  the  Lord !  But  I  hate  him, 
for  he  does  not  prophesy  good  concerning  me,  but  evil,"  1  Kings  xxii,  8. 

Introduction. — False  prophets  multiplied.     They  were  destroyed  by 
Elijah.     Now  again  they  are  four  hundred  to  one.     Micaiah. 
I.  The  difference  of  the  prophets  of  God  and  the  world. 

1.  False  prophets  and  wicked  people  talk  of  inquiring*" of  the  Lord  ; 
but  they  inquire  of  their  own  heart,  of  one  another,  and  seek  to  please, 
and  dread  to  offend,  by  the  disagreeable  truth.  Therefore,  they  are 
many. 

2.  True  prophets  have  God  and  the  truth  on  their  side ;  but  are  re- 
jected  by  men  and  hated. 

II.  Concerning  whom  we  must  prophesy  good  and  evil. 

1.  We  cannot  but  prophesy  evil, 

(1.)  To  impious  worldlings. — Jonah,  Noah,  Lot. 
(2.)  To  formalists  and  self-righteous  Pharisees. — Christ. 
(3.)  To  hypocrites. — Ananias  and  Peter.     Paul  and  high  priest. 
(4.)  To  Babel  builders. — They  build  off  the  rock,  are  daubers,  build 
house  on  sand. 

2.  We  prophesy  good, 

(1.)  To  those  who  are  convicted  of  their  sin,  Matt,  xi,  27. 

(2.)  To  mourners  in  Zion,  Isa.  lxi. 

(3.)  To  conscious  unbelievers,  and  lost  sheep. 

(4.)  To  tempted  souls. — "  He  breaks  not  the  bruised  reed,"  &c. 

(5.)  To  the  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake. 

(6.)  To  those  who  wrestle  with  sin. 

(7.)  To  those  of  little  faith. 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  205 

(8.)  To  despairing,  self- condemned  sinners. 

Saying,  "  All  is  ready,  pardon,  holiness,  glory.  We  prophesy  the 
good  things  of  the  promises,  Gospel,  Canaan." 

Application. — To  those  who  are  of  Ahab's  mind.  Those  who  pro- 
phesy smooth  things  to  you  are  your  enemies.  God's  prophets  speak 
evil,  that  you  may  avoid  it.     You  will  know  it  in  the  end. 

2.  Believe,  ye  mourners.  When  we  prophesy  good,  reject  not  the 
delightful  testimony.     Hate  us  not. 


OUTLINE  XVI. 

"  Even  the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid  from  ages  and  from  generations,  Dut 
now  is  made  manifest  to  his  saints  :  to  whom  God  would  make  known  what  is 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles;  which  is  Christ  in 
you,  the  hope  of  glory.  Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching 
every  man  in  all  wisdom  ;  that  we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus,"  Col.  i,  26, 27,  28. 

I.  A  great  mystery,  "  Christ  in  us." 

1.  Christ  in  our  flesh  and  nature  ;  living,  dying,  or  rising. 

2.  Christ  in  us. — Our  life,  motion,  being,  preservation. 

3.  Christ  in  us. — As  our  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  re- 
demption,  comforter. 

4.  "Hope  of  glory." — Present  Saviour,  purifying,  1  Tim.  i,  5. 

II.  This  mystery  was  hid  from  ages  and  generations.  Especially 
those  of  stupid  sinners,  Pharisees,  and  unbelievers  of  all  sorts.  Hid 
from  their  eyes,  hearts,  by  the  curtain  of  ignorance,  sin,  and  unbelief. 
(See  Rom.  xvi,  25 ;  Eph.  i,  18,  and  hi,  9 ;  2  Tim.  i,  10 ;  Tit.  i,  3.) 
"  Now  made  manifest"  to  sinners,  who  became  saints,  by  believing  it,  by 
the  rending  of  the  threefold  veil. 

III.  "  The  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery." 

1.  It  is  glorious  to  know  God  with  us,  and  in  us. — To  be  the  temple 
of  God,  the  members  of  Christ. 

2.  Glorious  to  Christ,  to  be  acknowledged  all  in  all. 

3.  It  fits  us  for,  and  gives  a  sure  hope  and  taste  of  glory. 

0^  "  Riches." — Christ  and  his  unsearchable  riches  of  grace,  mercy, 
righteousness,  &c.     "  God  is  my  Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want." 

IV.  Ministers'  duty. 

1.  To  preach  this  mystery. 

2.  To  warn  every  man  of  his  danger,  in  a  state  of  sin,  nature,  unbelief. 

3.  To  teach  every  man  the  way  of  faith,  bliss,  and  glory  ;  in  all  wis- 
dom from  above. 

V.  End  of  preaching. 

1.  "  Presenting  every  man." — To  God,  to  the  Church,  to  the  assem- 
bly of  the  first  born. 

2.  "Perfect  in  Christ  Jesus." — So  acquainted  with,  and  living  in 
Christ,  that  he  may  be  dead,  and  his  life  entirely  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

OCT  Perfection  in  Christ,  by  dwelling  in  him. 

Application. — Sinners  ! — Unacquainted  with  this  mystery,  how  mise- 
rable, guilty,  ruined !  Sin,  the  world,  Satan,  in  you,  the  fear  of  death, 
judgment,  and  hell :  not  hope  of  glory.     You  we  warn  to  fly  from  the 


206  OUTLINES  OF   SERMONS. 

wrath  to  come.  Attend  to  Christ  in  your  conscience,  warning,  wooing 
you.     Change  the  mystery  of  sin  for  this  "rich  and  glorious  mystery." 

Mourners. — This  mystery  is  now  manifested  to  you.  Refuse  not  the 
hope  of  glory.  Christ  is  near  :  in  you,  if  you  believe.  You  we  teach 
the  way  of  faith,  in  Scripture  wisdom,  in  the  very  words  of  Christ.  He 
is  the  true  wisdom. 

Believers. — Grow  in  the  knowledge  and  enjoying  of  the  mystery,  till 
vou  are  perfected,  adult  Christians. 


OUTLINE  XVII. 

"  And  Joseph  said  unto  his  brethren,  Come  near  to  me,  and  they  came  near, 
and  he  said,  I  am  Joseph  your  brother,  whom  ye  sold  into  Egypt,"  Gen.  xlv,  4. 

Introduction. — Search  the  Scriptures,  they  testify  of  me  in  types. 
I.  The  behaviour  of  sinners  toward  Christ,  the  beloved  Son. 

1.  They  hated  Joseph,  and  could  not  speak  peaceably. 

2.  When  he  went  in  love,  they  conspired  to  slay  him. 

3.  They  stripped  him  of  his  clothes,  cast  him  into  the  pit. 

4.  They  sat  down  to  eat  and  drink. — Stupidity  after  sin. 

5.  They  sold  him  for  twenty  ;  ;eces  of  silver. — Judas,  Esau. 

6.  Skill  in  hiding  their  crime,  and  contentedness. 

7.  Jacob's  grief. — I  will  go  down  to  the  grave  mourning. 

II.  Christ's  humiliation  and  exaltation. 

1.  Jacob  said,  "I  will  send  thee  to  them  ;"  and  he  said,  "  Here  I  am." 
See  if  it  be  well  with  thy  brethren. 

2.  Hated. — "  He  came  to  his  own,  and  they  received  him  not."  Cast 
into  a  pit.     Sold.     All  prospers  in  his  hand. 

3.  A  guilty  woman  accused  Joseph.     He  is  condemned,  imprisoned. 

4.  No  help  from  the  butler.     Christ's  apostles  forsook  him  and  fled. 

5.  No  friend  but  Jesus.     Thief.     Butier  forgetful. 

6.  Joseph  exalted,  arrayed  as  the  king,  rides  in  his  chariot.  Bow  the 
knee.  Without  thee  shall  no  man  lift  up  his  hand,  in  all  Egypt !  Gave- 
bread  to  all,  bought  all. 

III.  Christ's  heart  is  toward  sinners,  and  how  he  manifests  himself  to 
them  after  many  trials. 

1.  A  famine  once  brought  his  brethren  to  beg  of  Joseph.  Again,  a 
famine  brings  sinners  to  beg  of  Christ. 

2.  Joseph  saw,  knew  ;  yet,  at  first,  made  himself  strange. 

3.  "  Ye  are  spies ;  not  true  men.  Ye  shall  be  proved  three  days. 
Bring  forth  Benjamin,"  fruit  meet  for  repentance.     Delilah. 

4.  They  said,  "  We  are  guilty."  This  distress  comes,  his  blood  is 
required,  Joseph  heard,  turned,  and  wept. 

5.  Simeon  bound,  corn  given  freely,  no  money  required. 

6.  "  Except  you  bring  Benjamin," — Delilah, — "  you  will  see  my  face 
no  more."     He  is  brought. 

7.  They  must  eat  bread  with  Joseph,  they  bowed,  Joseph  made  haste, 
retired,  wept. 

8.  The  last  pang  of  distress  : — "  How  shall  we  clear  ourselves  ?  God 
hath  found  out  the  iniquity  of  his  servants." 


OUTLINES   Or   SERMONS.  207 

9.  Joseph  refrains  no  longer. 

All  are^dismissed.  Joseph  manifests  himself,  weeps  :  "lam  Joseph, 
your  brother,"  (I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest,)  come  near :  God 
sent  me  to  preserve  life.     Kissed  them  ;  fatness  of  Egypt,  Goshen. 


OUTLINE  XVIII. 

"  But  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling  block,  and  unto 
the  Greeks  foolishness,"  1  Cor.  i,  23. 

Introduction. — "  And  straightway  he  preached  Christ,"  Acts  ix,  20. 

I.  What  the  true  preaching  ? 
Not  morality  ;  but  Christ. 

Instances. — God  in  paradise,  Gen.  iii,  15.  God  to  Abraham,  Gen. 
xii,  3.  Jacob  to  sons,  Gen.  xlix,  10.  Moses,  Deut.  xviii,  15,  18  ;  Job 
xix,  25;  David  ii,  1.  Solomon,  Prov.  iii,  7  ;  Cant,  v,  9  ;  Isaiah  liii ; 
Jer.  xxiii,  6  ;  Ezek.  xxxiv,  23  ;  Dan.  ix,  24  ;  Hosea  iii,  5  ;  Joel  ii,  28  ; 
Jonah  ii,  9 ;  Micah  v,  2  ;  Zech.  ix,  9;  xii,  10 ;  xiii,  7  ;  Mai.  iv,  2. 

In  the  New  Testament. — Christ,  Luke  iv,  18 ;  xxiv,  27.  Commis- 
sion, Mark  xvi,  16.  Apostles,  Acts  v,  42.  Peter,  Acts  ii,  22 ;  x,  43 ; 
Jews  mad,  Acts  iv,  18.  Philip,  Acts  viii,  35.  St.  Paul,  in  the  text,  and 
in  Acts  xiii,  38  ;  xvi,  31  ;  xvii,  18 ;  1  Cor.  ii,  2 ;  2  Cor.  iv,  5  ;  Eph. 
iii,  8  ;  Phil,  i,  18 ;  Col.  i,  23,  28.     Conclusion,  Gal.  i,  8. 

II.  What  to  preach  Christ  1 

It  is  to  preach,  (1.)  His  natures.     (2.)  Offices.     (3.)  Relations. 

1.  His  natures.  His  Divine  nature;  called  "God"  in  John  i,  1; 
xx,  2 ;  Isa.  ix,  6 ;  Zech.  xiii,  7  ;  Phil,  ii,  6.  He  does  the  works  of 
God,  has  his  knowledge,  and  is  every  where.     Tremble,  adore,  trust. 

His  human  nature,  1  Tim.  iii,  16;  John  i,  14.  Lived  and  died, 
was  born,  grew,  thirsted  as  a  man.  Adore,  wonder,  praise,  draw  near, 
fear  not. 

2.  His  offices. 

(1.)  Mediator,  1  Tim.  ii,  5  ;  Heb.  viii,  6  ;  xii,  24. 

(2.)  Saviour,  1  Tim.  iv,  10;  Luke  i,  47;  ii,  11;  Acts  v,  31.  Feel 
your  ruin,  believe,  apply,  be  saved. 

(3.)  Prophet,  John  vi,  14;  Luke  xxiv,  19;  Matt,  xi,  29.  Learn, 
consult,  be  taught,  follow,  fear.     He  knows  all. 

(4.)  Priest,  Heb.  vii,  3  ;  v,  10.  Priest  and  victim.  He  atones  and 
blesses  :  wash,  be  blessed  and  pardoned. 

(5.)  King,  Rev.  xix,  16.  King  of  saints,  Rev.  xv,  3;  John  xii,  15; 
Matt,  xxvii,  37.  Wonder  at  his  condescension,  trust  his  power,  fear  him, 
believe,  he  can  give  a  kingdom,  Rev.  i,  5. 

(6.)  Captain,  Joshua  v,  15 ;  Hebrews  ii,  10.  Our  David,  enlist,  be 
courageous,  desert  not,  fight,  conquer. 

(7.)  Shepherd,  Zechariah  xiii,  7  ;  John  x,  14  ;  1  Peter  ii,  25.  Fol- 
low him,  wander  not,  eat  his  flesh,  love  him. 

(8.)  Physician,  Matthew  xix,  12  ;  iv,  33  ;  John  v,  4.  Apply,  tell  him 
your  state,  trust  him,  follow  his  prescriptions. 

(9.)  Advocate,  1  John  ii,  1.  Put  your  desperate  cause  into  his 
hand,  &c. 


208 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS. 


(10.)  Judge,  Acts  x,  42  ;  John  v,  22.  Make  him  your  friend,  trem- 
ble before  him,  rejoice.  * 

3.  Relations. 

(1.)  Father,  Isaiah  ix,  6  ;  John  i,  3. 

(2.)  Husband,  Isaiah,  liv,  5  ;  2  Cor.  xi,  2 ;  Ephesians  v,  32.  My 
husband,  Hosea  ii,  16.  Take  him,  forsake  others,  be  faithful,  obedient, 
loving. 

(3.)  Brother,  Matthew  xii,  48  ;  Hebrews  ii,  11 ;  Psalm  xxii,  22  ;  John 
xx,  17.     Be  co-heirs,  obey,  love  the  elder  brother. 

(4.)  Friend,  Canticles  v,  16 ;  Proverbs  xviii,  24 ;  John  xv,  14,  15. 
Love  him,  tell  him  all,  apply  to  him,  betray  not. 

(5.)   Servant,  Philippians  ii,  7  ;  Luke  xxii,  27.     Wonder,  obey. 

(6.)  Head,  Col.  i,  18 ;  ii,  19 ;  1  Cor.  xi,  3.     Hold  him. 

(7.)  Life,  John  xi,  25  ;  Col.  iii,  4  ;  Gal.  ii,  20.     Live  now. 

(8.)  All,  Col.  iii,  11.     Seek,  find  all  in  him. 

Application. — 1.  Why  we  preach  Christ?  No  preaching  is  of  ser- 
vice but  this :  it  humbles,  convinces,  melts,  renews. 

2.  Our  duty,  when  he  is  preached,  to  believe,  receive. 

Unconverted !  receive  him. 

Ye  believers  !  preach  him  by  your  lives. 


OUTLINE  XIX. 

"  Beware,  therefore,  lest  that  come  upon  you  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  pro- 
phets :  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish :  for  I  work  a  work  in  your 
days,  a  work  which  ye  shall  in  no  wise  believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto 
you,"  Acts  xiii,  40,  41. 

Introduction. — Coming  of  the  Chaldeans  against  Jerusalem,  Hab. 
i,  5. 

I.  God  works  a  wonderful  work  in  a  Gospel  day. 

I.  A  work  of  conviction.  Woman  of  Samaria.  Pharisees,  John  viu, 
3,  9.  2.  A  work  of  justification.  Mary,  the  paralytic,  the  thief,  the 
publican.  3.  A  work  of  sanctification.  St.  Paul,  new  birth,  1  Cor. 
vi,  11. 

II.  Many  will  not  believe  it  to  be  the  work  of  God. 

Conviction  they  call  despair ;  justification  they  call  presumption, 
enthusiasm ;  sanctification  they  call  being  righteous  overmuch,  hypoc- 
risy. '"Though  a  man  declare  it  unto  them,"  as  God's  promise,  and 
his  own  experience  ;  though  that  man  be  Christ,  or  Paul,  a  dying  man,  a 
disinterested  person. 

III.  They  despise,  and  yet  cannot  help  wondering. 

1.  "  They  despise,"  the  place,  the  instruments,  the  great  instrument, 
the  Holy  Ghost.     Christ  crucified,  and  faith. 

2.  "  They  wonder,"  why  so  much  ado,  why  the  loss  of  reputation, 
preferment,  ease,  pleasure,  property. 

Application. — Unbelievers  !  Does  God  work  ?  "  Behold,"  consider 
your  need  of  this  work.  "  Ye  despisers"  and  unbelievers ;  wonder  at 
the  patience,  and  goodness,  power,  and  mercy  of  God !  Wonder  and 
glory  in  his  cross !     Wonder  aright,  and  you  shall  not  perish  !     The 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  209 

world  is  for  you,  prophets  against  you.  Despise  not  as  the  world  did 
Noah,  as  Sodom  did  Lot.  Christ  and  Moses  were  despised  in  their  day. 
Wonder,  or  perish  as  they  did,  as  Dives,  the  rich  man. 

You  that  believe.  God  does  work  ;  and  does  he  work  on  you  ?  How 
far  1  Be  not  offended  by  counterfeits.  God  is  here  the  workman.  The 
blood  is  shed.  The  word  and  Spirit  present.  A  work  on  your  part, 
believe,  and  pray.  Careless  ones,  awake !  Mourners,  rejoice !  Be- 
lievers, abound  in  praise  and  good  works  !  Christ's  reward  is  with  him, 
and  his  work  before  him.  What  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  1  A  word 
from  Christ  does  the  work  :  "  Saul,  Saul,"  &c,  Acts.  "  Go  in  peace." 
"Martha,  Martha."  "  A  new  heart."  Anointing, — king,  priest.  Be- 
hold  !  wonder  !  believe,  and  be  saved  ! 

You  that  are  in  earnest,  but  fearful. 

"  He  that  has  begun," — he  that  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  "  will 
finish."  Pray  for  a  deeper  work  in  your  hearts,  in  your  days.  Christ, 
an  angel,  an  apostle,  ministers,  witnesses,  God  from  heaven,  all  "  de- 
clare." The  work  of  death  and  judgment  will  come  :  then  despise, 
and  wonder,  and  perish !  Wonder  at  your  infatuation,  obstinacy,  con- 
tradiction ! 


OUTLINE  XX. 

"  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying,  If 
any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me,  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on  me,  as 
the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water,"  John  vii, 
37,  38. 

I.  Persons  invited. 

1.  (Subject.)  "If  any  man,"  whether  rich  or  poor,  righteous  or 
unrighteous,  little  or  great  sinners. 

2.  (Qualification.)  "Thirsts"  after  grace,  pardon,  righteousness, 
happiness,  God. 

II.  Invitation. ' 

.   1.   "  Let  him  come  to  me."    Believe  in  me.    I  am  a  fountain,  a  brook, 

a  river,  a  sea,  and  all  that  can  quench  this  thirst.     Blood,  water,  sweat. 

2.  "And  let  him  drink."     (Application,  appropriation.)     Let  him  be 

satisfied,  refreshed,  nourished,  strengthened,  healed,  delighted,  ravished. 

III.  Promise. 

"  Out  of  his  belly," — inmost  soul,  shall  flow,  not  drops  or  dews,  but 
"  rivers,"  abundance  of  living  water,  of  all  the  fruits,  graces,  comforts 
of  the  Spirit. 

The  Scripture  says  so  ;  Joel  ii,  28  ;  Isaiah  xii,  3,  and  xxxv,  6,  and 
xliv,  28  ;  and  lviii,  11  ;  Zech.  xiii,  1  ;  John  iv,  14  ;  Rev.  xxii,  17. 

{££=-  Shall  flow  to  his  own  comfort,  and  the  benefit  of  others.  His 
words  and  actions  refreshing. 

Application. — Jesus  cries  still.     Do  you  hear? 

1.  Worldlings,  your  thirst  is  of  a  wrong  kind  ;  you  hew  out  to  yo  r- 
selves  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water,  but  poison.  Ye  who  be£in  to 
thirst,  beware  of  the  broken  cisterns  of  duties,  self  righteousness,  &c. 
Come  ye  to  Jesus  Christ,  to  me. 

Comers.     Drink  ;  always  coming,  never  drinking. 
Vol.  IV.  14 


210  OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS. 

2.  Believers:  how  is  it  with  you?  Is  Jesus  glorified?  Do  living 
waters  spring  up  in  you  1  Is  Jesus  Christ  in  you  the  source  ?  Do  the) 
flow  out  to  the  benefit  of  all  around  you  ? 

Jesus  the  true  Siloam.  He  thirsted  and  had  gall,  that  you  may  have 
living  water.  Double  stream.  Thirst  as  for  pleasure  ;  as  Dives,  or  you 
will  thirst  with  him. 


OUTLINE  XXI. 

"  And  Esau  said  unto  his  Father,  Hast  thou  but  one  blessing,  my  father  ?  Bless 
me,  even  me  also,  O  my  father !  And  Esau  lifted  up  his  voice  and  wept,"  Gen 
xxvii,  38. 

Introduction. — Our  Lord  wants  us  to  learn  of  the  unjust  steward; 
Solomon,  of  the  Ant.  Profane  Esau.  Esau  sold  his  birth  right,  and  the 
blessing  annexed.  He  wept,  prayed,  and  carried  another  blessing.  A 
pattern,  not  as  he  was  sensual,  wedded  to  the  daughters  of  Heth,  angry, 
a  murderer  ;  but  as  he  prayed,  wept,  obtained. 

I.  God  our  heavenly  Father  hath  not  one,  but  many  blessings.  We 
are  to  seek  them  carefully  with  tears,  and  we  shall  obtain  them. 

1.  The  blessing  of  awakening.     St.  Paul.     Careless. 

2.  That  of  calling.     Worldling.     Zaccheus. 

3.  Repentance.     Harlot. 

4.  Pardon  of  sin.     Hezekiah.     Parable. 

5.  Healing  of  backsliders.     David,  Peter. 

6.  Righteousness.     One  that  suits  all,  the  best  robe. 

7.  Spirit.     One  that  can  baptize  all. 

8.  Kingdom.     One  set  up  in  all. 

9.  New  heart.     And  victory  over  all. 

10.  Kingdom  of  heaven  in  glory.     "Come  ye  blessed." 

II.  How  are  we  to  seek  those  blessings  ? 

1.  Early.     Esau.     Foolish  virgins. 

2.  Carefully,  earnestly,  with  tears,  lifting  up  the  voice. 

3.  Pleading  our  relation, — by  creation,  redemption,  "  My  Father,"  and 

4.  With  importunity,  and  expostulation  :  "  Hast  thou  but  one  blessing  ? 
bless  me,  even  me." 

5.  Refusing  to  go  without  application.  "  Me,  me  !"  desiring  spiritual 
blessings  above  all. 

III.  Examples.     Jacob,  Jesus. 

IV.  Motives  to  make  you  seek  the  blessing. 

1.  If  you  get  it  not,  the  curse  remains  yours.  The  curse  of  the 
law,  the  curse  of  Christ.  All  the  curses  in  the  book  of  God.  No  dew 
of  heaven. 

(1.)  Negatively. — No  kiss  of  peace.  No  bread.  No  wine.  No 
dominion  over  sin,  &c,  breaking  its  yoke.  No  living  by  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit, 

(2.)  Positively. — You  will  feed  on  dust  with  the  serpent.  You  will 
be  the  servant  and  slave  of  sin  and  Satan.  You  will  inherit  his  fearful 
curse,  "  Depart !" 

2.  You  are  made  for  ever,  if  God  bless  you. 
(1.)   All  things  will  work  for  your  good 


OUTLINES    OF    S£T«MONS.  211 

(2.)  You  will  be  sustained  with  corn  and  wine. 

(3.)  You  will  have  dominion  over  all  your  enemies,  in  the  end. 
Jacob  and  Esau. 

(4.)  You  will  have  the  blessing  of  Christ,  the  gracious  and  glorious 
kingdom.     None  shall  reverse  it.     Cursers  ashamed. 

Application. — Careless  souls. — Shall  Esau  weep,  &c,  for  the  loss 
of  a  temporal  blessing  ?  Shall  some  mourn  for  loss  of  friends,  money, 
reputation,  health  ?  O  !  How  should  you  for  the  loss  of  paradise,  of 
God,  of  a  kingdom !  The  curse  hunts  you.  You  lose  the  blessing  by 
roving,  hunting,  pleasure  !     O  !  lift  up  your  voice  ! 

Seeking  souls. — Thousands  of  blessings  purchased,  by  thousands  of 
Jesus'  prayers,  tears,  blood  ;  secured  by  thousands  of  promises,  by  oath, 
Heb.  vi,  13.     Christ  has  got  them  all  first :  but  it  is  for  you. 

Blessed  souls. — Bless  in  your  turn.  Sell  not  your  blessing,  as  pro- 
fane Esau,  covetous  Judas,  worldly  Demas.  Use  your  blessing ;  be  a 
blessing  to  all. 

Claiming  them,  not  by  birthright ;  for  we  are  born  in  sin.  Not  by 
purchase  of  works ;  for  we  have  sold  all  for  a  lust,  for  nothing  !  But 
claim  them,  by  promise,  through  the  blood  and  righteousness  of  Christ. 


OUTLINE  XXII. 

"  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times  some  shall  depart 
from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils ;  speaking 
lies  in  hypocrisy ;  having  their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron ;  forbidding  to 
marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God  hath  created  to  be 
received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and  know  the  truth,"  1  Tim. 
iv,  1,  2,  3. 

Introduction. — J.  "The  Spirit  speaks  expressly !"  Where?  Dan. 
vii,  25,  and  xi,  36  ;  2  Thess.  ii,  4. 

2.  In  the  latter  times.     From  Christ's  first  to  second  coming. 

3.  Some  shall  "  depart  from  the  faith"  apostolic. 

4.  "  Giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits  ;"  popes  and  priests,  Jesuits  and 
friars,  seducing  from  the  faith,  Rom.  xvi,  17. 

5.  "  Doctrines  of  devils  ;"  popish  doctrines.  "  Forbidding  to  marry 
and  to  use  meats." 

6.  "  Conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron." 

What  is  the  apostolic  faith  ?  and  how  have  Papists  departed  from  it, 
and  given  place  to  doctrines  of  devils  ? 

1.  By  maintaining  that  the  Holy  Scripture  is  not  a  sufficient  rule  of 
faith. 

"  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  :  if  they  speak  not  according  to 
this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them,"  Isa.  viii,  20.  "  But 
though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other  Gospel  unto  you 
than  that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed,"  Gal. 
i,  8.  "  And  that  from  a  child  thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  are  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus.  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is 
profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness  •    that  the  man  of,  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  fur- 


212  OUTLINES    OF    SERMONS. 

rushed  unto  all  good  works,"  2  Tim.  iii,  15-17.  "  For  I  testify  unto 
every  man  that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book  :  If  any 
man  shall  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues 
that  are  written  in  this  book,"  Rev.  xxii,  18. 

II.  The  apostolic  faith  is, — one  God. 

"  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou 
serve,"  Matt,  iv,  10. 

Whereas  the  Papists  worship,  (1.)  The* host.  (2.)  Mary.  (3.) 
Angels,  Col.  ii,  18 ;  Rev.  xxii,  8,  9.     (4-)  Saints. 

III.  Christ  is  the  only  Saviour,  Mediator,  and  Advocate. 

Matt,  i,  21 ;  Isa.  xlv.  "  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,"  1  Tim.  ii,  5.  "  If  any 
man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  right- 
eous," 1  John  ii,  1. 

No  merit  but  in  Christ. 

"  Unprofitable  servants,"  Luke  xvii,  10.  Works,  grace,  Rom.  xi,  6. 
Indulgences,  penances,  works  of  supererogation. 

No  purgatory  but  in  his  blood  and  Spirit. 

"  The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth,"  1  John  i,  7.  "  Blessed  are  the 
dead, — robes  washed  in  the  Lamb's  blood,"  Rev.  i,  5. 

No  propitiatory  sacrifice,  but  that  of  the  cross. 

That  of  the  mass  an  abomination,  Heb.  i,  3. 

"  He  hath  appeared  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself,"  Heb. 
ix,  26.  "  By  his  own  blood  entered  in  once,  having  obtained  eternal 
redemption."     Without  shedding  of  blood,  no  remission. 

IV.  Holy  Ghost. 

This  proposition  heretical : — Nothing  good,  "  no  certain  knowledge 
of  salvation,"  though  the  Spirit  bear  witness,  can  be  done  without  the 
grace  of  Christ,  or  Holy  Ghost.     (Bull  Unigenitus.) 

V.  The  first  commandment  mangled ;  the  second  cut  off,  and  openly 
broken  ;  and  the  tenth  violated.  "  Cursed  who  say  that  concupiscence 
is  sin."     (Council  of  Trent,  fifth  session.) 

VI.  Prayer  to  God. 

Perverted,  or  ridiculously  addressed  to  saints.  Prayer  made  to  an- 
gels, saints,  and  Mary. 

Elijah  asks  Elisha,  "Ask  what  I  shall  do  for  thee  before  I  am  taken!" 
2  Kings  ii,  9.     "  Abraham  ignorant  of  us,"  Isa.  lxiii,  16. 

God  the  Searcher  of  hearts. 

Prayer  in  Latin,  1  Cor.  xiv,  14. 

Prayer  by  beads  and  strings. 

Prayer  for  the  dead. 

VII.  Two  sacraments  spoiled  or  vilified. 

1.  Transubstantiation.     Door,  rock,  corner  stone. 

2.  Adoration  of  the  host. 

3.  Sacrifice  of  Christ's  body. 

4.  Withholding  the  cup  from  the  community. 

5.  Baptism  of  bells.     Marriage  a  sacrament ;  forbidden. 

Pope  Liberius  subscribed  Arianism.  John  XXII.  denied  the  imma- 
teriality of  the  soul.  Council  of  Arimini  was  Arian.  Helena,  A.  D. 
320.     Monks,  Anthony. 

Married  popes  :  Boniface  I.,  Felix  III.,  Gelasius. 


OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS.'  213 

Bishops  :  Hilary,  Gregory,  Nyssa,  Nazianzen ;  the  fathers  down  to 
Basil. 

Gregory,  mass,  virgin,  saints,  A.  D.  600. 

First  true  pope,  Boniface  III.,  A.  D.  605. 

Universal  bishop,  Phocas,  Mauritius  ;  Boniface  IV.,  Pantheon. 

Wafer,  priests,  masses,  A.  D.  700. 

Images  worshipped,  A.  D.  790.  "If  any  one  doubt  whether  they  are 
to  be  worshipped,  let  him  be  accursed."  (Second  Council  of  Nice.) 
"  Let  him  not  see  Christ's  face  that  will  not  adore  his  image."  (Coun- 
cil of  Constantinople.)  Council  of  Trent  confirmed  them.  "We  kiss, 
salute,  prostrate  before  them." 

Saints  canonized,  Adrian,  A.  D.  880. 

Bells  baptized,  John  XIV.,  A.  D.  965. 

Beads,  Peter  the  hermit,  A.  D.  1090. 

Transubstantiation,  article  of  faith,  Innocent  III.,  Council  Lateran, 
A.  D.  1215. 

Honorius  III.  worships  Gregory  IX.  bell. 

Cup  withheld,  A.  D.  1250. 

Corpus  Christi,  Urban  IV.,  A.  D.  1260. 

Berengarius,  Valdo,  John  Huss,  Jerome  of  Prague. 

The  occasion  of  the  preceding  discourse  is  thus  explained  by  one  of 
Mr.  Fletcher's  biographers : — "  When  he  was  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
the  Roman  Catholics  opened  a  chapel  at  Madeley,  and  drew  over  to 
their  communion  some  individuals  of  his  flock.  Under  these  circum- 
stances he  considered  it  his  duty  to  oppose  them,  and  for  that  purpose 
to  delay  his  journey  for  a  few  weeks.  He  accordingly  preached  a  ser- 
mon in  which  he  ably  contrasted  the  doctrines  of  the  apostles  with  the 
errors  of  the  Papists.  The  apostles,  he  observed,  represent  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  a  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  but  the  Papists 
maintain  that  tradition  is  to  be  received  with  the  same  veneration,  and 
that  those  are  accursed  who  knowingly  contemn  it.  The  apostles 
declare  that  the  one  living  and  true  God  is  the  sole  object  of  religious 
worship ;  whereas  the  Papists  enjoin  the  worship  of  the  host,  and  of 
angels,  saints,  images,  and  relics.  The  apostles  affirm  that  Christ  is 
the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man ;  but  the  Papists  assert  that 
there  are  many  mediators  to  whom  they  are  wont  to  have  recourse,  as 
the  Virgin  Mary,  St.  Peter,  and  departed  saints  in  general.  The  apos- 
tles teach  us  that  there  is  no  merit,  strictly  speaking,  in  us,  or  in  our 
works  or  sufferings ;  that  at  the  best  we  are  unprofitable  servants,  and 
that  all  merit  is  in  Christ,  his  life  and  death,  his  atonement  and  inter- 
cession ;  that  there  is  no  propitiatory  sacrifice  but  that  of  his  cross,  and 
no  purgatory  but  his  blood  and  Spirit ;  whereas  the  Church  o  Rome, 
by  her  doctrine  of  indulgences,  penances,  and  works  of  supererogation, 
as  well  as  by  that  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  and  of  purgatory,  evidently 
departs  from  that  faith,  affirming  that  the  works  of  justified  persons  do 
truly  deserve  eternal  life,  and  pronouncing  him  accursed  who  denies  that 
such  works  merit  an  increase  of  grace  here,  and  eternal  life  hereafter. 
The  apostles  declare  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  source  of  all  inward 
or  outward  holiness ;  but  the  Papists  maintain  that  the  Virgin  Mary  is 
also  a  source  of  grace  to  the  faithful, — being  accustomed  to  address  her 

• 


214  OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS. 

in  these  words,  '  Hail,  Mary,  full  of  grace ;  the  Lord  be  with  thee,  thy 
grace  with  me.'  As  to  the  commandments,  he  said, — the  Papists  man- 
gle the  first ;  curtail  or  openly  break  the  second ;  and  evidently  contra- 
dict and  violate  the  tenth,  the  council  of  Trent  having  pronounced  them 
accursed  who  say  that  concupiscence  is  sin.  As  to  prayer,  it  is  per- 
verted by  them,  being  ridiculously  addressed  to  saints  and  angels,  and 
that  by  means  of  beads  and  strings ;  as  well  as  frequently  offered  for  the 
dead  ;  and,  when  in  public,  generally  uttered  in  an  unknown  tongue. 
The  two  sacraments,  he  continued,  are  corrupted  and  abused  by  them  ; 
that  of  the  Lord's  Supper  by  their  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  by  their 
considering  it  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  dead,  and  also  by  their  denying  the 
cup  to  the  laity.  The  other  sacrament  is  rendered  ridiculous,  partly  by 
their  baptism  of  bells,  and  partly  by  their  joining  it  with  sundry  foolish 
and  unscriptural  ceremonies.  Marriage,  he  continued,  is  constituted  a 
sacrament  without  any  authority  from  Scripture,  and  yet  is  forbidden  to 
their  clergy. 

"  The  Romanists,  who  were  previously  sufficiently  irritated,  now  openly 
professed  their  indignation.  A  man,  who  acted  as  their  spokesman, 
cried  out  several  times  to  the  people,  as  they  were  leaving  church,  that 
there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  the  whole  sermon ;  and  then,  turning 
to  Mr.  Fletcher,  assured  him  that  he  would  shortly  produce  a  gentleman 
who  would  refute  it,  as  well  as  a  pamphlet  which  Mr.  Fletcher  had  dis- 
tributed. These  threats,  however,  they  never  thought  proper  to  realize, 
while  the  bold  and  well-timed  remonstrance  of  the  zealous  vicar  pre- 
vented them  from  making  any  considerable  progress  in  that  neighbour- 
hood." 


OUTLINE  XXIII. 

"  Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men," 
Luke  ii,  14. 

Introduction. — How  delightful  to  know  the  theme  of  angels'  songs. 
Ministers  are  called  angels,  and  should  be  so  in  flesh.  Allow  me  to  take 
the  song  of  angels  for  the  subject  of  this  day. 

I.  "Glory  be  to  God  on  high." 

Angels,  looking  into  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  see  the  perfec- 
tions of  God  in  a  new  light,  and  ascribe  glory  to  him.  Justice  had 
appeared  in  the  condemnation  of  fallen  angels. 

Mercy  was  hid  still  in  the  bosom  of  God.  Truth  must  not  be  vio- 
lated. The  law  must  be  vindicated.  God  incarnates  himself.  Glory 
to  justice,  truth,  mercy,  faithfulness.  These  words  were  spoken  to 
excite  man.  Give  glory  to  God  on  high,  ye  sons  of  earth.  '  Raise  your 
hearts  and  voices.  Give  God  glory  for  all  his  attributes  shining  in 
Christ.  God  is  on  high.  The  high  and  lofty  One — how  low  has  he 
stooped ! 

II.  "  Peace  on  earth." 

God  hath  the  glory,  man  the  benefit.  Peace,  in  the  Hebrew,  means 
all  good  things.  Peace  be  multiplied.*  The  God  of  peace  is  come  to 
reconcile  the  world  unto  himself. 

1.  Man,  a  rebel  against  God,  an  enemy.  This  enmity  by  nature  in 
thoughts,  words,  actions,  confederacy- 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  215 

2.  God  is  offended,  and  yet  stoops  to  propose,  to  bring,  to  "  make 
peace  by  the  blood  of  the  cross." 

3.  Man  cannot,  will  not  go  to  God  in  heaven.  God  comes  to  man 
on  earth. 

4.  Peace  is  now  proclaimed.  Angels  are  all  heralds.  Peace  on  earth. 
Down  with  your  arms,  sons  of  the  earth.  Peace,  ye  troubled  souls, 
who  tremble  before  the  Most  High.  Peace,  ye  guilty  souls.  Peace, 
ye  tempted  souls.  Multiplied  peace,  ye  believing  souls.  The  God  of 
peace  is  now  Emmanuel,  God  with  us.  Know  the  heavenly  "  peace  on 
earth."  Enjoy  the  consequences  of  peace,  "  rest,  quietness,  assurance 
for  ever,"  union,  communion,  gifts,  plenty. 

III.  "Good  will  toward  man." 

God  and  angels  well  pleased  with  men  in  Christ.  Full  of  good  will 
as  well  as  peace. 

Ev  uvdputoig,  "among  men,"  complacence,  forbearance,  forgiving, 
harmony,  love,  mutual  congratulations,  and  good  offices.  Mephibosheth 
and  Ziba. 

Application. — Sinners. — Do  you  give  glory  to  God  in  profaning,  die  ? 

Unbelievers. — Believe  or  you  cannot  give  glory. 

Rebels. — "What  have  you  to  do  with  peace?"     O  accept  it. 

Mourners. — We  proclaim  it  still :  peace  to  you. 

Backsliders. — Peace  again. 

Passionate  ones. — Believers,  &c. 


OUTLINE  XXIV. 

"  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God,"  Amos  vi,  12. 

Introduction. — God  had  sent  famine,  (verse  6,)  withheld  rain,  (7,) 
had  sent  insects,  (9,)  pestilence,  (10,)  Sodom's  plague,  (11,)  yet  have  ye 
not  returned  unto  me. 

I.  When  we  shall  meet  our  God  ? 

1 .  At  death.  The  officer  will  come,  break  open  the  prison,  take  the 
prisoner  to  his  just  doom. 

2.  In  the  day  of  judgment.     The  great  assize. 

II.  What  preparation  is  needful  to.meet  him  with  joy-? 

1.  A  sight  of  our  sinful  and  lost  condition,  Luke  xiii,  3.  Repenting, 
or  pleading  guilty  and  undone. 

2.  Making  interest  with  the  Judge.  * 
By  applying  to  him  in  time,  as  a  Saviour  for  mercy,  pardon,  and  a 

new  heart.  I 

As  Benhadad  came  to  Ahab,  1  Kings  xx,  31,  32. 

As  the  poor  harlot  at  Jesus'  feet,  Luke  vii. 

As  the  publican.  In  all  the  means  till  he  meets  you,  Exod.  xx,  24 ; 
James  vi,  8. 

III.  When  we  are  to  prepare  ? 

1.  Not  on  a  death  bed.  We  may  never  come  there.  Or  we  may  be 
delirious,  or  oppressed  with  pain  and  weakness. 

2.  Not  in  old  age.  Not  when  we  have  settled  all  things  on  earth. 
Not  to-morrow.     "  Thou  fool." 


216  OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS. 

3.  But  to-day.  When  you  have  life  and  health.  When  God  calls 
you  by  mercies  and  judgments.  When  messengers  invite,  and  death 
suddenly  snatches  our  neighbours.  "Now  is  the  accepted  time,"  &c. 
Meet  God  as  your  God. 

IV.  Motives  to  engage  you  to  prepare. 

1.  If  you  are  found  unprepared,  it  will  be  too  late  to  do  it  when  the 
last  summons  comes  :  foolish  virgins.  You  will  have  eternity  to  repent 
in,  and  in  vain.     I  have  seen  some  dying  unprepared.     Shocking  sight ! 

2.  When  prepared,  you  are  in  peace.  Death  hath  no  sting.  Christ 
is  your  friend.  "To  live  is  Christ,  to  die  is  gain."  You  have  one 
heaven,  and  are  sure  of  another. 

3.  Consider,  that  Christ  is  come  to  meet  you  in  mercy.     Thy  God. 

4.  How  soon  he  may  meet  you  in  judgment. 

Application. — 1.  Young  sinners. — Prepare.  It  cannot  be  too  soon. 
"  Remember  thy  Creator,"  &c. 

2.  Busy  worldlings. — Your  field,  house,  rent,  is  prepared.  Is  your 
soul  so  ?     If  you  had  a  cause  to  be  tried,  you  would  prepare. 

3.  Old  people. — Your  hoary  heads  and  wrinkled  foreheads  show  that 
death  comes.  Your  body  is  preparing  for  the  tomb.  Is  your  soul 
ready  for  God  ?     End  your  follies  with  the  year. 

4.  Relatives. — Prepare.  The  call  is  to  all,  doubly  to  you.  O  seek 
manger,  look  at  Christ's  tomb, — though  this  by  faith.  Mix  your  souls 
with  Jesus,  as  you  will  mix  your  dust  with 


OUTLINE  XXV. 

"  If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema,  maranatha," 
1  Cor.  xvi,  22. 

Introduction. — Devoted  to  destruction,  execrable. 

I.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  infinitely  worthy  of  our  love. 

If  supreme  beauty  demands  love,  Christ  does.     All  beauty  his. 

If  goodness  in  creatures,  Christ  hath  more. 

If  love  demands  love.  Behold  what  love.  Helen,  Rachel.  Name 
is  Jacob. 

If  kindness,*presents  for  body  and  soul,  letters,  messengers,  parting 
with  his  glory,  assuming  our  nature,  confined  for  our  crimes,  leaping  into 

the  sea  of to  save  us,  drinking  the  cup  of  death  to  make  us  live, 

pleading  our  cause,  he  wept  for  Lazarus,  he  bleeds  and  dies  for  us. 

This  is  heightened  by  the  consideration  of  our  unworthiness,  our 
wretchedness,  guilt,  pollution,  baseness. 

II.  Some  do  not  love  the  Lord  Jesus. 

1.  They  will  not  have  that  Lord  to  reign  over  them. 

2.  They  love  him  not  as  a  Saviour  from  sin. 

3.  They  love  him  not  as  a  Christian  prophet.  They  love  not  to 
think,  talk  of,  or  converse  with  him.  They  slight  his  letters,  messen- 
gers, members,  saints,  doctrines,  commands,  and  pledges  of  dying  love. 

III.  Not  to  love  Christ  is  a  detestable  and  destructive  sin.  It  makes 
us  execrable,  accursed,  maranatha. 

1.  It  is  the  highest  ingratitude.     The  basest  of  sins. 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  217 

2.  It  attacks  the  blessed  trinity  God  so  loved.  Lovest  thou  me? 
The  Spirit  makes  us  understand  the  length,  breadth,  &c. 

3.  Sin  worse  than  that  of  Adam,  Capernaum,  Sodom. 

4.  Worse  than  the  sin  of  the  scribes.  We  reject  a  glorious  Redeemer. 

5.  Worse  than  murder,  &c.     He  is  our  lawgiver,  Redeemer. 
6    It  spoils  all  duties  and  works.     Give  me  thy  heart. 

7.  It  breaks  the  whole  law  at  once. 

8.  It  unfits  for  heavenly  love.     Fits  for  hell,  unbelief. 
Application. — Lovers  of  the  world. — Ye  are  adulterers  :  the  love 

of  the  Son  is  not  in  you.  You  are  dead.  Your  object  will  fail  you. 
As  you  would  not  forfeit  a  double  heaven,  get  Christ's  love.  Pray  for 
Christ's  love,  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  a  new  heart.  Sin  not  against  so 
much  love,  and  against  your  interest,  duty.  Come,  and  taste  how 
loving,  how  good  Christ  is. 

Mourners. — "  We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  Believe, 
view,  remember  his  love.     "  Blessed  are  the  mourners." 

Backsliders . — Peter. 

Believers. — Show,  grow,  walk  in  love,  blessed. 

"  Any  man. — Maranatha  /" 


OUTLINE  XXVI. 

"  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so  must  the  Son 
of  man  be  lifted  up :  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
eternal  life,"  John  iii,  14,  15. 

Introduction. — Law  our  school  master  to  bring  us  to  Christ.    Moses. 

I.  Deadly  nature  of  sin. 

Like  a  fiery  serpent. — Act,  like  the  sting,  bite.  In  its  guilt,  like  the 
venom  infecting.  In  its  consequence,  pain,  death,  Prov.  xXiii,  32.  Ap- 
proaches as  a  serpent.  It  stupifies,  or  makes  raging.  One  serpent 
killed  man  with  one  bite. 

II.  Powerful  remedy  prepared. 

"  The  Son  of  man  lifted  up," — as  brass,  bright,  durable.  Serpent  m 
the  likeness  of — Christ  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,  without  sin.  Ser- 
pent accursed, — Christ  was  made  a  curse.  Lifted  up  on  the  cross,  to 
heaven.  On  the  Gospel  pole.  Christ  is  the  Physician  and  remedy. 
He  is  the  Judge,  and  goes  through  the  execution. 

III.  Way  to  apply  the  remedy. 

Not  by  works.  (These  remedies  are  preparations  of  our  own.  For- 
malists, moralists.)  But,  by  looking  to  Christ,  Isa.  xlv,  22  ;  2  Cor.  iv, 
till  the  sting  is  extracted,  the  soul  is  pardoned  and  healed. 

Behold  Christ  at  the  door,  in  the  garden,  on  the  cross.  Your  sin 
fastened  on  him.  The  serpent  bruised  his  heel.  His  Godhead,  un- 
bruised,  raises  him.  See  him  pleading  your  cause.  I  bring  the  pole 
near.  Look  and  be  saved.  Look  steadily  through  all  clouds.  In  faith, 
in  hope,  in  love,  with  detestation  of  sin. 

IV.  Encouragement  to  believe. 

Christ  lifted  up  for  this  end,  1.  "That  they  might  not  perish."  In 
sin,  death,  hell,  everlasting  destruction. 


218  OUTLINES  OF  SEKMONS. 

2.  "  But  might  have  everlasting  life,"  health,  life  of  grace,  and  glory 
for  ever. 

3.  This  is  fulness  of  salvation.  The  freeness,  "  Whosoever  believeth 
on  him,"  dec. 

Application. — Careless  sinners. — Is  sin  so  terrible  ?  Play  not ;  trifle 
not  with  it ;  rest  not  with  its  sting  ;  plead  not  for  its  life  ;  put  not  off  its 
cure ;  misery  of  sinners  here,  and  in  hell ;  gnawn  by  serpents,  envy, 
rage,  disappointment,  worm. 

Is  he  a  sovereign  remedy  ? — Convinced  sinners,  despair  not ;  neglect 
it  not ;  spoil  it  not ;  use  it  in  haste,  now.  To  avoid  death,  to  secure  life, 
to  get  strength  to  go  through  the  wilderness  to  Canaan. 

3.  Backsliders,  look  again. — Let  there  be  enmity,  &c. 

4.  Believers,  look  on  till  you  have  got  to  Canaan.  Serpents  follow 
you  ;  but  so  does  the  Rock.  Help  others;  tell  of  the  Physician.  Show 
you  are  healed  ;  work,  and  eat. 


OUTLINE  XXVII. 

"For  whom  [Jesus  Christ  my  Lord]  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and 
do  count  them  but  dung  that  I  may  win  Christ,"  Phil,  iii,  8. 

Introduction. — "  Win  Christ."    What  a  prize  ! 
Kings  have  run  in  this  race  :  beggars  not  excluded.     It  is  for  all  that 
"run  lawfully." 

I.  Let  us  take  a  view  of  the  prize. 

Riches,  honours,  pleasure,  earth,  heaven,  life,  eternal  life,  men,  angels, 
God  in  three  persons,  Christ  in  three  offices. 

II.  The  way  to  gain  it. 

Faith.  It  is  the  ticket  that  always  brings  the  glorious  prize.  If  a 
distracted  murderer,  dying  thief,  &c. 

III.  What'loss  we  are  called  to  suffer. 

"  All  things." — Loss  of  carnal  rest,  fair  reputation,  prospects  of  for- 
tune, (Balaam,)  friends,  sensual  pleasures,  life  itself:  all  this  is  lost  in 
appearance  ;  found  in  reality. 

IV.  This  loss  is  small. 

It  is  but  the  loss  of  dung,  something  base,  disagreeable  to  the  sight  and 
smell,  fit  to  be  cast  out,  and  buried  out  of  the  way. 

Application. — Ungodly. — You  too  will  soon  suffer  "  the  loss  of  all 
things ;"  but  for  a  worse  cause  than  Christ's.  You  will  lose  all  good 
things  on  earth  ;  get  all  evil  things  in  hell.  O  view  Christ's  excellency 
and  the  dung  of  the  earth. 

Mourners. — Look  to  Christ  and  be  saved.  Win  a  gracious  Christ 
now,  and  you  will  have  a  glorious  one  soon.  Run,  lay  aside  every 
weight,  despondency,  gloom,  hard  thoughts  of  Christ  and  his  blood.  Put 
in  a  blank,  a  blot,  and  you  will  have  a  prize. 

Backsliders. — O,  what  have  you  left  ?  The  pursuit  of  Christ.  What 
do  you  grasp  ?    Dung. 

Weak  believers. — Be  strong,  Christ  is  all.  O  hold  him  fast.  He 
hath  apprehended  you. 

Believers. — Grow  stronger. 


OUTLINES  OF  SERMONS.  219 


OUTLINE  XXVIII. 

"  Unto  us  was  the  Gospel  preached  as  well  as  unto  them  :  but  the  word  preached 
did  not  profit  them,  not  being  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  heard  it,"  Heb.  iv,  2. 

I.  The  everlasting  Gospel  was  preached  to  the  Jews. 

1.  In  the  promises. — The  woman's  seed,  the  seed  of  Abraham,  Shiloh, 
Messiah,  the  prophet  like  unto  Moses. 

2.  Types. — Noah,  Aaron,  Joshua,  brazen  serpent,  purification,  sacri- 
fices, as  the  daily  lamb,  the  paschal  lamb,  the  scape  goat,  offers  of  free 
mercy.     This  and  the  promise  are  chiefly  meant  here. 

II.  "  The  Gospel  is  preached  to  us." 

In  the  promises,  types,  antitypes,  sacraments,  daily  offers  of  mercy 
and  pardon. 

III.  "  The  word  preached  did  not  profit  them." 

They  remained,  (1.)  unconvinced,  (2.)  unholy,  (3.)  unhappy,  (4.)  unfit 
for  glory. 

IV.  The  reason. — "  It  was  not  mixed  with  faith  in  them  that  heard  it." 
Faith  is  the  ingredient,  without  which  the   preaching  of  apostles, 

angels,  and  of  Christ  is  lost. 

Faith  is  that  by  which  the  preaching  of  babes  avails. 

The  word  is  milk,  food,  physic,  cordial.     Faith  sucks,  eats,  &c. 

Faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  act  of  man. 

It  is  like  treasure  in  a  field ;  dig  for  it. 

Pardon  is  offered,  accept  it. 

Gallios,  beware.     The  king  is  courting  a  beggar's  love. 

There  are  spices  and  gold  in  the  East  Indies,  which  we  believe, 
though  we  have  not  seen.  It  is  only  fools,  who  believe  only  when 
they  see. 

Faith  is  both  a  Gospel  blessing  and  a  term  of  access.  It  takes  the 
word  and  promises.     Mix  them  now. 

Application. — 1.  Mischievous  unbelief  defeats  the  word,  crucifies 
Christ. 

2.  Beware  of  it.     Pray  before,  at,  and  after  the  word. 

3.  Do  you  profit  ?     You  have  faith — vice  versa. 

4.  Ye  careless, — Believe  a  God,  death,  hell,  heaven. 

5.  Ye  mourners, — Believe  Christ,  his  blood,  promises,  will,  power. 

6.  Believers, — Believe  and  profit — show  it — tell  of  the,  &c 


OUTLINE  XXIX. 

"  Rend  your  hearts  and  not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God : 
for  he  is  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  kindness,  andrepenteth 
him  of  the  evil,"  Joel  ii,  13. 

Introduction. — This  becomes  us  at  all  times,  especially  in  Lent. 
I.  The  first  precept. — "  Rend  your  hearts,  not  your  garments." 
1 .  Negative  part. — A  mean,  coarse  habit  was  a  token  of  grief.    Rend- 
ing of  garments  was,  and  still  is,  sign  of  great  sorrow  and  amazement. 
Job  rent  his  mantle,  Job  i,  20  :  so  did  his  friends,  Job  ii,  12.     So  did 
Tamar  ravished,  2  Sam.  xiii,  19.      So  did  Hushai,  when  David  fled 


220  OUTLINES   OF  SERMONS. 

before  Absalom  :  "  He  met  him  with  his  clothes  rent,  and  ashes  or  earth 
on  his  head,"  2  Sam.  xv,  32.  (High  priest.)  This  became  at  length  a 
hypocritical  form. 

2.  Positive  part. — "  Rend  your  hearts."  From,  by,  what.  (1.)  From 
— hypocrisy  and  formality.  From — earth  and  earthly  things.  From — 
self,  creatures,  and  sin.     Delilah. 

(2.)  By  godly  consideration,  sorrow,  shame,  confession,  abhorrence. 

(3.)   What — your  hearts — not  bodies,  tongues. 

(4.)  What  necessity  for  this  ? 

The  old  heart  must  be  rent.  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  God.  A  bone 
wrong  set  must  be  broken  again.  Clay  must  be  tempered  and  bruised, 
or  no  good  vessel  can  be  made. 

II.  The  second  precept. — "  Turn  unto  the  Lord  your  God." 

Turn  unto  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  your  God,  to  have  the  heart  rent 
and  renewed.  This  implies  beholding,  praying,  believing,  following, 
cleaving  to  "  your  God," — not  your  judge,  executioner,  enemy. 

"  Turn,"  as  the  prodigal  to  his  father.  Turn  for  the  blood  of  Christ, 
and  the  Spirit  of  God.     Turn  for  a  pardon,  holiness,  glory. 

O^T*  Sin  makes  us  turn  from  God,  as  Adam ;  and  hide  ourselves,  as 
Tiberius. 

III.  Motives. 

1.  Evil  is  gone  forth.  "Lest  I  tear  you  in  pieces,"  Psalm  1,  22. 
"  Rend  the  caul  of  their  heart,"  Hosea  xiii,  8.  Unprofitable  servant  cut 
asunder,  Matthew  xxiv,  51.  We  blow  the  trumpet  in  Sion,  and  sound 
an  alarm  throughout  God's  holy  mountain.  Avoid  this  evil  by  condemn- 
ing yourselves,  rending  your  hearts.  For  God  breaks  not  the  bruised 
reed. 

2.  God  is  good.  And  willing  not  only  to  repent  of  the  evil,  [do  it 
not,]  but  to  do  good. 

(1.)  He  is  gracious. — Full  of  grace,  ready  to  give  grace. 

(2.)  Merciful  to  returning  penitents. 

(3.)  Slow  to  anger. — Witness  our  being  out  of  hell. 

(4.)  Of  great  kindness. — Witness  the  dying  Jesus,  intreating  ministry, 
sweet  promises,  alluring  mercies. 

(5.)  Repents  him  of  the  end. — Nineveh.    No  pleasure  in  him  that  dies. 

Application. — 1.  Ye  careless. — There  is  need  of  much  ado,  heart 
work,  rending  of  the  heart.  This  is  not  so  terrible  as  to  be  rent  from 
all  good,  and  from  God.  Soon  will  be  rent  from  earth,  and  the  soul 
from  the  body. 

2.  Ye  mourners. — Dwell  on  God's  titles  in  the  text. 

3.  Backsliders. — See  Christ  rent  in  the  veil  of  his  flesh.  And  see 
that  of  the  temple. 

4.  Godly. — Mourn  for  others. 


OUTLINE  XXX. 

"Why  will  ye  die,  O  house  of  Israel?"  Ezekiel  xviii,  31. 

Introduction. — Strange  expostulation  of  God  to  man. 
I.  What  danger  there  is  of  our  dying  1 


OUTLINES   OF  SEEMONS.  221 

From  the  word  of  God,  experience  of  sinners. 

1.  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin  and  impenitency.  O  cast  away  from 
you  all  your  transgressions. 

2.  It  is  the  consequence  of  not  turning  to  God,  verse  32. 

3.  It  is  that  of  an  unregenerate  state,  (new  heart,  verse  31.)  This 
consequence  is  natural,  necessary;  the  gradation  is  sin,  death, — sin, 
sickness,  death,  grave. 

(tj*  One,  the  least  sin  is  killing,  Adam,  Sabbath  breaker,  Num.  xv5 
32  ;  undutiful  son,  Israel  unbelieving,  disobedient  prophet  at  Bethel, 
Uzza,  Ananias,  Nadab,  Abihu,  Asa,  Herod,  Corinthians,  lying,  &c. 

II.  What  death  we  are  in  danger  of? 

Why  will  you  be  twice  dead  ?  Die  with  horror,  and  die  throughout 
all  ages  ? 

III.  Enforce  the  expostulation  of  the  text,  Why  will  ye  die? 

1.  "Sin  is  sweet"  to  a  vitiated  taste.  Ask  the  unclean,  passionate, 
drunken,  pleasure  taker,  miser.     Damnation  is  bitter. 

2.  "I  fear  a  bad  name."  People  will  suppose  me  to  be  mad,  (Beel- 
zebub.)    What  of  that  ?     When  dead,  God  will  give  you  a  new  name. 

3.  "  I  have  married  a  wife." 

4.  "  I  have  merchandise  to  mind." 

5.  "  I  will  do  as  the  rest  of  my  neighbours." 

6.  "  I  am  loath  to  beg  for  life,  and  hope  I  am  not  in  such  danger  as 
you  say."     Death  follows  sin  as  the  shadow  the  body. 

2.  Why? — Will  you  imbitter  your  own  death,  hasten  to  it,  and  secure 
endless  agonies,  by  refusing  life  upon  God's  offers  ?  Refusing  the  Prince 
of  life,  the  ways  of  life  ? 

3.  Why? — Is  there  not  a  Saviour,  balm,  promises,  helps,  warning? 
Some  must,  you  need  not. 

Will  you  ? — Let  brutes,  heathens,  Turks,  Jews,  die :  you  need  not. 
You  that  have  the  Gospel,  means,  baptism,  precepts,  convictions,  refor- 
mation, calls.      Will  you,  the  house  of  Israel  ? 

4.  Why  ? — Is  spiritual  and  eternal  life  odious  ?  Can  any  thing  be 
given  you  in  exchange  for  your  lost  souls  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that  so 
many  die  ?  Is  death  so  sweet  a  state  ?  Will  you  deprive  Christ  and 
angels  of  the  satisfaction  in  your  conversion  ?  Will  you  please  Satan  and 
evil  men  ? 

Application. — Some  of  you  will  answer  in  a  different  way :  "  We 
will  not  die, — we  want  to  live.  How  shall  we  escape  death?"  See 
your  danger,  cry  for  help,  fly  to  Jesus,  hide  in  Jesus,  abide  in  Jesus. 
Live  in  him,  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life.  Touch  not  the 
poisoned  cup.  Eat  the  bread  of  life.  Hang  the  scarlet  thread.  Be 
sprinkled  with  the  blood.  Live  the  life  of  faith,  hope,  and  love.  You 
need  not  die.     See  Jesus  dying  for  you.     See  the  promises  of  life. 

Quickened  souls. — Why  should  any  deadness  come  on  you  ?  Why 
should  not  you  triumph  more  in  Christ's  life  ?  Why  should  not  you  do 
more  the  acts  of  thy  living?  Why  do  you  not  expostulate  more  with 
dying  souls,  and  ask,  "  Why  will  you  die  ?" 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 


REDEMPTION  OF  MANKIND  BY  JESUS  CHRIST. 


If  the  loadstone  can  communicate  its  virtue  without  suffering  any 
decrease  ;  and  if  this  virtue  can  completely  incorporate  itself  with  iron, 
why  might  not  the  eternal  Word,  who  dwells  essentially  in  the  Father, 
oommunicate  himself  to  an  individual  of  the  human  species,  and  reside 
particularly  in  the  soul  of  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  or  God-man  ?  By 
which  other  men  may  be  made  partakers  of  the  holiness  and  felicity  of 
God,  without  becoming  real  gods:  as  the  needle,  having  its  extremes 
powerfully  touched  with  the  loadstone,  partakes  of  the  attraction  and 
polarity  of  the  loadstone,  without  being  of  the  nature  of  the  loadstone. 
God  is  an  infinite  being,  and  all  his  perfections  are  infinite  as  himself: 
his  holiness,  his  justice,  his  bounty,  and  his  wisdom,  are  such  a  vast 
profound,  that  the  human  mind  cannot  fathom  them.  Can  we  then 
affirm,  without  temerity,  that  in  the  depths  of  justice,  of  holiness,  and 
of  love  for  order,  there  ought  not  to  be  such  extreme  severity,  as  to 
preclude  the  pardon  of  sin,  even  after  a  just  indignation  had  been  mani- 
fested against  the  same  ?  If  the  majesty  of  God  is  infinite,  is  it  reason- 
able to  say  that  the  sins  committed  against  him  by  an  innumerable 
multitude  of  beings  ;  crimes  committed  with  the  greatest  insolence,  and 
the  most  daring  pride  ;  crimes  perpetrated  by  creatures  loaded  with  his 
benefits;  crimes  repeated  with  a  thousand  aggravating  circumstances, 
during  thousands  of  years,  in  all  parts  of  the  world :  is  it  reasonable,  I 
say,  to  maintain  that  these  crimes  ought  to  be  pardoned  by  a  legislature 
of  infinite  justice,  without  punishing  this  criminal  race  in  a  most  exem- 
plary manner  ?  And  if  such  a  punishment  would  have  bruised  all  the 
guilty  ;  and  if  the  bounty  of  God  is  as  vast  as  his  justice,  is  it  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  an  infinite  bounty  cannot  present  to  an  infinite  justice  a 
victim  of  boundless  merit,  fully  to  expiate,  under  conditions  worthy  of 
God,  sins  whose  numbers  were  become  infinite  and  boundless,  by  their 
duration,  by  violating  the  holiness  of  the  laws,  by  the  grandeur  of  the 
offended  Benefactor,  by  the  majesty  of  the  outraged  Legislator,  and  by 
the  insolence  of  the  violators  of  these  laws  ?  Hath  not  boundless  Wis- 
dom power  to  reconcile  the  rights  of  infinite  justice  and  bounty  ?  What 
absurdity  is  there  in  the  plan  of  redemption,  according  to  which  a  being 
of  innocence,  of  love  for  obedience,  of  an  incomprehensible  fortitude, 
generously  unites  himself  with  human  nature,  to  pay  the  immense  debt 
of  this  nature,  to  soften  the  hearts  of  the  rebels,  and  to  give  to  all  rea- 
sonable beings  the  most  perfect  demonstration  of  a  wisdom,  of  a  bounty, 
of  a  holiness,  and  of  a  justice,  which  are  infinite  ;  and  accommodates 
himself  to  the  maintenance  of  their  rights,  and  completely  to  develope 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  REDEMPTION.  223 

them  in  time  and  in  eternity  ?  Is  it  not  strange  that  such  a  plan, 
formed  by  the  love,  the  justice,  the  wisdom,  and  the  bounty  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  executed  by  the  incarnate  Word,  confirming  a  great 
number  of  prophecies ;  a  plan  which  has  the  admiration  of  angels,  and 
of  millions  of  pious  persons  for  so  many  ages  ;  which  hath  comforted 
such  multitudes  of  penitents,  in  the  most  frightful  circumstances ;  and 
hath  made  so  many  martyrs  to  triumph  under  the  greatest  torture,  and 
even  sing  in  the  cold  arms  of  death  :  is  it  not  strange,  I  say,  that  such  a 
plan  should  be  the  constant  topic  of  ridicule  to  Socinians  and  Deists  ? 
Can  the  finite  always  judge  of  the  infinite  ?  Are  the  pretended  advo- 
cates  for  reason  constantly  so  unreasonable,  as  absolutely  to  fix  what  the 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Being  ought  to  demand,  what  the  moral  order  of 
the  universe  ought  to  require,  and  how  infinite  bounty  ought  to  accom- 
modate itself  to  its  creatures  ?  How  absurd  must  that  religion  be,  which 
lays  for  its  foundation  this  dogma  of  the  sages  of  our  age  !  "  A  being 
bounded  as  I  am,  who  neither  knows  his  grandson  nor  grandfather ; 
who  is  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  his  own  soul,  and  of  those  vile  atoms 
which  constitute  his  body,  can  yet  be  so  perfectly  acquainted  with  the 
profound  depths  of  Divine  justice,  mercy,  and  wisdom,  as  clearly  to 
decide  that  the  redemption  of  mankind  by  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  of 
the  Son  of  God,  is  contrary  to  his  perfections."  Is  not  the  base  incre- 
dulity of  our  modern  philosophers  owing  to  their  contracted  views  of 
the  bounty  of  God,  of  the  excellency  of  an  immortal  soul,  and  of  the 
odious  nature  of  sin  ?  "  It  is  impossible,"  say  they,  "  that  the  <  eternal 
Word,  the  Prince  of  life,'  should  become  incarnate,  and  be  sacrificed  for 
human  nature."  But,  if  the  soul  of  man  was  formed  in  the  image  of 
God  ;  if  it  is  infinite  in  its  duration  and  desires  ;  if  its  progress  toward 
perfection  is  boundless  ;  if  God  loves  it  with  that  tenderness  with  which  a 
father  nourishes  his  child  ;  if  the  love  which  is  in  God  as  much  surpasses 
the  generosity  of  all  fathers,  and  the  tenderness  of  all  mothers,  as  the 
infinite  surpasses  the  finite, — is  it  reasonable  to  say  that  our  heavenly 
Father,  for  the  ransom  of  millions  of  souls,  would  not  offer  such  a  sacrifice 
as  his  incarnate  Word  ?  If  King  Codrus  loved  his  subjects  so  far  as 
to  disguise  and  offer  himself  to  death,  in  order  to  procure  them  certain 
temporal  advantages  ;  if  the  Deciuses  and  the  Curtiuses  felt  so  strong  an 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  country,  as  to  sacrifice  their  fives  in  order 
to  deliver  their  fellow  citizens  from  a  transient  calamity  ;  if  a  Swiss  so 
generously  devoted  himself  to  death,  by  running  to  Sampach  covered 
with  the  lances  of  conflicting  hosts,  to  clear  the  way  for  his  victorious 
companions  ;  if  mothers  have  sacrificed  their  own  lives  to  preserve  those 
of  their  children ;  and  if  love,  or  the  generous  desire  of  saving  one's 
neighbour,  hath  produced  many  sacrifices, — is  it  absurd  to  say  that 
infinite  bounty  never  could,  and  never  would,  perform  an  act  of  com- 
passion equally  glorious  and  efficacious,  to  deliver  millions  of  souls  from 
more  dreadful  miseries,  and  to  procure  to  them  the  blessing  of  an  infinite 
duration,  and  of  an  inestimable  value  ? 

O  ye,  who  love  wisdom,  and  who  merit  the  name  of  philosophers,  if 
you  contemplate  the  majesty  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  immensity  of 
his  perfections,  the  holiness  of  his  laws,  the  beauty  of  moral  ordet,"  the 
demerit  of  sin,  and  the  price  of  souls  which  Jesus  Christ  hath  redeemed, 
you  will  see  that  it  is  absurd  even  to  doubt  that  God  had  power,  or  will, 


224  OBSERVATIONS  ON  REDEMPTION. 

to  offer  a  sacrifice  of  infinite  value  for  their  redemption.  If  you  say 
that  this  redemption  of  human  nature  by  the  humiliation  and  sufferings 
of  the  incarnate  Word,  is  unworthy  of  God ;  it  is  demanded  of  you, 
whether  it  be  unworthy  of  a  Being  infinitely  good  to  give  an  astonishing 
proof  of  his  bounty  ?  Is  it  unworthy  of  a  Being  infinitely  just,  to  display 
his  justice  in  a  most  exemplary  manner  1  Is  it  unworthy  of  infinite  Wis- 
dom, to  form  a  Divine  man  sufficiently  rich  to  become  the  pledge  of  his 
brethren,  sufficiently  strong  to  bear  the  burden  which  must  otherwise 
have  depressed  them,  sufficiently  wise  and  good  to  obtain  for  them  the 
pardon  of  sin,  and  become  for  them  the  model  of  perfect  holiness,  and 
the  channel  of  all  grace,  by  which  they  may  recover  that  holiness  and 
glory  from  which  they  have  fallen  1 

"  But  it  is  incredible  (you  say)  that  the  Prince  of  life  should  die." 
Understand  us  :  the  Prince  of  life  did  not  properly  die  ;  this  being  ab- 
solutely impossible  :  but  the  Prince  of  life,  being  united  to  a  mortal  body, 
could  easily  quit  it  two  or  three  days,  after  having  endured  unutterable 
anguish.  As  the  mortal  body  entered  into  a  state  of  death,  the  sacrifice 
offered  to  Divine  justice  was  complete,  the  tomb  was  consecrated  for  the 
consolation  of  mortals,  the  faithful  have  a  certain  earnest  or  pledge  of 
their  resurrection  in  that  of  their  chief;  and  the  Saviour  fully  showed 
himself  the  "  resurrection  and  the  life,"  in  rising  victorious  from  the 
grave,  into  which  he  had  entered,  "  to  destroy  him  who  had  the  power 
of  death,  and  to  deliver  them  who,  through  fear  of  death,  were  all  their 
lifetime  subject  to  bondage,"  Heb.  ii,  14,  15.  In  short,  if  the  Word  was 
abased  on  earth  for  the  space  of  thirty-three  years,  and  by  his  conde- 
scension left  his  body  to  repose  in  the  tomb  for  three  days,  what  is  this 
short  space  for  the  Prince  of  eternity  ?  A  thousand  years  in  his  sight  are 
but  as  one  day  ;  and  three  days  are  but  as  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  ;  and, 
far  from  being  dishonoured  by  this  momentary  act  of  pity,  of  love,  and 
of  mercy,  he  hath  acquired,  in  the  sight  of  all  reasonable  beings,  a  glory 
so  grand,  that,  sooner  or  later,  every  knee  both  in  heaven  and  on  earth 
shall  bow  before  him.  We  may  then  conclude,  with  St.  Paul,  that  "the 
preaching  of  the  cross  is,  to  them  that  perish,  foolishness  ;  but  unto  them 
who  are  saved,  it  is  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God," 
1  Cor.  18-24. 

II.  Particular  observations  on  the  Redeemer.  If  the  preceding  re- 
flections prove  that  the  opinion  of  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ  is  con- 
formable to  reason,  the  following  will  serve  to  prove  that  the  Deists  are 
unreasonable  ;  and  that  the  foolish  credulity  with  which  they  tax  us  may 
with  justice  be  charged  upon  therft. 

O  ye  who  refuse  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  can  you  absolutely  refuse 
to  credit  any  thing  concerning  him  ?  And  if  you  believe  something,  will 
you  not  have  greater  difficulty  in  giving  an  account  of  your  belief,  than 
the  Christian  has  in  giving  a  reason  of  his  faith  ?  If  you  think  the  Chris- 
tian Legislator  never  existed  but  in  the  imagination  of  his  followers,  you 
are  pressed  with  a  multitude  of  witnesses,  both  Jewish  and  Pagan,  as 
well  as  by  those  of  the  Christians,  and  even  bv  all  the  Mohammedans. 
The  Je\ro  never  denied  the  existence  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  they  have 
thought  themselves  justi*  od  in  rejecting  him,  notwithstanding  the  striking 
prediction  of  David,  Psaln.  xxii,  16. 

The  heathens  do  not  permit  us  to  doubt  the  reality  of  his  existence ; 


OBSERVATIONS   ON  REDEMPTION.  225 

witness  Pliny  the  younger,  Tacitus,  Lucian,  and  Suetonius,  four  Pagan 
authors,  who  were  contemporaries  of  St.  John,  or  of  his  disciples. 
Pliny,  who  flourished  about  twenty  years  after  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  who  was  governor  of  Bythinia,  wrote  to  the  Emperor  Trajan, 
that  he  had  put  two  Christian  slaves  to  the  torture  :  "  But  I  find  nothing 
(said  he)  but  a  bad  and  extravagant  superstition."*  He  calls  the  zeal 
and  constancy  of  the  Christians  "  a  wilful  and  inflexible  stubbornness."! 
Speaking  of  those  whom  fear  had  driven  to  renounce  their  profession  of 
religion,  he  adds,  "  They  declared  that  all  their  fault  or  error  consisted 
in  assembling  before  light,  on  a  fixed  day,  and  singing  a  hymn  unto 
Christ  as  to  a  god.":}:  They  certainly  never  would  have  exposed  them- 
selves to  death  for  the  support  of  an  imaginary  person,  or  the  hero  of  a 
romance  :  Jesus  Christ  has  existed,  and  given  proofs  of  his  divinity, 
since  Christians  of  both  sexes,  and  of  every  age,  were  ready  to  die  for 
him,  at  a  time  when  ocular  evidence,  and  recent  facts,  left  no  means  to 
cover  an  imposture.  This  persecution  commenced  before  the  reign  of 
Trajan  ;  for  the  Emperor  Nero,  having  caused  fire  to  be  set  to  the  city 
of  Rome,  in  order  to  form  an  idea  of  the  burning  of  Troy,  punished  the 
Christians  as  if  they  had  been  authors  of  the  crime.  Behold  how  Tacitus 
mentions  this  event  in  the  fifteenth  book  of  his  Annals : — "  Nero,  to 
smother  the  noise  of  his  crime,  suborned  false  witnesses  to  accuse  a 
people  hated  for  their  iniquities,  commonly  called  Christians ;  making 
them  undergo  the  most  dreadful  punishments.  The  author  of  this  sect 
is  Christus,  whom  Pontius  Pilate,  the  governor,  put  to  death.  This  per- 
nicious sect,  which  had  been  suppressed  for  some  time,  recovered  strength 
not  only  in  Judea,  where  it  originated,  but  likewise  in  Rome,  which  is 
the  common  sink  of  the  crimes  and  follies  of  all  the  world.  They  seized 
on  all  who  professed  themselves  Christians :  in  short,  by  the  imperial 
mandate,  an  immense  multitude  were  condemned,  less  for  having  set  fire 
to  Rome,  than  because  they  were  objects  of  universal  hatred.  They 
added  mockeries  to  their  tortures.  Some  were  covered  with  skins  of 
ferocious  animals,  and  torn  by  dogs  ;  others  crucified,  and  others  burned 
in  the  evenings,  to  illuminate  the  streets  during  the  night."  These  pas- 
sages are  cited,  not  only  to  show  that  the  heathens  acknowledged  the 
existence  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  innocence  of  Christians,  but  also  to 
demonstrate  the  exact  accomplishment  of  the  prophecies  :  "  Ye  shall  be 
hated  of  all  nations  for  my  sake,"  said  the  Saviour.  The  Christians 
were  the  objects  of  universal  hatred,  saith  Tacitus.  I  mention  this  to 
refute  Voltaire,  who  tells  his  dupes  that  "  Domitian  was  the  first  of  the 
Cesars  who  disturbed  the  Christians." 

St.  Luke  informs  us  that  the  Emperor  Claudius  commanded  all  Jews 
to  depart  from  Rome,  Acts  xviii,  2.  And  Suetonius,  a  heathen  historian, 
in  his  Life  of  Claudius,  twenty-fifth  chapter,  agrees  with  the  sacred 
penman,  saying,  "  He  drove  the  Jews  from  Rome,  who  caused  continual 
tumults  at  the  instigation  of  one  Chrestus,"§  the  name  which  the  Pagans 
generally  gave  to  Jesus  Christ.     If  Jesus  had  never  existed  but  in  the 

*  Sed  ni'.sil  aliud  inveni  quarn  superstitionem  pravam  et  immodicam. 
+  Pertinaciam  et  inflexibilem  obstinationem.  * 

1  Affirmabant  banc  fuisse  summam  vel  culpae  vel  erroris,  quod  essent  soliti 
6tato  die  ante  lucem  convenire,  carrnenque  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere,  &c. 
§  Judseos,  impulsore  Chresto,  assidue  tumultuantes  Roma  expulit. 

Vol.  IV.  15 


226  OBSERVATIONS    ON   REDEMPTION. 

imagination  of  his  disciples,  Lucian,  in  his  Peregrinus,  could  not  have 
called  him  "  the  great  man  crucified  in  Palestine  ;"*  nor  could  he  have 
said  "  that  the  Christians  forsook  the  Pagan  divinities,  to  adore  their 
crucified  Master. ""j"  Had  our  Divine  Master  been  no  more  than  a  grand 
sophist,  (as  Lucian  insinuates,)  Heaven  would  not  have  confirmed  his 
prediction  concerning  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  by  a  striking  prodigy. 
Behold  the  fact : — "The  disciples  of  Christ  (saith  St.  Matthew  xxiv,  I) 
came  to  him  for  to  show  him  the  buildings  of  the  temple ;  and  Jesus 
said  unto  them,  See  ye  not  all  these  things?  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another  that  shall  not  be 
thrown  down."  As  if  he  had  said,  This  fine  temple  is  going  to  be  de- 
stroyed, and  with  it  shall  end  the  continual  sacrifice,  offered  by  the 
Jewish  priests  to  God.  When  the  Emperor  Julian  had  replunged  him- 
self  in  Pagan  darkness,  he  burned  with  a  crafty  zeal  against  the  Chris- 
tian religion ;  thinking  to  weaken  it  by  proving  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a 
false  prophet ;  and  imagining  this  would  be  sufficiently  done  by  rebuild- 
ing the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  enabling  the  Jews  again  to  offer  their 
sacrifices.  But  the  attack  was  against  the  King  of  kings.  Rufinus  and 
Sozomen  mention  this  business  at  large.  (See  what  Ammianus  Mar- 
cellinus  says  in  his  Annals,  book  23.)  "Julian,  having  a  great  desire 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  reign,  by  the  grandeur  of  his  enter- 
prizes,  formed  the  design  of  rebuilding  the  superb  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
which  having  been  taken  by  assault,  after  many  Lloody  encounters,  was 
destroyed,  while  Vespasian  and  Titus  were  carrying  on  the  siege.  To 
rebuild  this  temple  would  require  immense  sums.  Julian  charged  Ali- 
pius  of  Antioch  with  the  undertaking ;  him  who  had  commanded  in 
Britain  under  the  governors.  But  when  Alipius,  seconded  by  the  go- 
vernor of  the  provinces,  was  eager  to  advance  the  work,  globes  of  fire, 
bursting  suddenly  from  the  earth,  near  the  foundations  of  the  building, 
rendered  the  place  inaccessible  by  the  constant  assaults  which  they 
made  upon  the  workmen,  many  of  whom  perished  by  the  flames.  So 
that  they  were  obliged  to  desist  from  pursuing  the  enterprise,  to  which 
fate  and  the  element  of  fire  were  so  strongly  opposed."  More  than 
this  could  scarcely  be  expected  from  a  heathen  author,  who  had  been  a 
general  in  Julian's  army ;  but  he  speaks  sufficiently  clear,  so  as  not  to 
leave  any  doubt  of  the  truth  of  so  remarkable  an  event. 

If  Pagan  authors  have  only  spoken  of  Jesus  Christ  indirectly,  or 
slightly,  it  is  not  the  same  with  the  Mohammedans.  Though  in  many 
respects  they  are  Pagans,  (saith  the  learned  Dr.  Moore,)  their  law  con- 
tains many  articles  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  The  principal 
dogma  of  their  faith,  and  which  with  ravishment  they  constantly  confess 
in  their  mosques,  is,  "There  is  but  one  God."  It  is  true,  this  is  only 
what  is  believed  by  the  Jews :  but  the  Mohammedans  go  much  farther, 
having  a  design  to  prove  that  they  merit  the  name  of  semi-Christians, 
which  is  given  them  by  a  learned  author :  for  in  both  their  Koran  and 
the  Zuna  it  is  declared,  "  That  Jesus  Christ  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  that  he  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary."  "  That  the  Gospel 
is  the  light,  the  way,  and  the  salvation  of  men,  and  that  such  as  reject 

*  Tov  ucyav  tKtivov  avdpwirov  tov  tv  VLaKiarivr;  avaoKo\oTTicdtvTa. 
+  Tov  avaoKoXomojitvov  tKtivov  oo<pi$riv  avrwv  BposKvvttv. 


OBSERVATIONS    ON    REDEMPTION.  227 

it  shall  perish."  "That  Christ  knew  the  thoughts  of  the  heart,  gave 
sight  to  the  blind,  and  speech  to  the  dumb,  healed  incurable  diseases, 
and  raised  the  dead."  The  Koran  even  attributes  three  advantages  to 
Jesus  Christ,  which  it  refuses  to  Abraham,  to  Moses,  and  to  Mohammed 
himself;  the  first  is,  "  that  he  was  translated  soul  and  body  into  heaven," 
from  whence  (it  is  said  in  the  Zuna)  "  he  shall  return  to  judge  the  world 
in  righteousness."  The  second  is,  that  he  shall  be  called  "  The  Word 
of  God  :"  and  the  third,  that  he  shall  be  named,  "  The  Holy  Spirit  of 
God."  (See  Confusio  Secta  Mohammedance,  by  Johannes  Andreas,  and 
many  others.) 

I  would  remind  my  readers  that  the  reason  of  the  above  quotations  is 
first,  to  show,  that  though  the  Koran  so  much  disfigures  Christianity,  for 
the  chastising  of  disobedient  and  hypocritical  Christians  ;  yet  it  admits 
enough  of  our  doctrines  to  overthrow  idolatry,  and  the  external  empire 
of  Satan  upon  earth  ;  insomuch  that  in  Africa  and  India,  Mohammed- 
anism prepares  idolaters  for  the  reception  of  Christianity :  and  secondly 
to  nourish  our  hope,  that  the  Mohammedans,  who  have  already  such 
exalted  notions  of  Jesus  Christ,  will  embrace  the  Gospel,  when  the  great 
scandals  of  the  Christian  Churches  shall  be  done  away ;  the  additions 
which  Mohammed  has  made  to  the  Gospel  being  founded  only  upon  false 
miracles  and  absurd  reveries.  On  the  contrary,  pure  Christianity,  con- 
tained in  the  Gospel,  is  so  reasonable,  that  all  who  examine  with  can- 
dour are  obl%ed  to  acknowledge  the  force  of  those  proofs  which  dc 
monstrate  its  truth.  From  the  above  citations  it  is  evident,  that  both 
Jews,  Pagans,  and  Mohammedans  have  acknowledged  the  existence  of 
our  grand  Prophet  in  such  a  manner  that  it  remains  an  indubitable  fact. 
If  you  imagine  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  false  prophet,  you  believe 
that  it  was  by  mere  chance  that  the  temple  and  city  of  Jerusalem  were 
destroyed,  according  to  his  prediction:  and  that  it  is  mere  accident 
which  preserves  the  Jews  in  their  dispersion  and  opprobrious  condition, 
so  clearly  foretold  by  Moses.  Or  you  suppose,  against  all  probability, 
that  the  harmony  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  prophecies,  in  this  re- 
spect, is  an  imposture,  plotted  between  Jews  and  Christians,  to  impose 
upon  the  world.  Upon  this  supposition  you  likewise  imagine,  that  when 
Jesus  Christ  said  to  his  disciples,  "  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men :" 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  to  the  end  of  the  world  :"  "  The  gates  of  hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  my  Church ;" — you  imagine,  I  say,  that  when  Jesus 
Christ  spake  thus,  he  saw  by  accident  that  his  Gospel  would  spread 
through  all  the  Roman  empire,  and  that  the  most  powerful  monarchs, 
Diocletian  and  Julian,  should  not  be  able  to  overturn  Christianity ;  that 
his  holy  doctrine  would  be  disseminated  through  all  parts  of  the  known 
world,  and  would  even  civilize  nations  in  a  part  of  the  globe  not  then 
discovered.  You  moreover  think  that  it  was  by  mere  chance  that  Jesus 
Christ  foretold,  in  these  words,  the  vile  hypocrisy  and  scandalous  divi- 
sions of  wicked  Christians  :  "  Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up  to  be 
afflicted,  and  shall  kill  you  :  and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  nations  for  my 
name's  sake.  And  then  shall  many  be  offended,  and  shall  betray  one 
another,  and  shall  hate  one  another.  And  many  false  prophets  shall 
arise  and  shall  deceive  many.  And  because  iniquity  shall  abound  the 
love  of  many  shall  wax  cold." 

Notwithstanding  this  spiritual  apostasy  of  Christians  in  our  days,  so 


228  OBSERVATIONS   ON   REDEMPTION. 

clearly  foretold  by  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles,  (compare  Matt,  xxiv, 
10,  with  2  Tim.  iii,  1-5,  and  2  Thess.  ii,  3,  and  1  John  ii,  18,)  we  see 
the  other  part  of  our  Lord's  prediction  accomplishing,  and  Christianity 
daily  extending  through  Russia  and  Siberia,  even  unto  China  and  the 
east ;  while  in  the  west  it  is  franchising  the  Americans  from  that  savage 
ferocity  so  natural  to  them. 

It  is  vain  superstition,  credulity,  false  philosophy,  and  the  rank  apos- 
tasy of  baptized  infidels  and  professing  worldlings,  which  rush  forward, 
like  the  raging  waves  of  the  boiling  deep,  to  overwhelm  the  fair  struc- 
ture of  Christianity  and  to  sap  its  firm  foundations.  But  all  their  waves 
are  broken  :  the  Rock  on  which  she  stands  remains  immovable  ;  and  the 
prophecies  of  the  Redeemer  are  daily  advancing  toward  their  full  and 
complete  accomplishment.  "  His  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  tho- 
roughly purge  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  his  garner ;  but  he 
will  burn  up  the  chaff*  with  unquenchable  fire,"  Matt,  iii,  10. 

Twenty  absurdities  flow  from  the  system  of  incredulity ;  for  if  you 
believe  with  some  that  the  son  of  Mary  was  an  impostor,  you  believe 
that  a  man  whose  character  was  the  most  modest  and  the  most  virtuous 
in  the  eyes  of  reason,  through  his  whole  life  played  a  part  the  most 
abominable  and  diabolical.  You  suppose  that  an  ambitious  man  (for 
such  was  Jesus  if  he  was  not  the  King  of  kings)  was  formed  in  a  man- 
ner so  different  from  other  men,  as  openly  to  attack  the  prejudices  of 
those  among  whom  he  was  going  to  establish  his  reign  f  and  that,  con- 
trary to  appearances  and  to  the  springs  of  the  human  mind,  he  had 
formed  the  plan  of  bringing  about  his  purpose  by  the  cross,  and  rising 
to  immortal  honours  by  a  death  the  most  infamous. 

If  you  say  Jesus  Christ  was  not  an  impostor,  but  a  virtuous  man, 
though  a  great  enthusiast,  3^ou  weave  another  web  of  absurdities.  As  a 
fanatic,  could  he  conduct  himself  through  his  whole  life  with  a  wisdom 
and  moderation  which  could  never  be  impeached  ?  As  an  illiterate 
man,  with  a  brain  deranged  by  folly,  could  he  produce  a  system  of  mo- 
rality more  perfect  than  those  of  all  legislators  and  of  all  philosophers  ? 
Beside,  enthusiasts  betray,  at  one  time  or  other,  such  extravagances  as 
shock  right  reason  and  manifest  their  folly ;  on  the  contrary,  in  the  con- 
duct of  Jesus  Christ,  as  well  as  in  his  morality,  nothing  is  seen  but  a 
wisdom  replete  with  sweetness,  as  far  from  fanaticism  as  moderation  is 
from  fury. 

"  One  thing  which  charms  me  in  the  character  of  Jesus  (says  J    J 
Rousseau)  is  not  only  the  simplicity  of  his  manners,  but  the  facility,  the 
grace,  and  even  elegance.     Although  he  was  not  the  wisest  of  mortals, 
he  was  the  most  amiable."     (His  third  letter  to  Montaigne.) 

Moreover,  as  a  man,  who  never  showed  himself  but  to  attack  all 
kinds  of  vice,  could  he  have  been  an  honest  man  if  he  had  supported 
false  pretensions  by  roguery,  continual  fraud,  and  imposture  t  There  is 
no  medium ;  either  Jesus  Christ  is  the  incarnate  Word ;  and  as  such 
he  has  confirmed  his  assertions  by  true  miracles ;  or  he  was  the  most 
daring  of  impostors  when  he  said,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world," — 
'•'Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  before  Abraham  was,  I  am."  "All  men 
ought  to  honour  the  Son  even  as  they  honour  the  Father."  "  He  who 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  my  Father  also."  "  I  have  a  greater  witness 
than  that  of  John ;  the  works  that  I  do  bear  witness  that  the  Father 


OBSERVATIONS    ON    REDEMPTION.  229 

hath  sent  me."  "  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not : 
but  if  I  do,  though  ye  believe  not  me,  believe  the  works."  "Go  and 
tell  John  what  things  ye  have  seen  and  heard  :  the  blind  receive  their 
sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  and  the 
dead  are  raised." 

If,  yielding  to  the  force  of  this  multiplied  evidence,  you  acknowledge 
that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  sustained  their  mission  by  miraculous 
works,  you  do  no  more  than  was  done  by  Caiaphas,  Celsus,  Porphyry, 
those  ancient  enemies  of  Christianity  who  examined  these  evidences 
even  up  to  their  source,  and  who  wanted  neither  penetration  to  discover 
their  falsity,  nor  judgment  to  demonstrate  the  same,  had  such  a  fraud 
existed.  And  in  this  case  reason  will  oblige  you  either  to  receive  the 
Gospel,  or  to  say,  with  obstinate  unbelievers,  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles  performed  their  miracles  by  the  power  of  magic.  But  is  it  not 
much  easier  to  believe  in  the  Gospel  than  in  this  occult  science  ?  Be- 
side, is  it  not  most  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  devils  would  league  with 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  to  destroy  the  empire  of  vice,  to  overturn 
idols,  to  enlighten  mankind,  and  to  carry  all  the  moral  virtues  to  their 
highest  degree  of  perfection,  both  in  theory  and  practice  1 

Your  system  involves  you  in  the  same  embarrassment  with  regard  to 
the  apostles.  You  are  obliged  to  acknowledge,  that  either  they  were 
the  true  envoys  of  God,  or  else  that  persons  of  the  greatest  simplicity 
in  conduct  and  writing,  wherein  they  have  displayed  the  most  shining 
virtues,  were  only  a  band  of  the  most  obstinate  knaves  and  liars.  For, 
in  constantly  attesting  the  resurrection  of  their  Master  as  eye  witnesses 
of  the  fact,  and  in  persisting  in  their  evidence  even  unto  death,  without 
ever  recanting,  they  were  deeply  stained  with  the  most  palpable  knavery, 
and  sustained  it  with  more  guile  than  was  ever  found  among  sharpers, 
and  with  more  stubbornness  than  was  ever  manifested  by  robbers,  where- 
of one  in  twelve  at  least  confess  their  imposture  and  guilt  when  con- 
ducted to  the  last  place  of  punishment.  On  the  contrary,  here  one  of 
the  twelve,  who  suffered  himself  to  be  seduced  by  the  enemies  of  his 
Master,  after  having  done  justice  to  his  character,  took  awa)'  his  own 
life  in  despair,  to  which  he  resigned  himself  for  having  betrayed  inno- 
cent blood. 

And  wherefore  so  much  zeal  and  constancy  ?  If  truth,  seconded  by 
a  series  of  clear  and  evident  facts,  and  by  supernatural  succours  from 
heaven,  had  not  supported  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  even  to  the  last 
moment  of  their  bold  and  unshaken  confession,  what  motives,  what  re- 
wards, could  have  so  strongly  attached  them  to  a  crucified  Master,  as 
every  where  to  preach  his  cross,  sharing  his  poverty,  his  troubles,  and 
his  death  ? 

If  Jesus  Christ  be  not  risen,  as  he  foretold,  and  if  he  did  not  fulfil  his 
promise  in  shedding  upon  the  apostles  miraculous  gifts,  our  credulity 
must  needs  exceed  all  bounds,  in  believing  that  twelve  ignorant,  twelve 
poor  Galilean  fishermen,  at  the  instigation  of  a  knave  who  had  deceived 
them,  should  take  it  into  their  heads  to  subvert  all  religions  in  the  world, 
beginning  with  that  of  their  fathers,  and  should  have  accomplished  their 
project  without  any  other  support  but  that  of  lies  and  the  cross  of  their 
Master ;  without  any  other  arms  than  moral  precepts  which  offend  the 
passions ;  without  any  other  bait  than  a  doctrine  which  crucifies  the 


230  THE    THREE    PRINCIPLES. 

flesh  ;  and  without  any  other  allurement  than  dogmas  which  subvert  the 
pride  of  philosophers.  Such  are  the  notions  of  our  infidels,  who  so 
justly  merit  the  name  of  fine  geniuses,  critics,  and  connoisseurs,  because 
they  can  digest  opinions  destitute  of  probability. 

Ought  one  not  to  have  a  soul  all  credulity,  and  proof  against  every 
ray  of  sound  reason,  to  persuade  one's  self  that  twelve  blind  persons, 
set  out  from  London  to  go  and  sap  all  the  foundations  of  all  the  strong 
cities  in  Europe  and  Asia ;  and  that  they  had  accomplished  their  design 
without  being  seconded  by  a  supernatural  power,  and  without  any  other 
weapons  than  their  walking  sticks?  Monstrous  as  this  absurdity  may 
appear,  it  is  no  greater  than  to  suppose  that  twelve  Jewish  fishermen, 
without  miraculous  succours,  overturned  the  foundations  of  Judaism  and 
of  Paganism,  throughout  the  known  world,  in  spite  of  all  efforts  that 
were  made  by  all  the  priests  and  princes  to  oppose  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  \ 

O  ye  Deists,  ye  may  applaud  yourselves  for  your  incredulity !  But 
remember,  that  if  prejudice  and  passion  favour  your  system,  we  have 
reason,  experience,  and  facts ;  and,  after  all,  the  absurdities  which  you 
are  obliged  to  swallow  ui  rejecting  revelation,  are  more  difficult  to  digest 
than  the  dogmas  at  which  you  stumble  without  reason.  And  never  for- 
get that  faith  leads  to  a  hope  the  most  sweet,  and  to  a  charity  the  most 
perfect ;  while  your  opinions  conduct  you  to  gloomy  despair,  and  to  u 
license  that,  after  having  broken  the  yoke  of  revelation,  will  not  fail  to 
destroy  that  of  conscience.  Melancholy  observation  this  !  the  truth  of 
which  might  be  easily  demonstrated  by  a  multitude  of  anecdotes  upon 
your  apostles,  if  these  kinds  of  proofs  had  not  something  in  them  too 
odious. 


THE  THREE  PRINCIPLES. 

TRANSLATED   FROM  THE    FRENCH   OF  THE  REV.   JOHN  FLETCHER. 
BY  MR.  MARTINDALE. 


The  regenerated  man  who  is  created  anew  after  the  image  of  God, 
that  is.  in  the  image  of  thetFather,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  feels  in  him- 
self three  principles  of  activity.  First,  a  principle  of  life,  which  he  hath 
in  common  with  all  other  animals.  Secondly,  a  principle  of  intelligence, 
which  he  hath  in  common  with  devils.  And  thirdly,  a  principle  of  love, 
which  he  hath  in  common  with  holy  angels.  These  (hree  principles, 
replaced  in  their  natural  order,  and  purified  by  grace,  constitute  what 
the  sacred  writers  call  "  the  new  creature."  The  first,  the  most  radical, 
the  most  central  of  the  three  principles,  from  whence  the  other  two  pro- 
ceed, is  particularly  the  image  of  the  Father.  The  second,  which  flows 
from  the  first,  is  particularly  the  image  of 'the  Son.  And  the  third,  which 
proceeds  from  the  other  two,  with  which  it  harmonizes,  though  always 
perfectly  distinct,  is  particularly  the  image  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Com- 
forter, who  is  the  Spirit  of  love,  of  peace,  of  joy,  and  of  perfection,  and 


THE  THREE  PRINCIPLES.  231 

who,  by  his  holy  presence,  accomplishes  the  mystery  of  piety  in  the 
souls  of  those  who  are  baptized  with  fire,  in  the  name  and  power  of  the 
Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

These  three  principles  residing  at  once  in  a  soul,  of  which  they  com- 
pose the  essence,  one  of  them  may  operate  with  vigour,  when  the  other 
two  remain  inactive :  as  in  those  visionary  distractions,  which  we  call 
dreams  ;  and  when  a  pious  person  is  struck  with  an  apoplexy,  his  intel- 
lect and  his  will  cease  to  act ;  or  if  seized  with  a  burning  fever,  though 
his  intellects  may  be  deranged,  his  love  appears  always  active.  In  his 
delirium  he  prays,  he  preaches,  and  endeavours  the  performance  of  good 
works.  In  a  person  completely  renewed  in  the  image  of  Jesus  Christ, 
these  three  principles  are  always  in  perfect  harmony,  for  "true  wisdom," 
and  "  pure  love,"  ceaselessly  flow  from  what  St.  Paul  calls  the  "  life  of 
God."  Thus  in  God,  the  Word  and  the  Holy  Spirit  are  always  in  the 
Father,  as  the  Father  is  always  in  each  of  the  other  two.  If  this  union 
fce  considered,  it  will  be  in  no  way  surprising,  that,  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Divine  Spirit,  are  equally  named 
God,  as  only  making  one  and  the  same  Jehovah. 

The  mystery  of  the  incarnation  did  not  annihilate  the  divinity  of  the 
Word ;  we  owe  Divine  honours  to  the  Son  of  Mary,  because  the  Word 
united  himself  with  his  soul  in  a  manner  the  most  intimate,  and  because 
"  it  pleased  the  ever-blessed  God,  that  in  Jesus  Christ  should  dwell  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily,"  in  order  that  in  the  kingdom  of  grace 
a  plenitude  of  life,  of  wisdom,  and  of  love  should  reside  in  Christ,  Col. 
i,  19,  and  ii,  9,  as  in  the  kingdom  of  nature,  a  plenitude  of  vivifying 
energy,  of  light,  and  of  heat,  resides  in  the  sun. 

"  But  I  do  not  see  (says  a  philosopher)  how  the  Word,  who  was  from 
all  eternity  with  the  Father,  could  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  in  hea- 
ven and  on  earth ;  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  and  in  the  child  Jesus." 

There  are  many  other  things  which  you  do  not  understand,  which  are 
nevertheless  true.  You  do  not  comprehend  how  your  Father  commu- 
nicated to  you  life,  and  the  power  of  thought  and  reasoning :  you  do 
not  understand  how  the  lustre  of  the  sun  can  be  at  one  and  the  same 
time  in  the  whole  atmosphere,  and  in  your  eyes.  For  my  part,  I  can- 
not conceive  in  what  manner  any  soul  can  make  its  will,  (to  speak  so,) 
incarnate  with  my  hand,  so  as  to  move  it  at  pleasure ;  since  the  same 
union  does  not  subsist  between  my  will  and  my  ears  :  if  I  cannot  fathom 
this  little  mystery  of  my  being,  shall  I  be  surprised  if  there  are  depths  in 
the  Supreme  Being  which  I  cannot  fathom  1 

A  savage,  who  hath  no  knowledge  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  carries  the 
will  of  his  master  sealed  in  a  letter.  This  to  him  is  an  impenetrable 
mystery,  which  astonishes  his  reason.  We  shall  cease  to  be  surprised, 
when  we  emerge  from  the  deep  gulfs  of  our  ignorance.  There  will 
come  a  time,  perhaps,  when  the  savages  of  the* moral  world  shall  be  so 
far  enlightened  by  the  Gospel,  as  to  comprehend  how  the  Almighty  could 
unite  his  eternal  Word  to  the  spotless  soul  of  Mary's  Son,  as  we  can 
now  understand  how  men  can  commit  their  thoughts  to  paper,  and  trans- 
mit them  to  future  generations. 

"  But  why  did  not  God  explain  to  us  the  whole  mystery  ?"  Such  a 
question  is  worthy  of  the  savage,  who  might  demand,  Why  did  not  my 
master  unfold  to  me  all  the  mystery  of  the  sealed  paper,  which  contained 


232  THE  THREE  PRINCIPLES. 

his  will  ?  Here  is  an  answer  to  such  a  question :  God  will  not  satisfy 
our  curiosity  ;  first,  because  he  requires  of  us  the  "  obedience  of  faith," 
and  not  the  impertinence  of  pride;  and  secondly,  because  he  wills  man 
to  make  use  of  a  method  for  his  restoration,  opposed  to  that  which  lost 
him  his  perfection  and  bliss.  Is  it  not  reasonable,  that  a  being  who 
involved  himself  in  ruin,  through  "  believing  the  father  of  lies,"  should 
restore  himself  by  "  believing  the  God  of  truth  ?"  The  first  man  hazard- 
ed his  felicity  upon  the  declarations  of  the  tempter  ;  and  ought  we  not  to 
hazard  our  misery  upon  a  hundred  declarations  of  the  Redeemer?  Do 
we  not  daily  see  sick  persons  put  their  lives  into  the  hands  of  a  physi- 
cian, who  is  almost,  yea,  sometimes,  altogether  unknown  to  them  ? 

"  But  I  would  not  trust  to  the  physician  of  which  you  speak :  the 
person  to  whom  I  trusted  should  not  be  a  quack."  I  answer,  that  if 
you  do  not  sufficiently  feel  your  sins  and  miseries,  so  as  to  impel  you  to 
run  the  risk,  you  cannot  believe  in  Jesus  Christ ;  because  he  came  not  to 
call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance.  He  comforteth  not  thosf' 
who  are  at  ease,  but  those  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden.  Neverthe- 
less, the  time  will  come,  when,  if  you  harden  not  your  heart,  you  shall 
feel  your  danger  and  disease  ;  when  you  shall  be  as  much  charmed  with 
submission  to  Jesus  Christ  as  Naaman,  the  leprous  general,  was  in  sub- 
mitting to  the  venerable  prophet ;  when  you  shall  feel  that  in  order  to  find 
health  of  soul  and  a  foretaste  of  eternal  life,  you  must  know  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  hath  sent,  John  xvii,  3.  For  regenera- 
tion, without  which  none  can  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  nothing 
more  than  the  re-establishing  of  the  soul  in  that  happy  state,  when  im- 
pressed with  the  image  of  God,  she  has  not  only  the  life  of  the  Father, 
as  her  principle  of  life,  but  also  the  light  of  the  Son  to  illuminate  her 
understanding,  and  the  love  of  the  "  Holy  Spirit"  to  regulate  her  will. 

It  is  very  evident  that  life  flows  eminently  from  the  Father,  light  from 
the  Son,  and  Divine  love  from  the  "  Holy  Spirit,"  if  we  consult  the 
three  following  quotations  :  John  vi,  57  ;  John  i,  9  ;  Romans  v,  5.  To 
reject  the  Son  and  the  "  Holy  Spirit,"  when  the  Gospel  is  preached,  is  to 
rest  contented  with  a  life  altogether  defective,  a  life  not  perfected  by  the 
living  light  of  grace  and  the  sweetness  of  love  :  such  is  the  life  of  devils, 
of  infidels,  and  of  proud  Pharisees. 


THOUGHTS  ON  FANATICISM. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH   OF  THE  REV.  JOHN  FLETCHER. 
BY  MILES  MARTINDALE. 


Fanaticism  is  the  child  of  false  zeal  and  of  superstition,  the  father 
of  intolerance,  and  of  persecution ;  it  is  therefore  very  different  from 
piety,  though  some  persons  are  pleased  to  confound  them.  The  pious 
man,  always  governed  by  humility  and  reason,  implores  and  receives  the 
succours  of  grace  ;  and  evidences  this  Divine  nature  by  conducting  him- 
self with  sweet  humility  and  love,  the  genuine  character  of  the  first 
Christians.  But  the  fanatic,  big  with  pride,  and  full  of  himself,  rejects 
reason,  and  takes  the  emotions  of  his  own  passions  for  those  of  grace ; 
and  far  from  conducting  himself  with  Christian  modesty  and  love,  he 
follows  the  reveries  of  his  imagination  as  if  they  were  the  inspirations 
of  the  Divine  Spirit ;  he  imitates  the  follies  of  enthusiastic  fools,  and,  if 
occasion  offers,  the  cruelties  of  bloody  persecutors.  Let  us  cautiously 
guard  against  this  excess,  but  let  us  not  despise  true  zeal ;  for  it  differs 
as  much  from  fanaticism  as  vigour,  accompanied  with  health,  differs  from 
a  delirium  produced  by  a  burning  fever. 

While  certain  philosophers,  and  some  proud  of  following  them,  fall 
into  this  error,  and  agree  to  treat  as  fanatics  not  only  the  falsely  inspired, 
but  also  those  who  believe  in  the  Divine  assistance  which  holy  souls 
receive  from  God  ;  they  rank  with  enthusiasts  all  who  humbly  request 
from  the  Father  of  lights  that  inspiration  which  the  Scriptures  call  the 
"  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above ;"  or  the  assistance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  philosophy,  so  common  and  so  dangerous,  has  its  source  in 
pride ;  and  from  pride  there  are  but  three  steps  to  Atheism.  The  first 
is  to  think  one's  self  sufficiently  wise,  independent,  and  strong,  to  govern 
the  heart  virtuously,  without  the  Divine  succours  of  the  Father  of  lights. 
Those  who  take  this  step,  filled  with  the  lofty  ideas  they  have  of  their 
own  reason,  despise,  in  some  sense,  this  faculty  of  their  soul,  and  take  the 
twinkling  light  of  their  own  imagination  for  the  Sun  of  righteousness, 
from  whom  proceeds  our  supreme  illumination.  This  step  conducts  to  a 
second,  which  is  not  less  dangerous.  It  is  very  natural  for  those  who 
deny  the  influence  of  the  Supreme  Being  on  their  spirits,  to  exclude  him 
from  all  influence  over  their  bodies,  and  all  events.  Hence  it  follows,  that 
the  gentlemen  who  are  so  ready  to  treat  piety  as  enthusiasm,  more  or 
less  follow  Epicurus,  who  denied  the  influences  of  a  Divine  Providence 
over  the  preservation  of  our  bodies,  and  the  direction  of  all  events. 
When  these  two  steps  are  fully  secured,  the  third  is  easily  taken  :  for  if 
God  take  no  care,  neither  of  our  souls  by  his  Spirit,  nor  of  our  bodies 
by  his  providence,  he  is  to  us  a  useless  Being,  far  from  being  God,  that 
s  to  say,  the  "  Being  of  beings,"  the  Being  in  whom  we  have  life  and 


234  THOUGHTS  ON  FANATICISM. 

motion ;  and  our  faith  is  reduced  to  that  of  Epicurus,  or  Spinosa,  who 
neither  admitted  a  God  of  grace  nor  of  providence. 

If  the  reader  be  of  the  sect  of  these  philosophers,  or  inclined  to  their 
system,  he  will  doubtless  judge  the  author  an  enthusiast,  because  that, 
under  the  articles  of  air  and  zephyr,*  he  alludes  to  this  common  inspira- 
tion of  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  is  called  the  "  grace  of  God ;"  for 
inspiration  is  as  necessary  to  piety,  or  the  spiritual  life,  as  respiration  is 
necessary  to  the  animal  life.  If  I  am  mistaken  in  this  matter  there  is  at 
least  this  consolation,  that  not  only  all  the  sacred  authors  are  on  my  side, 
with  the  compilers  of  Christian  liturgies,  but  also  the  wisest  of  the 
heathens.  Let  us  observe  some  of  the  well  known  and  fine  testimonies 
of  the  ancient  philosophers,  which  ought  to  put  our  modern  philosophers 
to  the  blush,  and  even  some  of  our  divines.  "  Without  God,  (says 
Seneca,)  there  is  no  good  man  ;  it  is  he  who  inspires  with  grand  ideas 
and  exalted  designs.  God  dwells  in  every  good  man.  When  you  see  a 
man  superior  to  his  passions,  happy  in  adversity,  calm  amid  surrounding 
tempests  ;  can  you  withhold  respect  from  him  ?  Do  you  not  say,  These 
qualities  are  too  exalted  to  derive  their  origin  from  this  little  ornamented 
individual.  A  Divine  vigour  has  descended  on  him.  A  heavenly  power 
animates  an  humble  and  excellent  soul.  There  is  no  possessing  these 
great  advantages  without  the  succours  of  the  Supreme  Being."  (Sen. 
Ep.  41.) 

Bias  gave  this  precept  to  his  disciples :  "  Remember  that  all  the  good 
you  do  comes  principally  from  the  gods."  "  Rome  and  Greece  (says 
Cicero)  have  produced  great  men ;  and  we  ought  to  believe  that  none 
of  them  became  such,  but  by  the  assistance  of  God.  There  never  was 
a  great  man  without  some  degree  of  Divine  inspiration."  (Cic  de  Nat. 
Deorvm.  chap.  Ixvi.)  And  in  the  thirty-first  chapter:  "  If  there  be  (says 
he)  among  men  good  faith,  virtue,  and  concord ;  from  whence,  think 
you,  do  these  arrive  on  earth,  if  not  from  heaven  ?" 

One  might  even  here  quote  M.  de  Voltaire,  who,  in  one  of  his  happy 
moments,  where  he  recommends  truth,  cites  with  admiration  this  fine 
passage  of  Confucius  : — "  Heaven  hath  given  me  virtue,  man  cannot 
hurt  me  ;"  and  the  verse  of  ancient  Orpheus,  which  the  priests  of  Ceres 
recited  to  those  who  were  initiated  into  their  mysteries :  "  Walk  in  the 
path  of  righteousness,  adore  the  Master  of  the  universe :  he  is  one :  all 
beings  owe  their  existence  to  him ;  he  acts  in  them  and  by  them." 
Now  if  God  acts  in  beings  in  general,  where  is  the  absurdity  of  believing 
chat  he  acts  in  a  virtuous  man,  whose  soul  is  the  most  noble  instrument 
of  the  Father  of  spirits,  as  she  is  a  temple  the  most  worthy  of  the 
divinity  ?  The  ancient  philosophers  did  not  only  acknowledge  that 
moral  virtues  came  principally  from  God,  but  also  inventions  that  were 
useful  to  society.  "  They  are  the  gift  of  the  gods,"  saith  Pliny,  "  and  if 
any  one  imagines  that  man  made  these  discoveries  by  chance,  he  makes 
ungrateful  returns  for  the  presents  of  the  divinity."  (Plin.  lib.  27, 
chap,  i,  2.) 

Can  we  see  these  clear  testimonies  rendered  to  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trine which  our  philosophers  would  make  to  pass  for  fanaticism,  without 
being  astonished  at  the  blindness  of  these  people,  who,  aided  by  the  Gos- 

*  This  refers  to  the  poem  entitled  La  Grace  et  la  Nature. 


THOUGHTS   ON  FANATICISM.  235 

pel,  cannot  discern  that  which  the  Pagans  saw,  but  turn  into  ridicule 
truths  clearly  developed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures — truths  which  the  Pa- 
gan  philosophers  acknowledged  many  ages  since  ?  Plutarch,  in  his  life 
of  Coriolanus,  goes  still  farther  than  the  Roman  philosophers;  for,  speak- 
ing of  "  actions  extraordinary  and  dangerous,  which  demand  a  degree 
of  inspiration  and  enthusiasm,"  he  cites  several  passages  from  Homer, 
where  the  poet  spSiks  of  such  an  inspiration ;  and,  far  from  thinking 
with  our  philosophers  that  it  is  impossible  and  unreasonable,  he  says 
that  "only  ignorant  and  stupid  people  ridiculed  it."  As  a  true  philoso- 
pher he  defends  it,  and  proves  that  it  harmonizft  with  our  liberty.  His 
words  are  remarkable.  I  will  quote  them  from  the  translation  of  M. 
Dacier : — 

"  God,"  says  he,  "  is  so  far  from  destroying  our  free  agency,  that  he 
not  only  inspires  us  with  a  will,  but  he  warms  the  imagination,  and  im- 
parts ideas  by  which  we  are  determined.  It  is  thus  he  gives  birth  to 
the  will,  to  which  he  adds  confidence  and  hope.  Indeed,  we  must  either 
exclude  God  from  having  any  part  as  to  the  moving  cause  and  principle 
of  our  operations,  or  confess  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  succour  men 
and  co-operate  with  them.  For  he  does  not  move  our  bodies,  but  by 
certain  ideas  which  he  awakens  in  us  he  excites  our  souls  to  active  vir- 
tue ;  thus  giving  us  a  will,  and  restraining  or  turning  it  from  evil."  {Lives 
of  Illustrious  Men.  Ed.  de  Paris,  1762,  torn,  iii,  p.  315.)  It  appears, 
in  Plutarch's  judgment,  that  to  deny  this  kind  of  inspiration  is  to  deny 
the  providence  of  God,  with  regard  to  men ;  it  is  to  plunge  one's  self,  at 
the  same  time,  in  the  impious  error  of  Epicurus,  and  the  blindness  of 
ignorant  and  stupid  persons. 

When  a  Pagan  philosopher  thus  pleads  the  cause  of  Divine  grace, 
can  we,  without  indignation,  behold  Christians  making  a  mock  of  the 
succours  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  by  which  only  we  can  have  that  faith 
which  enables  us  to  say  with  certainty  that  "Jesus  Christ  is  the  Lord?" 
1  Cor.  xii,  3.  Full  of  aversion  for  true  Christianity,  these  admirers  of 
a  false  philosophy  will  not,  perhaps,  permit  true  Christians  what  they 
allow  to  Voltaire,  in  the  prayer  which  concludes  his  poem  on  the  "  Law 
of  Nature  :"  "  O  God,  unknown  !  O  God,  whom  all  declare  !  My  heart 
would  wander,  if  not  filled  with  thee."  They  think  all  to  be  enthusiasts 
who  dare  speak  of  inspiration  as  openly  as  M.  Rousseau,  their  incon- 
sistent oracle:  "The  divinity,"  says  he,  "is  seen  in  his  works;  he  makes 
himself  felt  within  us ;  he  has  given  us  that  degree  of  sensibility  which 
is  known  and  felt."  He  is  not  afraid  to  say  in  his  confession  of  faith 
which  he  has  made  in  his  famous  Emilius :  "  How  can  I  be  guilty  for 
serving  God  according  to  the  light  which  he  imparts  to  my  mind,  and 
according  to  the  sentiments  with  which  he  inspires  my  heart?"  Some 
Christians,  more  inconsistent  even  than  Rousseau,  have  not  the  candour 
to  say,  If  God  sometimes  inspires  with  good  sentiments  even  those  who 
fight  against  the  Gospel,  he  certainly  can  inspire  those  who  receive  it. 
There  is  perhaps  no  difficulty  in  drawing  another  comparison  between 
the  Pagan  and  our  modern  philosophers.  After  having  seen  how  much 
they  differ  in  regard  to  grace,  let  us  see  how  widely  they  differ  con- 
cerning prayer. 

If  mau  cannot  conquer  all  his  passions,  and  produce  solid  virtue  in  his 
heart,  without  the  help  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  ought  with  humility  and 


236  THOUGHTS  ON  FANATICISM. 

ardour  to  implore  that  assistance.  This  is  the  foundation  and  reason  of 
prayer.  Some  modern  philosophers,  at  the  head  of  whom  is  Rousseau, 
imagine  that  man  has  no  need  of  Divine  succours  to  render  him  virtuous. 
According  to  him,  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves.  By  setting  our  reason 
against  our  passions,  she  will  make  a  complete  conquest,  and  our  will 
shall  have  the  sole  honour  of  the  victory.  See  a  little  how  he  expresses 
himself  on  this  head  in  his  Emilius:  "I  bless  God  for  nis  gifts;  but  [  will 
not  pray.  What  should  I  demand  of  him  ?  Will  he  for  me  change  the 
course  of  things  ?  &c.  No.  Such  a  presumptuous  petition  is  more 
deserving  of  punishment  than  an  answer.  I  will  not  solicit  from  him 
the  power  to  do  well.  Why  should  I  ask  of  him  what  he  hath  already 
given  me  ?  &c.  He  requires  me  to  change  my  will.  It  is  he  demands 
— demands  from  me.  It  is  the  will  which  makes  my  work."  This 
reasoning  of  the  philosopher  of  Geneva  amounts,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
to  this :  Christians  believe  that  solid  virtue  results  from  the  succours 
which  Divine  grace  imparts  to  the  will  of  men  when  they  implore  them 
with  humility ;  but  they  are  deceived ;  man  alone  can  do  all ;  and  I 
would  conduct  Christians  to  the  doctrine  of  the  disciples  of  Epicurus, 
who  says,  "  The  gods  may  give  me  riches,  if  they  please ;  but  I  will 
make  myself  virtuous."  What  self  sufficiency  is  in  the  language  of 
proud  philosophers!  Is  it  then  surprising  that  modern  philosophers,  who 
have  as  much  vanity,  should  have  so  much  pride  to  boast,  as  one  of  them 
has  done,  in  speaking  of  the  book  from  whence  I  have  taken  this  grand 
error  :  "  Ah !  how  shall  I  bring  myself  to  justify  this  work  :"  says  he  in 
his  first  letter  to  Montaigne  :  "  I  who  think  by  it  to  expiate  the  faults  of 
my  whole  life ;  I  who,  full  of  confidence,  one  day  hope  to  say  to  the 
supreme  Judge,  Deign  to  judge  in  thy  clemency  a  feeble  man  ;  I  have 
done  evil  upon  earth,  but  I  have  published  this  treatise !" 

When  one  sees  this  proud  deception,  it  calls  to  mind  an  anecdote  of 
Gaspard  de  Javanne,  mareschal  of  France.  The  night  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew he  paraded  the  streets  of  Paris  to  animate  the  assassins  to  carnage. 
"  Slaughter !  slaughter  !"  cried  he  :  "  It  is  as  good  to  bleed  in  August  as 
in  May !"  His  son  informs  us  (says  Voltaire)  that  when  his  father  lay 
a  dying,  he  made  a  general  confession  of  his  life  ;  and  the  confessor  de- 
manded  with  an  air  of  astonishment,  "  How  is  it  that  you  say  nothing  of 
St.  Bartholomew  ?"  I  look  on  that  (said  the  mareschal)  as  a  meritorious 
action,  which  ought  to  atone  for  my  other  sins.  The  errors  of  Emilius 
are  to  expiate  the  sins  of  M.  Rousseau  in  like  manner  as  the  exploits 
of  St.  Bartholomew  were  to  expiate  the  transgressions  of  M.  de  Javanne  ! 

But  let  us  leave  the  vanity  of  this  philosopher  of  Geneva,  and  consi- 
der the  piety  of  a  heathen  philosopher  and  legislator,  which  I  have  chosen 
as  a  contrast.  The  legislator  is  Zaleucus,  who  gave  laws  to  the  Locri- 
ans.  In  the  exordium  to  his  laws  he  says,  "  Every  man  ought  to  con- 
duct himself  every  moment  as  if  that  moment  were  the  last  of  his  life ; 
but,  if  an  evil  genius  entice  him  to  sin,  he  ought  to  flee  to  the  foot  of  the 
altars,  and  implore  Heaven  to  banish  far  from  him  this  evil  genius.  He 
must  cast  himself  into  the  arms  of  good  people,  whose  counsels  will 
restore  him  to  virtue  by  representing  to  him  the  bounty  and  the  vengeance 
of  God."  How  far  is  this  language  from  the  self  sufficiency  of  M.  Rous- 
seau !  Another  Pagan  I  will  oppose  to  him  is  Hierocles,  who  commented 
on  the  golden  verses  of  P]  thagoras  :  "  Never  put  thy  hand  to  a  work 


THOUGHTS   ON  FANATICISM.  237 

before  thou  hast  implored  the  gods  to  finish  what  thou  art  about  to  be- 
gin." Hierocles,  it  appears,  had  caught  a  ray  of  the  morning  star  which 
Jesus  Christ  hath  made  to  shine  on  the  earth.  I  make  use  of  M.  Da- 
cier's  translation.  (See  Bibllotheque  des  anciens  Philosophes,  torn,  ii,  p. 
185,  &c.)  "Pythagoras  describes  in  these  words  two  things  which  con- 
cur in  aiding  us  to  find  the  true  good.  These  two  things  are,  the  volun- 
tary movement  of  our  soul  and  the  succours  of  Heaven  ;  for  although 
the  choice  of  good  be  free,  and  depends  upon  us,  nevertheless,  as  we 
derive  from  God  this  liberty  and  ability,  we  stand  in  continual  need  of 
the  Divine  support  to  co-operate  with  us,  and  accomplish  what  we  re- 
quest ;  for  prayer  is  a  medium  between  our  seeking  and  the  gift  of  God. 
She  addresses  that  Being  who  produced  us,  and  who,  after  having 
given  us  a  being,  giveth  us  also  a  well  being.  And  how  shall  any  one 
receive  this  well  being,  if  God  do  not  bestow  it?  And  how  shall  God, 
who  only  hath  the  power  of  bestowing,  give  it  to  those  who,  being  mas- 
ters of  their  own  movements,  will  not  even  deign  to  request  it  by  prayer? 
Thus,  then,  on  the  one  hand,  we  should  not  rest  solely  in  our  prayers, 
but  follow  them  by  our  exertions ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  should  not 
wholly  confide  in  our  actions,  but  solicit  the  succours  of  Heaven ;  and 
that  we  must  also  join  prayer  to  action,  as  the  form  to  the  matter.  Py- 
thagoras leads  us  to  request  that  which  we  do,  and  to  do  that  which  we 
request ;  for  he  makes  but  one  of  these  two :  '  Do  not  begin,'  says  he, 
'  to  put  thy  hand  to  a  work  before  thou  hast  prayed  the  gods  to  finish,' 
&c.  In  short,  it  is  wrong  to  attempt  any  thing  as  if  it  depended  upon 
us  to  accomplish  it  without  the  succours  of  God ;  neither  ought  we  to 
content  ourselves  with  mere  words  in  prayer,  but  to  exert  our  utmost 
efforts  to  obtain  what  we  request :  for  otherwise  we  either  embrace  only 
an  impious  virtue,  and  without  God,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  speak  so ; 
or  we  prefer  a  mere  prayer  devoid  of  action.  And  that  impiety  which 
is  in  the  first  part,  will  entirely  ruin  the  essence  of  virtue  ;  and  the  inac- 
tion which  is  in  the  latter,  will  absolutely  destroy  the  efficacy  of  prayer. 
How  can  that  be  good  which  is  not  done  according  to  the  rule  or  will 
of  God?  And  if  what  we  perform  is  to  be  done  according  to  this  rule,  is 
there  no  need  of  the  succours  of  the  same  God  to  accomplish  and  perfect 
the  same  ?  For  virtue  is  the  image  of  God  in  the  reasonable  soul ;  and 
all  images  have  need  of  their  original  in  order  to  exist :  but  in  vain  we 
possess  this  image,  if  we  have  not  our  eyes  continually  fixed  on  the 
original,  whose  resemblance  only  makes  the  beautiful  and  good  :  would 
we  then  acquire  active  virtue  we  must  pray  ;  but  in  praying  we  must 
act,  and  see  that  in  our  actions  we  always  regard  the  Divinity,  and  the 
light  with  which  he  is  surrounded  :  that  which  excites  us  to  wisdom  is 
continual  action,  in  constantly  addressing  our  supplications  to  the  First 
Cause  of  all«good.  The  soul  which  attaches  to  this  cause,  and  purges 
herself,  as  the  eye,  to  render  it  more  clear  and  quick,  is  excited  to  prayer 
by  her  application  to  good  works ;  and  by  the  plenitude  of  blessings 
which  results  from  prayer,  she  redoubles  her  application,  in  uniting 
petitions  to  good  actions,  and  in  assuring  and  fortifying  these  good  ac- 
tions by  the  Divine  intercourse.  Finding  herself  in  part  illuminated  from 
above,  she  performs  what  she  performs  by  prayer,  and  requests  by  her 
prayer  what  she  performs.  And  thus  results  the  union  so  necessary 
between  prayer  and  action." 


238  LETTER   ON  THE   TROPIIECIES. 

Behold  the  true  philosophy  !  See  the  truth  and  modesty  !  How  much 
superior  is  the  language  of  this  Pagan  philosopher,  to  that  of  these  self- 
sufficient  philosophers !  O  you  who  think,  with  M.  Rousseau,  to  merit 
from  heaven  by  a  heap  of  contradictions,  and  by  a  monstrous  and  un- 
meaning compilation  of  the  most  grand  truths,  and  the  most  monstrous 
errors,  if  you  attack  revelation, — at  least  respect  true  philosophy,  and 
do  not  cast  your  veil  of  antichristian  opinions  over  the  truths  of  the  an- 
cient philosophers,  which  blazed  forth  amidst  the  thick  shades  of  heathen 
darkness. 

If  the  doctrine  of  Hierocles  upon  prayer  do  not  appear  preferable  to 
that  of  Rousseau's  philosophy,  admit  this  at  least,  that  Rousseau  some- 
times wrote  as  a  Christian ;  for,  like  the  poets  who  sung  of  Castor  and 
Pollux,  his  thoughts  were  sometimes  in  the  heaven  of  truth,  and  some- 
times in  the  infernal  glooms  of  error.  Behold  Rousseau,  the  true  phi- 
losopher, full  of  admiration  for  the  Gospel !  "  The  greatest  of  all  wants 
(says  he)  is  that  of  feeling  our  wants.  Let  us  be  humble  in  order  to  be 
wise :  let  us  see  our  feebleness,  and  we  shall  be  strong.  Thus,  at  one 
and  the  same  time,  let  grace  and  liberty  reign  :  slaves  by  our  own  weak- 
ness, we  shall  be  free  by  prayer ;  for  it  depends  upon  us  to  implore  : 
and  to  obtain  strength,  which  we  cannot  derive  from  ourselves."  This 
last  doctrine  of  M.  Rousseau  is  perfectly  conformable  to  the  Gospel. 
Those  then  who  imbibe  the  poison  which  this  philosopher  has  scattered 
in  some  parts  of  his  works,  ought  also  to  taste  the  antidote  which  he 
offers  in  others. 

In  taking  the  liberty  of  producing  certain  contradictions  of  M.  Rous- 
seau, the  reader  is  invited  to  do  justice  to  the  beauty  of  his  style,  and  the 
sublimity  of  a  great  number  of  his  thoughts,  by  which  he  hath  justly 
merited  a  place  in  the  republic  of  letters. 


LETTER  ON    THE   PROPHECIES.* 


Rev.  Sir, — I  was  very  much  surprised  to  hear  you  read  part  of  a 
letter  written  on  the  impending  revolutions ;  they  have  often  been,  for 
some  years,  the  subject  of  my  meditations,  and  of  many  conversations 
with  a  great  divine  abroad.  That  gentleman,  as  eminent  for  his  un- 
common learning,  as  he  is  remarkable  for  the  use  he  has  made  of  it, 
from  his  youth,  showed  the  greatest  inclination  to  dive  into  the  apparent 
obscurities  of  the  prophecies  contained  in  the  Bible.  That  inclination 
increased  with  his  knowledge  and  piety ;  it  followed  him  every  where. 
When  upon  his  travels,  he  generally  got  what  light  he  could  from  the 
learned  in  that  uncommon  branch  of  knowledge,  and  had  several  con- 
ferences with  Sir  Isaac  Newton  and  others. 

*  The  following  letter  by  Mr.  Fletcher  on  the  prophecies,  written  in  the  year 
1775,  was  communicated  to  Mr.  George  Story,  several  years  ago,  by  a  gentle- 
man from  Yorkshire,  now  resident  in  London.  The  superscription  was  lost,  but 
it  appears  from  the  contents  that  it  was  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weslev. 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES.  239 

For  these  fifty  years  he  has  spent  his  time  in  making  himself  per- 
fectly master  of  the  oriental  languages,  (which  are  become  as  familiar 
to  him  as  Greek  and  Latin,)  and  in  comparing  and  explaining  the  various 
prophecies  scattered  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  Therefore,  if  his 
labours  have  been  attended  with  a  blessing  from  above,  and  a  measure 
of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  he  is,  in  all  appearance,  a  man  most  likely  to  dis- 
cover what  God  has  been  pleased  to  hide,  for  a  time,  under  the  veil  of 
prophetic  figures.  As  I  have  often  read  his  works,  both  those  that  have 
been  printed,  and  those  which  he  has  not  yet  been  able  to  publish,  on 
account  of  the  strong  opposition  of  several  people,  I  shall  take  the  liberty 
to  give  you  a  short  account  of  his  system. 

It  is,  as  far  as  I  can  judge,  pretty  much  the  same  as  the  gentleman's 
whose  letter  you  read  lately,  and  supported  by  the  numerous  train  of  his 
arguments  ;  it  seldom  fails  either  to  silence  or  convict  those  that  oppose 
it ;  it  agrees  with  the  tenor  of  the  whole  Bible  ;  it  gives  such  grand  ideas 
of  God's  justice  in  punishing  the  wicked,  and  his  faithfulness  in  remem- 
bering the  gracious  promises  he  has  made  to  the  faithful ;  it  squares  so 
well  with  history  and  chronology,  (I  would  almost  say,  with  the  present 
state  of  the  world,)  that  if  it  be  not  true,  one  must  confess  it  is  at  least 
very  probable.  This  has  been  owned  by  numbers  of  clergymen,  and 
even  by  some  of  those  who,  because  the  Lord  delays  his  coming,  think 
that  the  work  shall  always  remain  in  the  same  state. 

Let  me  beg  of  you,  sir,  for  the  sake  of  that  gentleman,  whom  I  have 
great  reason  to  honour,  not  to  judge  absolutely  of  him  by  what  I  shall 
say  ;  considering  that  clear  water,  running  through  a  foul  pipe,  may 
easily  contract  a  disagreeable  and  muddy  taste.  I  confess  I  want  a 
competent  knowledge  of  Scripture,  and  the  degree  of  profane  learning, 
necessary  to  illustrate  it ;  so  that  if  you  observe  in  these  sheets  any 
inconsistency,  it  is  probably  all  my  own. 

According  to  that  divine's  opinion,  we  are  come  to  the  last  times  :  the 
grand  catastrophe  of  God's  drama  draws  near  apace ;  he  shall  soon  be 
avenged,  first  of  his  unfaithful  servants,  and  next  of  his  barefaced  ene- 
mies ;  in  a  few  years  he  will  "  purge  his  floor,"  and  "  burn  the  chaff 
with  unquenchable  fire."  Every  Christian  ought  then  to  prepare  him- 
self for  that  day,  which  "  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;"  and  to 
labour  for  a  living  faith,  the  ark  which  alone  will  carry  us  safe  to  the 
harbour,  amidst  the  universal  deluge  of  wo  which  is  going  to  overflow 
the  earth. 

Here  follow  some  of  the  reasons  on  which  his  opinion  is  founded  : — 
(1st.)  Consider  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  which  is  a  rough  sketch  of 
the  world's  four  universal  revolutions.  Three  are  past  long  ago  ;  the 
empires  of  the  Assyrians,  Persians,  and  Greeks,  have  disappeared.  The 
iron  legs,  that  represented  the  strength  of  the  Roman  empire  under  the 
consuls  and  emperors,  have  had  the  same  fate  :  the  feet  only  remain, 
which  being  "  made  of  clay  and  iron,  partly  weak  and  partly  strong," 
express  plainly  the  remains  of  the  Roman  monarchy,  which  is  nothing 
but  a  weak  compound  of  spiritual  and  temporal  power,  and  does  not 
cleave  better  together  than  iron  to  clay.  And  whereas  the  feet  of  the 
statue  ended  in  ten  toes,  so  was  the  Roman  empire  divided  into  ten  king- 
doms :  these  were  still  united  together  by  the  clay,  i.  e.  the  pope's  erro- 
neous religion  and  idolatrous  worship. 


240  LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES. 

"  In  the  days  of  these  ten  kings,"  says  the  Prophet  Daniel,  "  shall  the 
God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall- never  be  destroyed  :  for  it 
shall  swallow  up  all  these  kingdoms,  and  stand  for  ever :  forasmuch  as 
a  stone  cut  from  the  mountain  without  hands,"  (a  small  number  of  true 
Christians  sent  from  Mount  Sion,  without  the  hand  of  mortal  man,  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  alone ;  or  Jesus  himself,  the  corner  stone,)  "  shall 
smite  the  feet  of  the  statue,"  the  last  of  the  four  monarchies  ;  "  and  the 
pieces  of  it  shall  become  as  the  chaff,  carried  away  by  the  wind,  and  no 
place  shall  be  found  for  them  ;  but  the  stone  that  shall  smite  the  image 
will  become  a  great  mountain,- and  fill  the  whole  earth."  (2dly.)  Corn- 
pare  with  this  the  vision  of  the  seventh  chapter,  where  the  fourth  beast 
that  had  iron  teeth,  to  devour  all,  answers  clearly  to  the  iron  legs  of 
Nebuchadnezzar's  image  ;  for  as  this  had  ten  toes,  so  that  had  ten  horns : 
viz.  the  ten  kingdoms  into  which  the  Roman  empire  was  divided  ;  those 
of  Burgundy  and  Lombardy ;  that  of  the  Vandals  ;  the  eastern  and 
western  empires  ;  England,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Poland.  Be- 
tween these  ten  horns  did  another  come  up,  i.  e.  the  pope  ;  who  aggran- 
dized himself  at  the  expense  of  the  other  kings,  and  before  which  three 
of  the  horns*  fell,  the  kingdoms  of  Lombardy,  Burgundy,  and  that  of  the 
Vandals,  who  were  once  possessed  of  a  great  part  of  France,  Spain,  and 
Africa,  but  are  now  no  longer  known  but  in  history. 

This  horn  had  eyes ;  i.  e.  an  appearance  of  wisdom,  and  a  great  deal 
of  fraud  ;  "  and  a  mouth  that  spake  great  things  against  the  Most  High: 
it  warred  against  the  saints  ;"  and  so  has  the  pope  ;  millions  have  fallen, 
as  so  many  victims  to  his  cruelty,  pride,  and  persecuting  spirit.  But  we 
are  near  the  time  when,  having  fully  "prevailed  against  them,  they  shall 
be  given  unto  him  for  a  time,  times,  and  a  division  of  time  :"  but  after 
this  last  raging  of  antichrist,  his  body  shall  be  destroyed  :  then  the  saints 
of  the  Most  High  shall  take  the  kingdom  and  possess  it  for  ever  and 
ever :  this  will  be  an  end  of  tne  matter  ;  and  if  any  one  meditates  thereon 
with  singleness  of  heart,  his  thoughts,  like  Daniel's,  "  will  be  troubled  in 
him,  and  his  countenance  changed,  and  he  will  keep  the  matter  in  his 
heart."  (3dly.)  Compare  again  this  vision  with  that  which  is  contained 
in  the  following  chapter,  where  the  prophet,  having  foretold  the  ruin  of 
the  Persian  empire,  the  conquest  of  Alexander,  and  the  division  of  his 
dominion  between  four  kings,  comes  at  once  to  the  little  horn  that  should 
spring  from  one  of  them  ;  namely,  from  that  of  Greece  or  Macedonia : 
for  as  the  Spirit  of  God  had  shown  the  prophet  before  all  that  concerned 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  kingdom,  he  passes  lightly  over  it,  to  come 
to  the  main  point,  the  rising  of  the  little  horn,  at  whose  destruction  the 
empire  of  the  saints  shall  begin. 

Let  it  be  remembered  here,  that  Constantine,  having  transported  into 
Greece  the  seat  of  the  Roman  empire,  renewed  (as  it  were)  that  of 
Macedonia,  of  which  Byzantium  was  one  of  the  chief  cities;  and  that 
it  was  under  him,  and  his  successors,  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  increased 
in  honours,  and  began  to  lift  up  himself  above  all  the  bishops  and  pa- 
triarchs in  the  world ;  so  that  in  two  or  three  hundred  years  he  "waxed 
exceeding  great  in  the  pleasant  land,  and  cast  down,  and  stampt  upon" 
kings  and  emperors,  those  stars  in  the  heaven  of  government ;  he  took 
away  the  daily  sacrifice,  abolished  or  quite  disfigured  the  true  worship 
of  God  and  Jesus,  and  cut  down  the  truth  to  the  ground,  with  his  army. 


LETTER   ON  THE   PKOPHECIES.  2  1  1 

Here  the  prophet  heard  a  saint  asking  another  saint,  How  long  the 
Church  should  be  thus  corrupted  and  desolate?  And  the  answer  was,  till 
the  end  of  2300  days,  and  then  the  sanctuary  should  be  cleansed. — 
Here  is  a  number  given ;  a  number  by  which  we  may  know  that  we  are 
come  to  the  very  time  the  Spirit  of  God  had  in  view :  a  number  which 
fixes  the  beginning  of  the  things  that  are  coming  upon  the  earth :  let  us 
take  some  notice  of  it. 

1.  When  shall  the  sanctuary  begin  to  be  cleansed,  in  such  a  measure, 
as  to  deserve  to  be  taken  notice  of  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ?  At  the  end 
of  2300  days ;  which  are  proved  to  be  prophetic  days,  and  to  signify 
each  a  whole  year,  by  the  prophecy  of  the  seventy  weeks,  and  many 
other  places  of  Scripture.  2.  What  is  the  epocha  from  which  we 
must  begin  to  reckon  those  2300  years  ?  It  is  evident  it  must  be  the 
time  of  the  vision  itself,  which  the  prophet  has  taken  particular  care  to 
observe ;  for  in  the  first  verse  of  the  chapter,  "  In  the  third  year  of  the 
reign  of  King  Belshazzar,  (says  he)  a  vision  appeared  to  me,  even  unto 
me  Daniel." 

3.  But  how  can  we  know  certainly  the  time  of  Belshazzar's  reign  1 
I  must  own,  this  question  is  not  so  easily  answered  as  the  others ;  but  it 
can  be  resolved,  with  some  knowledge  of  history  and  chronology :  for 
if  we  compare  the  writings  of  sacred  and  profane  historians;  if  we  trust 
the  canons  of  Ptolemy,  which  have  been  tried  by  astronomical  observa- 
tions, with  Petrarius,  Usserius,  Prideaux,  and  others,  we  shall  agree  that 
Belshazzar  (the  same  whom  the  historians  call  Niricasoolassar,  or  Ne- 
riglissor,)  having  killed  Evilmerodac,  the  son  of  Nabocolasser,  or  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, seized  upon  the  Assyrian  throne,  A.  M.  3476,  i.  e.  559 
years  before  Christ,  or  as  Tomiel  will  have  it,  about  twenty  years  after: 
because  asserting  that  Evilmerodac,  (instead  of  two  years,  which  the 
above-mentioned  chronologists  give  to  his  reign)  enjoyed  the  diadem 
twenty-three  years,  which  would  make  the  reign  of  his  successor,  our 
Belshazzar,  begin  about  538  years  before  Christ.  If  we  admit  the  first 
opinion,  which  is  more  probable,  it  follows  that  the  third  year  of  Bel- 
shazzar's reign  falls  in  556  years  before  Christ,  which  is  the  epocha 
wanted ;  add  to  it  four  or  five  years,  on  account  of  the  difference  of  the 
Judaical  year  of  360  days,  and  ours  that  is  365,  and  above ;  add  three 
years  more  for  the  time  that  Belshazzar  had  reigned  when  Daniel  had 
the  vision,  and  we  have  about  550,  which  being  substracted  from  2300, 
give  the  year  1750,  for  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary;  or  for  such  a 
tolerable  progress  in  the  cleansing  of  it,  as  may  be  taken  notice  of,  and 
attract  the  eyes  of  all  those  who  wait  for  this  cleansing  of  God's  Church. 

4.  If  any  one  should  ask,  what  happened  so  remarkably  about  that 
time,  as  to  show  that  the  sanctuary  is  in  some  degree  cleansed,  or  that 
this  important  work  is  really  carried  on  with  any  tolerable  success ;  I 
would  answer,  that  God  was  working  at  that  time,  and  still  works  such 
a  work  as  never  was  seen  since  the  apostles'  days ;  he  has  sent  some 
chosen  servants  of  his,  both  in  these  kingdoms  and  abroad,  who,  by  the 
manifest  assistance  of  God's  Spirit,  have  removed  the  filthy  doctrine  of 
justification  by  works,  and  the  outward  Christless  performances  of  mo- 
ral duties,  which  pollute  the  sanctuary,  and  make  it  an  abomination  to 
the  Lord.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  given,  and  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad 
in  the  hearts  of  believers  as  in  the  days  of  old  ;  and  the  Lord  has  taken 

Vol.  IV.  16 


242  LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES. 

to  himself  servants,  that  will  rejoice  to  stand  boldly  for  the  truth,  to  re- 
main unshaken  in  the  evil  day,  and  to  fight  manfully  his  battles,  when 
he  shall  call  them  to  it.  I  own  that  the  cleansing  is  but  begun,  but  this 
first  revolution  may,  in  all  probability,  be  the  forerunner  of  a  greater : 
God  has  called ;  a  few  have  obeyed  his  call ;  the  generality  still  shut 
their  eyes  and  ears  against  the  tender  invitations  of  their  Lord,  and  con- 
tinue to  pollute  their  sanctuary,  and  to  look  on  the  blood  of  the  Lamb 
as  an  unholy  thing.  Shall  not  God  carry  on  his  work?  Shall  the 
creature  still  resist  his  Creator,  and  the  arm  of  flesh  be  stronger  than 
the  living  God  1  Not  so  :  he  will  not  always  strive  with  obdurate  hearts. 
What  the  gentle  breathings  of  his  Spirit  cannot  perform,  he  will  do  with 
war,  sword  and  fire,  plague  and  famine,  tribulation  and  anguish.  He 
is  going  to  gird  on  his  sword,  and  his  right  hand  shall  teach  him  terrible 
things.  Nations  refuse  the  sceptre  of  his  mercy :  what  remains  then, 
but  to  rule  them  with  an  iron  sceptre,  and  break  them  in  pieces  like  a 
potter's  vessel  ? 

5.  If  this  answer,  satisfying  as  it  is,  do  not  content  those  who  will 
not  even  believe  even  what  they  see,  I  would  answer  farther,  that  the 
calculation  above  mentioned  is  so  far  from  being  made  to  reach  farthei 
than  chronology  will  allow,  (as  I  have  heard  some  object,)  that  it  might 
admit  of  an  addition  of  twenty-one  years  according  to  Torniel,  as  I  said 
before ;  which  would  put  off  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary  till  1770. 
Chronologists  may  mistake  in  a  few  years,  but  cannot  err  upon  the 
whole ;  and  as  God  is  true  and  faithful,  so  it  is  manifest,  that  the  pro- 
phecy of  2300  years  must  be  fully  accomplished  in  our  days,  or  those 
of  the  next  generation. 

6.  To  set  the  argument,  drawn  from  the  number  of  2300,  in  a  clear 
light,  it  is  necessary  to  prove,  that  it  was  not  designed  to  show  the  time 
of  the  cleansing  the  sanctuary  by  Judas  Maccabseus  and  his  brethren, 
from  the  pollution  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  ;  nor  the  cleansing  of  Jesus 
and  his  apostles,  who  freed  the  Church  of  God  from  Pharisaical  hypoc- 
risy, and  Sadducean  profaneness ;  nor  lastly,  that  of  Luther,  and  other 
reformers,  who  cleansed  the  outside,  and  washed  white  the  sanctuary, 
but  were  not  able  to  remove  the  filth  of  unbelief  that  remained  within. 
Many  arguments  might  be  drawn  from  the  number  itself,  which  agrees 
with  no  cleansing  but  that  in  these  days  ;  but  it  will  be  easier  to  draw 
them  from  the  general  drift  of  the  prophecy,  and  the  context  of  the 
chapter.  Observe  first  these  words,  "  At  the  time  of  the  end  shall  this 
vision  be  fulfilled,"  where  the  word  end  signifies  plainly,  the  catastrophe 
of  God's  drama,  the  last  act  of  the  wicked  tragedy  men  have  been  act- 
ing for  near  6000  years,  and  the  *av7wv  atfoxaXu^  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Again:  in  the  19th  verse,  the  angel  said  to  Daniel,  "  Behold, 
I  will  make  thee  know  what  shall  be  in  the  last  end  of  the  indignation, 
for  at  the  time  appointed  the  end  shall  be."  What  end  is  here  spoken 
of,  if  it  be  not  that  of  God's  universal  scheme  ? 

Ponder  also  these  words,  (verse  26,)  "  Wherefore  shut  thou  up  the 
"ision,  for  it  shall  be  for  many  days :"  which  agrees  far  better  with  our 
times  than  those  of  Antiochus,  Paul,  or  Luther.  Observe  again  these 
words  of  an  angel  to  Daniel,  (chap,  x :)  "I  am  come  to  make  thee 
understand  what  shall  befall  thy  people  in  the  latter  days,  for  the  vision 
is  for  many  days;"  where  it  is  plain  that  "latter  days"  here,  and  "end" 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES.  243 

in  the  eighth  chapter,  signify  but  one  and  the  same  thing.  The  angel, 
according  to  his  promise,  tells  the  prophet,  in  the  eleventh  chapter,  many 
particulars  of  those  things  that  shall  soon  come  upon  us,  and  of  that  time 
of  trouble,  which  will  be  matchless  and  unheard  of  before  :  "  Then, 
(adds  the  angel,)  thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be 
found  written  in  the  book :"  and  who  is  the  man,  so  little  conversant 
with  history,  as  to  say  that  here  is  meant  the  persecution  of  Antiochus, 
which,  though  fierce  for  awhile,  by  no  means  answers  the  angel's  words ; 
or  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus ;  for,  though  the  troubles  of  the 
Jews  were  beyond  expression,  yet  the  Spirit  of  God  had  a  far  more  dis- 
tant prospect,  as  can  be  proved  by  the  assurance  the  angel  gives  Daniel, 
that  at  "  that  time  his  people  should  be  delivered ;"  which  neither  was 
then,  nor  has  been  hitherto  :  the  Jews  sighing  still  in  a  shameful  banish- 
ment, and  expecting  yet  that  promised  deliverance.  An  argument  as 
strong  as  the  foregoing,  may  be  drawn  from  the  first  resurrection,  which 
is  to  take  place  soon  after  that  deliverance,  "  when  many  of  them  that 
sleep  shall  awake ;"  whereas,  at  the  second  and  last  resurrection,  not 
only  many,  but  all  the  souls  of  dead  men  shall  re-enter  their  bodies : 
but  more  concerning  this  afterward. 

7.  As  what  I  have  been  writing  on  the  number  of  2300  forms  a  com- 
plete proof,  I  shall  not  trouble  you,  sir,  with  longer  digressions  upon  the 
various  prophetic  numbers  that  occur  in  the  Bible  concerning  the  things 
we  expect  to  see  in  a  short  time  :  let  me  only  beg  of  you  to  observe  the 
harmony  of  the  following  ones  : — 

Rev.  x,  6  :  "  And  the  angel  swore  by  him  who  liveth  for  ever  and 
ever,  that  when  the  seven  thunders  should  have  uttered  their  voices 
^povos  ax  s£ai,  there  will  not  be  a  time  more ;"  which  word  time,  in  St. 
John  and  Daniel,  signifies  a  year,  and  a  prophetic  year,  viz.  360  years. 
If  it  be  true  that  the  seven  voices  here  mentioned,  signify  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  seven  Protestant  countries,  it  will  follow,  that  from  the 
reformation  there  will  not  be  a  whole  time,  or  360  years,  "  till  the  mys- 
tery of  God  be  accomplished,  which  he  told  for  our  comfort,  to  his  ser- 
vants the  prophets." 

Chap,  xi,  2  :  "Do  not  measure  the  porch,  for  it  is  given  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  they  shall  tread  under  foot  the  holy  city  forty-two  months. 
Ver.  3  :  My  two  witnesses  shall  preach  1260  days.  Chap,  xiii,  5 : 
Power  was  given  to  the  beast  to  fulfil  forty -two  months." 

The  woman,  or  true  Church,  fleeing  from  the  serpent,  retires  to  a 
place  where  she  is  fed  for  a  time,  times,  and  part  of  a  time ;  which 
number  plainly  signifies  three  prophetic  years  and  a  half,  and  falls  in,  in 
a  wonderful  manner,  with  the  forty -two  months  that  are  allowed  the 
beast,  or  pope ;  and  the  forty-two  months,  during  which  two  or  a  few 
witnesses  will,  in  spite  of  opposition,  maintain  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus, 
against  antichrist  and  their  false  brethren. 

N.  B.  1260  days  is  equal  to  42  months,  or  three  years  and  a  half, 
Dan.  xii,  11.  From  the  time  that  the  daily  sacrifice  should  be  taken 
away,  and  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be 
1290  prophetic  days.  It  is  easy  to  observe  that  there  is  some  years' 
difference  between  the  numbers  of  Daniel,  and  those  of  St.  John ;  the 
reason  is,  that  the  apostle  had  the  beginning  of  the  war  against  anti- 
christ in  view  ;  whereas  the  prophet  looked  farther,  viz.  to  some  remark- 


244  LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES. 

able  battle  th  it  he  shall  lose,  and  in  which  he  shall  be  utterly  destroyed. 
As  for  his  second  number,  it  seems  to  refer  to  that  happy  year  when 
tiie  remotest  nations  of  the  earth  shall  have  embraced  the  Christian 
faith. 

You  may  probably  have  observed,  sir,  that  the  various  numbers  which 
come  to  the  same,  or  very  near,  must  be  reckoned  from  the  time  the 
bishop  of  Rome  showed  himself  plainly  to  be  the  head  antichrist,  "  and 
set  himself  up  as  a  god,  in  the  temple  of  God  ;"  which  was  not  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner  till  the  end  of  the  fifth  century.  Add  then  500 
years  to  1260,  and  you  will  see  that  in  a  few  years  these  plain  prophe- 
cies concerning  the  preaching  of  the  two  witnesses,  the  flight  of  the 
woman  into  the  desert,  and  the  duration  of  antichrist's  reign,  will  soon 
be  accomplished. 

It  is  worth  observation,  that  as  the  tyranny  of  antichrist  will  last  1260 
years,  so  his  last  raging,  or  that  tribulation  which  will  be  so  uncommon, 
shall  last  also  1260  common  days,  and  not  prophetic  ones,  because  for  the 
elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened,  according  to  our  Lord's  merciful 
promise.  This  observation  will  cast  a  great  light  upon  all  those  num. 
bers,  and  prevent  many  objections. 

Having  thus  laid  the  prophetic  numbers  as  the  foundation  of  the 
edifice,  I  shall  now  give  a  short  sketch  of  the  above-mentioned  gentle- 
man's superstructure. 

Seducers  will  come,  saying,  "  Here  is  Christ,  or  there,  and  they  shall 
seduce  many  ;  we  shall  hear  of  wars,  and  rumours  of  wars ;  kingdom 
shall  rise  against  kingdom ;  there  will  be  plagues  and  famines,  troubles 
and  earthquakes,  but  this  is  but  the  beginning  of  woes  :"  for  the  man  of 
sin  (recovered  of  the  wound  he  received  by  the  reformation)  shall  gather 
in  incredible  strength  ;  and  Satan,  knowing  that  he  has  but  a  short  time, 
will  rage  beyond  all  expression  :  God,  whose  wrath  is  justly  stirred  up 
by  the  iniquities  and  unbelief,  nay,  open  profaneness  of  the  Protestants, 
will  give  them  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  as  he  formerly  delivered 
his  ungrateful  people  into  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians  :  for  his  judgments 
always  begin  at  his  house.  Then  will  come  those  dreadful  troubles 
described  in  a  hundred  places  of  the  sacred  writings.  "  As  the  love  of 
many  will  be  cold,"  and  there  will  be  comparatively  no  faith  upon  the 
earth,  the  apostasy  foretold  by  all  the  prophets  will  soon  take  place  ; 
begin,  in  all  probability,  by  the  Lutherans  in  Germany,  and  follow  in  all 
the  Protestant  countries.  Here  cruelties  unheard  of  since  the  beginning 
of  the  world  will  be  the  refining  fire  of  our  decayed  faith  ;  part  of  the 
reformed  Christians  will  be  destroyed  by  the  sword,  or  by  famine ;  part 
will  be  carried  away  into  captivity  ;  part  will  remain  to  serve  their  cruel 
conquerors,  who  (notwithstanding  their  falling  away  from  the  pure 
outward  worship)  will  treat  them  in  a  most  terrible  manner. 

As  for  Christ's  faithful  witnesses,  having  withstood  this  grand  apostasy 
with  all  their  might,  and  confirmed  their  weak  brethren,  by  whom  they 
will  often  be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  they  shall,  for  the 
greatest  part,  seal  their  faith  with  their  blood,  get  the  palm  of  martyrdom, 
and  water  the  earth  with  rivers  of  blood,  that  the  Lord  may  the  sooner 
cover  it  with  his  promised  harvest. 

Those  that  shall  escape,  being  hidden  and  saved  in  a  wonderful  man- 
ner, will  be   the  seed  of  that  harvest,  and  will  remain  concealed,  (see 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES.  245 

Rev.  xi,  on  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  two  witnesses,)  when  God, 
giving  them  an  extraordinary  measure  of  his  Spirit,  with  an  undaunted 
boldness,  shall  call  on  them  to  "  lift  up  their  voices  like  trumpets,"  to 
proclaim  pardon  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  to  rouse  deluded  nations,  and 
bid  them  come  out  of  Babylon,  that  they  may  not  partake  of  her  plagues, 
and  be  consumed  at  the  appearing  of  the  Lord.  Then  shall  the  tenth 
part  of  the  city  fall ;  or  a  great  kingdom,  leaving  the  party  of  the  man 
of  sin,  will  turn  to  God,  and  give  the  signal  of  a  universal  reformation  : 
others  shall  join  it  in  time,  and  all  together  will  get  the  better  of  God's 
adversaries,  in  spite  of  their  desperate  resistance. 

Rome  shall  be  destroyed,  and  antichristianism  will  share  the  same 
fate.  The  greatest  wonders  and  signs  shall  attend  these  revolutions, 
insomuch  that  Turks  and  Jews,  heathens  and  savages,  will  know  the 
hand  of  the  Lord,  bow  their  stubborn  hearts  to  his  grace,  and  ;'  give 
glory  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  for  ever 
and  ever." 

Give  me  leave  here,  Rev.  sir,  to  propose  to  you  a  thing  that  many 
will  look  on  as  a  great  paradox,  but  has  yet  sufficient  ground  in  Scrip- 
ture to  raise  the  expectation  of  every  Christian,  who  sincerely  looks  for 
the  coming  of  our  Lord  :  I  mean  the  great  probability  that  in  the  midst 
of  this  grand  revolution,  our  Lord  Jesus  will  suddenly  come  down  from 
heaven,  and  go  himself,  conquering  and  to  conquer.  For,  what  but  the 
greatest  prejudice  could  induce  Christians  to  think  that  the  coming  of 
our  Lord,  spoken  of  in  so  plain  terms  by  three  evangelists,  is  his  last 
coming  before  the  universal  judgment,  and  the  end  of  the  world  ;  since 
there  is  hardly  any  thing  in  those  chapters  that  could  have  given  occa- 
sion to  such  a  thought  ? 

1.  Jesus  himself  says,  that  immediately  (svSsus)  after  the  tribulation, 
which  has  been  proved  to  be  very  near,  the  powers  of  heaven  will  be 
shaken,  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall  mourn,  and  they  shall  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  with  power  and  great 
glory.  And  to  the  end  of  the  chapter  our  Lord  does  not  say  a  word  of 
the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  universal  judgment,  of  which  he  does  not 
speak  till  the  end  of  the  following  chapter,  so  far  from  confounding  his 
third  coming  with  his  second. 

2.  I  read  the  very  same  account  in  the  thirteenth  of  St.  Mark,  when 
Jesus  having  spoken  of  the  general  apostasy,  and  "  the  abominable  deso- 
lation spoken  of  by  Daniel,"  (which  of  course  cannot  be  that  of  the 
Jews,  at  the  taking  of  Jerusalem,)  he  adds,  "Let  him  that  readeth 
understand.  In  those  days  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  &c,  and  then 
shall  they  see  the  Son  of  man,"  &c.  Who  does  not  perceive  that  Christ 
will  come  to  give  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  great  work  begun  by  the 
might  of  his  Spirit,  to  establish  his  kingdom  upon  earth,  and  to  bring 
those  happy  days,  "  when  ten  people  shall  lay  hold  on  an  Israelite,  say- 
ing, Lead  us  to  the  temple  of  the  Lord  :"  when  the  kid  shall  feed  with 
the  lion,  and  a  child  lead  them  ;  when  he  that  dieth  young  "  shall  die  a 
hundred  years  old  ;"  and  when  "  righteousness  shall  cover  the  earth  as 
the  waters  fill  the  sea."  I  cannot  conceive  how  so  many  divines  have 
such  an  idea  of  God's  wisdom,  as  to  think  (contrary  to  the  plain  text  of 
his  word)  that  so  happy  a  time  will  last  but  a  few  days  ;  and  that  this 
ArfoxaXv-^ig  ruv  itavluiv  will  no  sooner  take  place,  but  the  earth  will  be 


246  LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES. 

destroyed  by  fire ;  such  must  be,  however,  the  inconsistent  opinion  of 
those  who  confound  our  Lord's  second  with  his  third  coming. 

3.  After  our  Lord's  ascension,  the  angels  promise  the  apostles,  who 
then  represented  all  true  believers,  that  they  should  see  Jesus  Christ 
coming  from  heaven,  but  said  not  a  word  of  the  end  of  the  world. 

4.  The  second  coming  of  our  Lord  was  so  frequently  talked  of  in  the 
apostles'  days,  that  many  expected  it  daily,  so  that  St.  Paul,  who  knew 
it  was  yet  afar  off,  thought  it  necessary  to  refute  the  strong  expression 
of  the  Thessalonians  concerning  the  nearness  of  Christ's  appearing : 
"  That  day  will  not  come,"  says  he,  "  before  the  apostasy,  and  the  reve- 
lation of  the  man  of  sin,  the  son  of  perdition  ;"  which  is  the  same  as  if 
he  had  said,  You  shall  know  that  the  Lord  will  shortly  come,  when  you 
shall  see  the  universal  apostasy  that  I  foretel  you.  Nay,  the  apostle 
goes  a  great  deal  farther ;  for  in  the  same  chapter  he  assures  us,  that 
the  Lord  "  will  destroy  the  man  of  sin  by  the  brightness  of  his  presence." 
Can  any  thing  be  plainer  ? 

5.  Our  Lord  told  his  apostles,  at  the  last  supper,  that  he  should  not 
drink  any  more  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  till  he  should  drink  it  new  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven ;  which  kingdom  will  be  set  up  on  earth  thousands 
of  years  before  the  end  of  the  world. 

Having  thus  established  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord,  give  me 
leave,  sir,  to  remove  a  specious  objection  : — 

Those  who  dislike  an  opinion  because  it  is  not  generally  received,  will 
object,  that  all  that  is  said  in  Matthew  xxiv,  Mark  xiii,  &c,  of  our  Lord's 
second  coming,  is  certainly  spoken  of  his  last  coming,  immediately  before 
the  judgment,  because  Jesus  says,  that  the  angels  shall  gather  bis  elect 
from  the  four  winds,  which  seems  to  imply  the  resurrection  and  the  judg- 
ment following  it.  But  so  far  from  granting  it,  this  is  the  very  thing 
that  shows  our  Lord  did  not  speak  of  the  end  of  the  world  and  the  judg- 
ment ;  else  why  should  not  the  reprobate  be  gathered  from  the  four 
winds  as  well  as  the  elect  ?  Shall  these  only  be  judged,  while  the  moul- 
dered bodies  of  the  wicked  shall  rest  in  peace  ?     Is  this  Scriptural  ? 

What  then  can  be  the  meaning  of  that  "gathering  of  the  elect?" 
The  question  would  be  too  deep  for  a  short-sighted  man  to  answer,  had 
not  the  Spirit  of  God  revealed  it  to  St.  John,  and  all  the  believers  who 
with  an  humble  mind  search  the  writings  of  the  prophets.  I  will  begin 
at  Revelation  xvii,  to  show,  by  the  by,  how  well  every  thing  I  have 
wrote  concerning  the  man  of  sin,  and  his  destruction,  agrees  with  the 
account  St.  John  gives  us  of  his  visions. 

There  he  gives  such  strong  characteristics  as  at  once  point  out  Rome 
and  the  pope ;  they  agree  extremely  well  with  St.  Paul's  and  Daniel's 
description  :  the  beast  and  the  ten  kings  that  defend  it  "  having  made 
war  with  the  Lamb,  shall  at  last  be  overcome  by  him ;"  whereupon  the 
ten  kings,  Revelation  xvii,  14,  forsaking  the  whore  or  popish  idolatry, 
shall  rebel  in  turning  against  the  pope,  and  with  the  Lord's  unexpected 
assistance  shall  destroy  him,  his  city,  and  all  his  adherents. 

The  eighteenth  chapter  is  a  sublime  description  of  the  vast  alteration 
which  this  fall  of  Babylon  will  cause  in  the  world ;  pride  and  luxury 
falling  with  the  same  blow. 

The  nineteenth  chapter  contains  a  magnificent  account  of  the  sudden 
manner  in  which  God's  kingdom  shall  take  place  :  Christ  comes  down, 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES.  247 

(this  is  again  his  second  appearing,  not  distinguished  enough  from  the 
third  by  our  divines  ;)  Christ  comes  down  to  be  avenged  of  his  enemies, 
who  are  all  destroyed  in  a  last  and  decisive  battle,  whereupon  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord. 

The  twentieth  chapter  displays  to  our  expectation  the  most  glorious 
scene  that  can  be  on  earth.  "  Satan  is  bound  for  a  thousand  years,"  and 
if  they  are  prophetic  ones,  for  360,000.*  "  Thrones  are  set  up,  and 
judgment  is  given  to  those  that  sit  on  them  ;  [which  probably  refers  to 
what  our  Saviour  promised  his  apostles,  that  at  his  coming  they  should 
sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  and  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,]  and  I  saw 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  for 
the  word  of  God,  as  well  as  the  souls  of  those  that  had  not  worshipped 
the  beast  nor  its  image,"  &c.  And  having  been  gathered  from  the  four 
winds,  Matthew  xxiv,.  "  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand 
years ;  but  the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years 
were  finished  :  this  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that 
has  part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no 
power,  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  Christ,  and  shall  reign  with 
him  a  thousand  years." 

This  takes  away  all  the  difficulty  arising  from  that  gathering  of  the 
elect  so  long  before  the  day  of  judgment,  and  it  confirms  the  ideas  you 
give  us  in  your  hymns  of  God's  wrath  and  mercy, — 

"  His  wrath  doth  slowly  move, — his  mercy  flows  apace." 
Nor  can  I  conceive  that  Jesus  would  accept  of  a  kingdom  without  his 
members,  without  the  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

The  world,  however,  shall  not  last  always  in  this  happy  state :  Ezekiel 
and  St.  John  are  very  express  on  this  article.  Satan  shall  be  loosed  at 
last  out  of  his  prison,  and  seduce  two  powerful  nations,  Gog  and  Magog; 
but  this  second  almost  universal  rebellion  will  be  quenched  as  prosper- 
ously as  that  of  antichrist.  How  long  the  world  shall  last  after  this  no 
one  knows,  not  even  the  angels  of  God ;  but  it  is  certain,  that  all  those 
things  must  come  to  pass  before  the  conflagration  of  this  globe,  spoken 
of  by  St.  Peter,  as  well  as  before  the  resurrection  and  judgment :  see 
the  end  of  chapter  twenty.  We  have  in  the  twenty-first  chapter  an 
account  of  the  palingeny  [regeneration]  of  the  earth  after  its  purification 
by  fire,  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  of  the  ravishing  happiness  of  those 
who  shall  have  persevered  unto  the  end. 

This  is,  sir,  a  short  account  of  the  gentleman's  system,  which,  far  from 
fearing  a  severe  examination,  does  never  appear  in  a  better  and  clearer 
light  than  when  it  is  compared  with  the  writings  of  all  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  with  the  prophetic  psalms,  and,  in  a  word,  with  the  whole  Bible. 

Give  me  leave  to  conclude  with  some  reflections  that  naturally  flow 
from  what  has  been  said  on  that  system. 

1.  Many  people,  I  know,  look  on  meditations  on  the  prophecies,  so 
expressly  enjoined  by  St.  Peter,  as  one  of  the  greatest  instances  of  pre- 

*  I  should  rather  be  of  this  opinion,  for  a  day  is  before  the  Lord  as  1000  years, 
and  1000  years  as  a  day.  How  would  at  last  vanish  the  pitiful  objections  of  unbe- 
lievers concerning  God's  choosing  to  create  a  world,  where  the  good  were  to  bear 
no  proportion  to  the  wicked  !  What  a  fine  instance  should  we  have  of  God's 
mercy,  and  of  the  efficacy  of  our  Saviour's  blood !  How  gloriously  would  these 
words  be  explained,  "I  punish  to  the  third  or  fourth  generation,  but  show  mercy 
unto  thousands  (of  generations)  of  them  that  love  me  1" 


~*S  LETTER  on  the  prophecies. 

sumption  and  enthusiasm  ;  because  they  believe  there  is  no  sure  ground 
to  build  upon,  and  that  it  is  a  land  of  darkness,  in  which  the  most  enlight- 
ened Christians  will  never  fail  to  stumble  and  fall  shamefully.  But  is  it 
probable  that  God,  who  foretold  to  a  year,  and  very  clearly,  (he  deliver- 
ance of  the  tsraelites  from  their  Egyptian  bondage,  the  return  of  the 
Jews  from  their  captivity  in  Babylon,  and  the  building  of  the  second 
temple,  and  the  birth  and  death  of  the  Messiah  ; — is  it  probable,  I  say, 
that  he  should  have  been  silent,  or  not  have  spoken  as  clearly  concern- 
ing his  coming«to  destroy  the  destoyers,  and  to  set  up  that  kingdom  which 
we  pray  for,  when  we  daily  say,  according  to  our  Lord's  appointment, 
"  Thy  kingdom  come  ?"  If  God  has  exactly  foretold,  for  the  comfort  of 
believers,  the  various  revolutions  that  have  happened  to  his  Church  in 
past  ages  ;  is  it  possible  that  he  should  have  left  himself  without  a  witness 
concerning  the  most  important  of  all,  I  mean  the  last  ?  If  he  showed 
the  prophets  the  first  acts  of  his  drama,  is  it  not  highly  probable  he  has 
not  forgot  the  last,  without  which  his  wisdom,  justice,  and  mercy,  would 
always  remain  hid  under  a  thick  cloud  ? 

2.  Let  none  say  that  Jesus  himself,  as  man,  knew  not  the  end  of 
the  world ;  and  that  Moses  says,  "  Hidden  things  are  for  the  Lord,  but 
revealed  ones  for  us  and  for  our  children."  I  acknowledge  that  the  end 
of  the  world  and  the  time  of  the  purification  of  this  globe  by  dissolution 
and  fire,  is  a  secret  too  deeply  hid  in  the  glass  of  God's  decrees  for  any 
man  to  fathom,  before  God  himself  is  pleased  to  reveal  it.  But  nobody 
talks  here  of  the  end  of  the  world  ;  nobody  fixes  either  the  hour  or  day, 
nor  even  the  year  of  Christ's  second  appearing ;  since  he  did  not  think 
fit  to  reveal  it  to  us,  we  ought  to  stand  in  continual  readiness  for  it. 
For,  supposing  this  system  to  be  true  in  all  points,  supposing  the  tribula- 
tion is  to  begin  next  year,  it  will  still  be  impossible  to  determine  whether 
Jesus  will  come  down  in  ten  or  fifty  years  :  so  that  our  Lord's  words  are 
true,  in  all  their  extent,  even  now,  for  that  day  and  hour,  and  even  that 
year,  knoweth  no  man.  Yet  we  expect  to  see  the  full  cleansing  of  his 
sanctuary,  by  the  fire  of  persecution  ;  the  destroying  of  antichrist  and 
unbelief,  his  great  enemies  ;  the  subduing  of  all  nations  to  his  easy  yoke  ; 
the  calling  of  the  Jews  ;  the  fulfilling  of  God's  gracious  promises  to  that 
long-scattered  seed  of  Abraham  ;  and  the  bringing  of  those  times  when 
the  fear  of  the  Lord  shall  cover  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  the  waters  do 
that  of  the  sea.  Where  is  the  child  of  God  that  dares  to  say,  that  all 
these  things  must  not  come  to  pass  before  the  end  of  the  world  ;  and  if 
so,  when  should  they  happen  but  in  the  time  he  has  been  pleased  to  fix  in 
his  Holy  Bible  ?  Where  is  that  man  that  makes  God  a  liar,  because  he  is 
an  unbeliever?  Shall  the  Lord  say,  and  shall  he  not  do?  Shall  he  pro- 
mise, and  shall  he  not  perform?  If  he  has  borne  with  the  wickedness 
of  the  world  so  long,  not  being  willing  that  any  man  should  perish  ;  shall 
he  delay,  to  all  eternity,  to  fulfil  his  threatenings  ?  God  forbid  !  the  day 
is  fixed,  it  is  foretold  ;  and  though  the  vision  was  to  be  after  many  days, 
as  the  angel  said  to  Daniel,  yet  it  may  be  fulfilled  in  a  few  days  for  us, 
who  live  in  the  last  times. 

3.  It  is  lawful,  yea,  needful,  that  we  and  our  children  should  often 
think  of  these  things  ;  for  hidden  things  are  for  the  Lord,  but  these  are 
revealed  for  us  and  our  children  :  they  are  revealed  in  all  the  prophets 
from  Moses  to  John,  and  more  especially  in  the  Revelation  of  this  beloved 


LETTER  ON  THE  PROPHECIES.  249 

apostle.  Let  but  these  objectors  ponder  the  word  Airoxoikv-^is,  and  they 
will  be  ashamed  to  say  that  we  must  not  look  into  those  things  because 
they  were  never  revealed  unto  us. 

4.  If  Jesus  told  his  disciples  that  it  was  not  theirs  to  know  the  times 
when  those  things  should  be  accomplished,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  must 
be  hid  from  us  who  are  far  more  nearly  concerned  in  them  than  they 
were ;  beside,  how  should  they  have  understood  and  borne  those  things 
before  they  had  received  the  Comforter,  since  they  thought  them  bitter, 
after  they  had  obtained  the  Divine  gift,  when  they  had  some  knowledge  of 
them  ?  Add  to  this,  that  Daniel's  vision  was  to  be  closed  till  the  end,  and 
could  not  be  perfectly  known  till  very  near  the  time  of  the  fulfilling  of  it. 

5.  It  is  remarkable  that  more  books  have  been  written  upon  the  pro- 
phecies these  last  hundred  years,  than  were  ever  known  before  ;  and  all 
(those  at  least  which  I  have  read)  agree  that  these  things  will,  in  all 
probability,  soon  come  upon  the  earth.  I  know  many  have  been  grossly 
mistaken  as  to  the  year,  but  because  they  were  rash,  shall  we  be  stupid  ? 
Because  they  said,  "  To-day,"  shall  we  say,  "  Never ;"  and  cry,  "  Peace, 
peace,"  when  we  should  look  about  us  with  eyes  full  of  expectation  ? 

I  know  that  a  good  part  of  a  hundred  thousand  Protestants,  scattered 
in  France,  expect  some  great  revolution,  that  will  turn  at  last  for  their 
good,  and  reunite  them  to  the  children  of  above  two  hundred  thousand 
of  their  brethren,  that  were  either  expelled  the  kingdom,  or  forced  to 
leave  it,  because  they  would  not  take  the  mark  of  the  beast  in  their 
hands,  or  on  their  foreheads. 

Let  us  not  judge  rashly,  nor  utter  vain  predictions  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  ;  but  yet  let  us  look  about  us  with  watchful  eyes,  lest  the  enemy 
take  an  advantage  of  us,  and  we  lose  the  opportunity  of  rousing  people 
out  of  their  sleep,  of  confirming  the  weak  brethren,  and  building  up  in 
our  most  holy  faith  those  who  know  in  whom  they  have  believed.  If 
we  are  mistaken  in  forming  conjectures ;  if  the  phenomena  we  hear  of 
every  where  are  but  common  providences ;  if  these  things  happen  not 
to  us,  but  to  our  children,  (as  they  most  certainly  will,  before  the  third 
generation  is  swept  away;)  is  it  not  our  business  to  prepare  ourselves 
for  them,  to  meditate  on  them,  and  to  warn  as  many  people  as  we  can 
prudently,  lest  their  blood  should  be  required  at  our  hands,  were  they  to 
fall  because  of  a  surprise  ?  Let  us  pray  to  God  more  frequently,  that 
for  the  elect's  sake,  he  would  still  more  shorten  the  days  of  the  tribula- 
tion, and  add  daily  to  the  true  Church  such  as  will  be  saved.  But  let 
us  not  forget  to  rejoice  with  Abraham,  in  seeing,  by  faith,  the  glorious 
day  of  our  Lord,  and  to  hasten,  by  our  fervent  prayers,  that  glorious 
kingdom,  those  happy  days,  when  narrow  shall  be  the  way  of  destruc- 
tion, when  saints,  raised  from  the  dead,  shall  converse  with  living  saints, 
and  the  world  of  spirits  be  manifested,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  mate- 
rial  world  :  in  a  word,  when  Jesus  will  be  all  in  all. 

What  a  glorious  prospect  is  this!  Let  us  then  often  think  of  these 
words  of  our  Lord,  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  blessed  is  he  that  mindeth 
the  sayings  of  this  prophecy."  Let  us  join  the  Spirit  and  the  bride,  who 
say,  "  Come  :"  O  let  him  that  heareth  say,  "  Come,"  and  let  him  that 
is  athirst  come  ;  "  for  he  that  testifieth  these  things  says,  Surely  I  come 
quickly,  Amen  :  even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus."  J.  F. 

London,  November  29,  1775. 


FRAGMENTS. 


ON  SERIOUSNESS. 


Nothing  is  so  contrary  to  godliness  as  levity.  Seriousness  consists 
in  the  matter  of  what  is  spoken,  in  the  manner  of  speaking,  in  dignity 
of  behaviour,  and  in  weighty,  not  trifling  actions.  Some  people  are 
serious  by  nature,  some  by  policy  and  for  selfish  ends,  and  some  by  grace 
and  from  a  sense  of  duty. 

Jesting  and  raillery,  lightness  of  behaviour,  useless  occupations,  joy, 
without  trembling  and  awe  of  God,  an  affectation  of  vivacity  and  spright- 
liness,  are  all  contrary  to  the  Spirit  of  God.  "  A  fool  laughs  loud,"  saith 
Solomon  ;  but  a  wise  man  scarce  smiles  a  little. 

Levity  is  contrary  to  contrition  and  self  knowledge — to  watching  and 
prayer — frequently  to  charity — and  to  common  sense,  when  death  is  at 
our  heels. 

Levity  is  also  destructive  of  all  devotion — in  our  own  hearts — and  in 
those  of  others,  by  unfitting  the  company  for  receiving  good,  and  bringing 
a  suspicion  of  hypocrisy  upon  all. 

Seriousness  is  useful  to  prevent  the  foregoing  miscarriages,  to  keep 
grace,  to  recommend  piety,  and  a  sense  of  God's  presence,  to  leave  room 
for  the  Spirit  to  work,  and  to  check  levity  and  sin  in  others. 

And  have  we  not  motives  sufficient  to  seriousness  ?  Are  we  not 
priests  and  kings  to  God — temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Are  we  not 
walking  in  the  presence  of  God — on  the  verge  of  the  grave — and  in  sight 
of  eternity  ? 

All  who  walk  with  God  are  serious,  taking  their  Lord  for  their  example, 
and  walking  by  Scripture  precepts  and  warnings. 

"  But  are  we  to  renounce  innocent  mirth  ?"  Our  souls  are  diseased. 
"  Are  we  to  be  dull  and  melancholy  ?"  Seriousness  and  solid  happiness 
are  inseparable.  "  Is  there  not  a  time  for  all  things?"  There  is  no  time 
for  sin  and  folly. 


ON  PLEASURE. 

Dying,  to  pleasure,  even  the  most  innocent,  we  shall  live  to  God. 
Of  pleasures  there  are  four  sorts.  Sensual  pleasures — of  the  eye,  ear, 
taste,  smell,  ease,  indulgence,  &c.  Pleasures  of  the  heart — attachments, 
entanglements,  creature  love,  unmortified  friendships.  Pleasures  of  the 
mind — curious  books,  deep  researches,  speculations,  hankerings  aftei 
news,  wit,  fine  language.  The  pleasures  of  the  imagination — schemes 
fancies,  suppositions. 

God  requires  that  we  should  deny  ourselves  in  all  these  respects,  be- 
cause, 1.  God  will  have  the  heart,  which  he  cannot  have  if  pleasure 
hath  it :  and  God  is  a  jealous  God.  2.  There  is  no  solid  union  with 
God  until,  in  a  Christian  sense,  we  are  dead  to  creature  comforts.  Plea- 
sure is  the  Gordian  knot.     3.  God  is  purity — hankering  after  pleasure 


FRAGMENTS.  251 

is  the  cause  of  almost  all  our  sins — the  bait  of  temptation.  4.  God  calls 
us  to  show  our  faith  and  love  by  a  spirit  of  sacrifice.  Pleasure  is  Isaac. 
5.  Denying  ourselves,  hating  our  life,  dying  daily,  crucifying  the  flesh, 
putting  off  the  old  man,  are  Gospel  precepts:  so  is  cutting  off  the  right 
hand,  plucking  out  the  right  eye,  and  forsaking  all  to  follow  Christ. 
0.  God  makes  no  exceptions.  All  the  offending  members  must  be  cut 
off,  every  leak  must  be  stopt;  otherwise  the  corrupting  pleasure  spared 
gets  more  ascendency.  7.  Pleasures  render  the  soul  incapable  of  the 
operations  of  the  Spirit,  and  obstruct  Divine  consolations.- 

Now  nature  is  all  for  pleasure,  and  lives  upon  sensuality.  The  senses, 
heart,  mind,  and  imagination,  pursue  always  objects  that  may  gratify 
them.  We  love  pleasure  so  as  to  deprive  ourselves  of  every  thing  to 
enjoy  it  in  some  kind  or  other ;  and  we  undergo  hardships  to  procure  it. 
Nature  frets  horribly  if  disappointed  in  this  favourite  pursuit ;  and  yet, 
if  nature  be  pampered,  grace  must  be  starved. 

Earthly  pleasures  are  of  a  corrupting  nature ;  for  example,  that  of 
taste,  if  indulged,  spreads  through,  corrupts,  and  dissipates  all  the  powers 
of  the  soul  and  body.  It  is  so  much  the  more  dangerous,  as  it  hides 
itself  under  a  mask  of  necessity,  or  colour  of  lawfulness  ;  and  does  all 
the  mischief  of  a  concealed  traitor.  It  betrays  with  -a  kiss,  poisons  with 
honey,  wounds  in  its  smiles,  and  kills  while  it  promises  happiness. 

Indulgence  enervates  and  renders  us  incapable  of  suffering  any  thing 
from  God,  men,  devils,  or  self;  and  stands  continually  in  the  way  of  our 
doing,  as  well  as  suffering  the  will  of  God.  It  is  much  easier,  therefore, 
to  flee  from  pleasure  than  to  remain  within  due  bounds  in  its  enjoyments. 
The  greatest  saints  find  nothing  is  so  difficult,  nothing  makes  them 
tremble  so,  as  the  use  of  pleasure ;  for  it  requires  the  strictest  watchful- 
ness and  the  most  vigorous  attention.  He  must  walk  steadily  who  can 
walk  safely,  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  dying  to  pleasure  will  appear  from  the  fol- 
lowing considerations.  The  earthly  senses  must  be  spiritualized ;  the 
sensual  heart  purified  ;  the  wandering  mind  fixed  ;  the  foolish  imagina- 
tion made  sober. 

Worldly  pleasures  are  all  little,  low,  and  transitory,  and  a  hinderance 
to  our  chief  good.  Much  moderation,  however,  is  to  be  used  in  the 
choice  and  degree  of  our  mortifications.  Through  pride,  nature  often 
prompts  us  to  great  extremes,  which  hurt  the  body,  and  sometimes  lead 
the  mind  into  soirness  and  obstinacy.  But  to  know,  and  walk  in  the 
right  path  of  self  denial,  we  have  need  of  much  recollection. 


ON  HYPOCRISY. 

Many  pretend  to  a  share  of  the  holy  child,  but  we  want  all  the  wis- 
dom  of  the  true  Solomon  to  know  the  mother  from  the  harlot.  A  hypo- 
crite hides  wickedness  under  a  cloak  of  goodness, — clouds  without  rain, 
wells  without  water,  trees  without  fruit,  the  ape  of  piety,  the  mask  of  sin, 
glorious  without,  carrion  within.  They  do  not  put  off,  but  throw  a  cloak 
over  it. 

Satan  an  arch  hypocrite. — Having  apostatized  from  God  himself,  he 
endeavours  to  vent  his  malice  and  envy  on  God's  favourite,  man.  He 
disguised  himself  as  a  serpent,  showed  much  love  and  friendship,  and  by 


252  FRAGMENTS. 

that  appearance  deceived  Eve.  Though  God  has  prepared  an  antidote, 
yet  he  goes  about  murdering  the  children  of  men  with  increasing  craft, 
(for  he  is  now  the  old  serpent,)  he  is  still  opposing  Christ,  picking  up 
the  seed  of  the  word,  hindering  the  sowers,  sowing  tares.  He  is  the 
strong  man,  armed  with  the  force  of  an  angel,  the  subtilty  of  a  fallen 
angel,  able  to  insinuate  himself  into  souls,  as  into  serpents.  His  baits 
are  pleasure  for  the  sensual,  wealth  for  the  muckworm,  honour  for  the 
ambitious,  and  science  for  the  curious :  in  each  he  transforms  himself 
as  an  angel  of  light,  gilding  all  with  heavenly  appearances  ;  but  his  light 
is  darkness,  and  how  great  is  that  darkness  ! 

He  works  admirably  on  predispositions.  1.  On  ignorance  of  evil,  or 
forgetfulness  of  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  He  finds  us  blind,  or  blinds  our 
eyes  to  make  us  turn  the  better  in  his  mill.  2.  On  security.  He  puts 
far  from  us  the  thoughts  of  death  :  "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die."  3.  On 
idleness.  When  David  was  idle  at  home,  and  Joab  in  the  field,  Satan 
took  that  opportunity  to  draw  him  into  the  snare  of  lust.  4.  On  un- 
reasonable scruples  of  conscience, — discouragement, — extremes.  If  he 
cannot  put  out  the  fire  of  zeal,  he  will  make  it  break  out  at  the  chimney, 
and  drive  fasting  into  starving.  5.  He  suits  his  temptations  to  the  sub- 
jects, drives  the  nail  that  will  go,  and  causes  the  stream  of  natural  pro- 
pensities to  flow.  He  tempts  not,  in  general,  the  old  to  pleasure,  nor 
the  young  to  covetousness ;  nor  the  sick  to  drunkenness,  but  to  im- 
patience. 

The  moral  hypocrite. — Many  mistake  nature  for  grace,  and  so  rest 
short  of  a  true  change.  Strong  sense,  keen  wit,  lively  parts,  and  a 
good  natural  temper,  puff"  up  many.  The  tempering  makes  a  vast  dif- 
ference in  many  blades,  all  made  of  the  same  metal,  some  of  which  will 
bend  before  they  break,  others  break  before  they  bend.  Good  nature 
without  grace,  maketh  a  fairer  show  than  grace  with  an  evil  nature.  A 
cur  outruns  a  greyhound  with  a  clog. 

The  hypocrite  derives  his  honour  from  his  birth  ;  the  child  of  God 
from  his  new  lv-th.  The  hypocrite  hath  his  perfections  from  the  body, 
from  his  connexion  and  constitution,  which  are  not  praiseworthy  ;  but 
the  Christian  hath  them  from  his  better  part,  the  soul.  A  warm  temper 
hath  often  the  appearance  of  zeal ;  a  cooler,  of  patience ;  melancholy, 
of  contemplation ;  lively  blood  and  strong  spirits,  of  spiritual  joy. 

The  hypocrite  serves  God  with  what  costs  him  nothing,  only  going 
down  the  stream  ;  but  the  Christian  works  with  st*fe  and  industry, 
wrestleth,  and  keeps  his  body  under. 

The  hypocrite  is  disposed  to  some  virtues,  and  refrains  from  those 
vices  that  are  contrary  to  his  taste  and  humour,  as  an  elephant  abhors 
a  mouse;  but  the  Christian  shuts  every  door  against  sin,  and  is  tho- 
roughly furnished  to  every  good  work. 

The  hypocrite  puts  reason  in  the  place  of  religion  ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  Christian  brings  reason  under  the  command  of  religion  ;  his  under- 
standing bows  to  faith,  and  his  free  will  to  God's  free  grace. 

The  hypocrite  derives  his  virtues  from,himself,  spider  like.  "  Cursed 
be  the  man  that  trusteth  in  man,"  Jer.  xvii,  5.  The  Christian  hath  his 
virtue  from  above  :  the  one  is  like  marshy  ground,  the  other  is  watered 
from  heaven.  Again  :  the  hypocrite  curses  himself,  by  giving  to  reason 
the  command  of  appetite,  not  knowing  that  his  reason  is  crooked ;  but 


FRAGMENTS.  253 

.he  Christian  puts  all  under  the  strict  rule  of  grace : — grace  is  Sarah, 
reason  Agar.     The  one  talks  of  right  reason,  the  other  rectifieth  it. 

The  hypocrite  puts  honesty  in  the  place  of  piety,  but  the  Christian  is 
honest  and  kind  from  a  principle  of  genuine  piety.  There  was  a  dif- 
ference between  Alexander  and  David  pouring  out  water,  the  one  before 
his  soldiers,  the  other  before  the  Lord. 

He  hath  for  virtues  only  shining  vices — virtues  proceeding  from  un- 
sanctified  reason,  and  spoiled  by  the  intention  :  thus  a  covetous,  indolent 
man  avoids  and  hates  law  suits  ;  he  is  sober  and  temperate  through  love 
of  money,  or  of  health  and  reputation  ;  he  is  diligent  and  industrious  to 
compass  profit.  But  the  Christian  hath  the  truth,  if  he  wants  the  per- 
fection of  virtue  ;  the  one  shines  as  rotten  wood,  the  other  as  gold  in 
the  ore. 

The  hypocrite  cries  up  virtue  and  exclaims  against  vice,  rather  by 
speech  than  practice  ;  but  the  king's  daughter  is  glorious  within :  the 
one  speaks,  the  other  lives,  great  things. 

The  hypocrite  keeps  himself  from  gross  sins,  but  harbours  spiritual 
corruptions.  Does  he  subdue  his  passions  ?  They  are  in  the  way  of 
his  glory  and  quiet.  Does  he  do  good  1  It  is  to  be  more  in  love  with 
himself.  The  Christian  cleanseth  himself  from  all  spiritual  vices :  the 
one  is  settled  on  the  lees  of  self  love,  the  other  is  emptied  of  self,  and 
filled  with  Christ. 

The  hypocrite  compares  himself  wish  a  child  of  God,  when  under 
disadvantages ;  as  for  example,  when  he  is  fallen,  or  overtaken  in  an 
infirmity  ;  but  the  whitest  devil  shall  not  s'and  in  the  judgment  with  the 
most  tawny  child  of  God.     The  meteor  may  blaze,  but  the  star  standeth. 

The  hearing  hypocrite. — The  hearing  hypocrite  hears  Christ's  word 
without  benefit ;  he  assembles  with  the  pious,  whom  he  deceives,  as  he 
hopes  to  deceive  Christ,  Luke  xiii.  He  goes  to  meet  Christ,  not  as  the 
bride,  but  only  as  the  bride's  friend.  He  is  the  stony  ground  ;  he  is 
sermon  proof,  repels  conviction,  takes  nothing  to  himself,  or  shakes  it 
off*,  as  sheep  do  the  rain.  He  hath  the  forehead  of  the  whore,  Jer.  iii, 
3,  and  refuses  to  be  ashamed.  Christ  condemns  him  both  as  a  worker 
of  iniquity,  and  a  builder  on  the  sand.  The  Christian  hears  so  that  his 
"  profiting  appears  unto  all  men ;"  he  hears  Christ  himself  through  the 
minister  ;  and  the  word  is  "  able  to  save  his  soul, — is  a  savour  of  life 
unto  life  :"  nor  is  he  "  a  forgetful  hearer,  but  a  doer  of  the  word." 

The  hypocrite  ivill  hear  only  such  ministers  as  suit  his  humour, — Ba- 
laam suits  Balak,  a  lying  prophet  Ahab.  He  will  neglect  or  slight 
others.  The  Christian  hears  God's  voice  through  every  messenger  of 
his  ;  the  plainer  the  message,  the  better  he  receives  the  messenger, — as 
"  an  angel  of  God,  even  as  Christ  Jesus,"  Gal.  iv,  14.  He  judges  not 
of  the  word  by  the  preacher,  but  of  the  preacher  by  the  word.  He, 
like  Jehosaphat,  will  hear  Micaiah  preach,  rather  than  the  four  hundred 
prophets  of  Baal. 

The  hypocrite  hears,  in  hopes  of  hearing  something  new  ;  therefore 
when  he  has  heard  a  few  times,  he  grows  weary,  and  longs  for  a  new 
preacher.  An  unsancfified  heart,  like  a  sick  stomach,  loathes  its  daily 
bread  ;  but  the  Christian  is  never  tired  of  "  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word ;"  he  desires  no  new  wine  ;  he  likes  manna  after  forty  years, — 
"  Evermore  give  us  this  bread." 


254  FRAGMENTS. 

The  hypocrite  hearkens  more  after  eloquence  than  substance.  He 
likes  Apollos,  not  Christ's  messenger ;  he  hears  not  for  life ;  he  sports 
with  the  infirmities  of  Samson, — but  death  is  at  the  door.  The  Chris- 
tian  looks  most  to  the  power  of  the  word  ;  he  comes  not  as  to  a  show, 
but  to  the  bar ;  weighs  the  matter  rather  than  the  manner,  and  regards 
the  message  more  than  the  messenger.  The  one  falls  down  before  man, 
the  other  before  God. 

He  will  not  hear  all ;  comforts,  promises,  and  general  truths  he  loves ; 
the  doctrine  of  the  cross  he  hates.  A  foil,  a  wooden  sword  that  draws 
no  blood,  suits  him.  The  Christian  hears  all  God's  word,  loves  to  be 
smitten,  does  not  say,  "  Hast  thou  found  me,  0  mine  enemy  ?"  But, 
"  Search  me,  and  try  my  heart." 

The  hypocrite  looks  on  the  word  as  a  story,  or  a  landscape  ;  he  loves 
to  hear  of  Christ's  miracles,  of  the  prodigal  son,  &c,  but  draws  a  cur- 
tain before  his  own  picture.  The  Christian  looks  on  the  word  as  a  glass 
to  see  himself.  The  one  uses  the  word  as  children  their  books,  look- 
ing more  at  the  pictures  than  the  lesson  ;  the  other  sees  himself,  and 
improves. 

He  hears,  without  preparing  his  heart  to  hear  ;  he  minds  his  outward 
more  than  his  inward  man ;  he  uses  no  exercise  to  get  an  appetite  ;  it 
is  enough  if  he  hears,  though  he  digests  nothing.  He  sows  among 
thorns,  having  never  ploughed  them  up,  and  they  choke  all.  The 
Christian  looks  to  his  feet,  comes  hungry  to  the  house  of  God,  longing 
to  be  fed,  and  is  not  willing  to  go  without  his  portion. 

He  hears  only  for  the  present  time,  as  he  would  hear  a  concert  of 
music ;  the  Christian  hears  both  for  the  time  present  and  to  come  ;  he 
studies  what  he  hears,  and  to  what  end,  that  he  may  turn  it  into  prac- 
tice.    He  remembers  that  word,  "Take  heed  how  ye  hear." 

He  proposes  to  himself  some  carnal  end,  if  any  at  all ;  as  to  be  noted 
for  his  diligence,  to  be  reputed  a  good  Churchman,  to  fulfil  his  task  of 
hearing ;  perhaps  to  cavil  and  find  fault,  to  make  amends  for  not  doing, 
to  please  a  friend.  Festus  thus  pleased  Agrippa,  and  Ahab  heard  Mi- 
caiah  for  Jehosaphat's  sake :  but  the  Christian  hears  for  his  own  and 
others'  edification. 

If  the  hypocrite  is  of  the  second  class  of  hearers,  he  sometimes  pre- 
tends to  practise,  as  an  excuse  for  not  hearing.  "  I  have,"  says  he, 
"enough  in  one  sermon  to  practise  all  the  week."  The  Christian 
makes  hearing  and  practice  to  go  hand  in  hand  ;  he  will  redeem  time 
for  hearing  from  recreation  and  sleep ;  his  hearing  is  a  spur  to  his 
practice.  He  does  not  pretend  practice  as  a  hinderance  to  his  hearing, 
like  Judas,  who,  out  of  pretended  regard  to  the  poor,  sought  to  rob 
Christ  of  his  due. 

Sometimes  he  trembleth  under  the  word,  but  yet  he  shifts  it  off,  before 
it  has  taken  hold  on  his  heart :  as  a  tree  shaken  by  the  wind  takes 
deeper  root,  so  is  he  more  rooted  in  his  sins.  Felix's  fearfulness  sur- 
prised! the  hypocrite  before  he  is  aware ;  he  is  ashamed  of  himself, 
angry  at  the  preacher,  and,  Cain  like,  he  runs  from  God,  instead  of 
going  to  him.  But  the  Christian  trembles  at  the  word  as  afraid  to  sin 
against  it..    One  is  Pharaoh,  the  other  Josiah. 

He  is  a  seeming  friend,  but  a  secret  foe,  to  the  Gospel.  When  the 
word  is  a  hammer,  he  is  an  anvil ;  when  it  is  a  fire,  he  is  clay.    But  the 


FRAGMENTS.  255 

Christian  is  both  reconciled  to,  and  transformed  into  the  word ;  receiving 
it  as  the  word  of  God  in  the  love  thereof.  If  the  word  be  a  nail,  it 
nails  him  to  Christ ;  if  a  sword,  he  loves  to  be  cut  and  dissected ;  if  a 
tire,  he  is  like  water,  or  as  gold.  The  one  kisses  the  word,  like  Judas  ; 
the  other  embraces  it,  as  Joseph  did  Benjamin. 

The  praying  hypocrite.- — The  praying  hypocrite  prays  with  his 
tongue,  but  not  with  his  heart.  The  heart  of  the  Christian  goes  first 
in  prayer. 

The  hypocrite  asks  according  to  his  wishes,  looking  no  farther,  like 
Israel  for  quails,  Balaam  for  leave  to  curse  God's  people,  Rachel  for 
children.  But  the  Christian,  like  Hannah,  who  prayed  hard,  and  sub- 
mitted  all  to  God. 

He  is  wavering  and  double  minded,  "  Can  God  furnish  a  table  in  the 
wilderness  ?  "  Will  he  hear  and  answer  ?"  The  Christian  asketh  in 
faith,  nothing  wavering ;  as  Moses  at  the  Red  Sea,  while  Israel  cried 
and  expected  death. 

The  hypocrite  is  sometimes  presumptuous  also  :  "  Wherefore  have  I 
fasted,  and  thou  seest  not?"  The  Christian  always  comes  as  a  poor 
beggar,  crying  with  the  centurion,  "  I  am  not  worthy."  He  quarrelleth 
with  God,  if  not  answered  :  "  This  evil  is  of  the  Lord."  But  the 
Christian  waiteth  patiently,  saying,  "  It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  as  he 
pleaseth." 

He  prays  without  repentance,  regarding  iniquity  in  his  heart ;  but  the 
Christian 'confesses  and  forsakes  his  sin. 

The  hypocrite  prays  without  faith,  without  expecting  an  answer ; 
therefore  he  often  cuts  short  his  prayer,  especially  in  secret.  The 
Christian  pours  out  his  soul  in  prayer :  gives  good  measure,  pressed 
down,  running  over,  being  assured  that  word  standeth  fast,  "  If  ye,  being 
evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more 
shall  my  heavenly  Father  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  it  ?" 

At  other  times  the  hypocrite  will  exceed  measure, — but  only  in  com- 
pany, like  the  Ave  Marias  of  the  Papists.  The  true  Christian  measures 
his  prayers  by  his  affections,  and  by  works  of  charity  and  duty. 

The  hypocrite  prays  in  adversity,  not  in  prosperity :  he  comes  like 
the  leper,  or  beaten  child.  The  Christian,  as  the  loving  son,  prays  in 
prosperity,  without  the  compulsion  of  the  rod.  Or,  perhaps,  he  will 
pray  in  prosperity  ;  but  in  adversity  his  heart  sinks,  like  Nabal's  :  he 
murmurs,  complains,  and  cries  out,  "  Why  doth  the  Lord  do  thus  unto 
me  ?"  The  Christian  remembers  those  words  of  St.  James,  "  Is  any 
afflicted  ?  Let  him  pray."  The  one,  as  a  bastard,  runs  away  ;  the  other 
kisses  the  rod,  and  sees  every  thing  as  the  answer  of  prayer,  submitting 
himself  wholly  to  the  will  of  God. 

The  preaching  hypocrite  worse  than  all. — Admitted  of  men,  not  called 
of  God,  he  preaches  Christ,  but  not  for  Christ.  "  Put  me  (saith  he)  into 
the  priest's  office,  that  I  may  eat  a  morsel  of  bread."  He  is,  perhaps, 
a  "  preacher  of  righteousness,"  but  a  "worker  of  iniquity."  But  the 
true  Christian  preacher  only  spends  and  is  spent  upon  Christ  and  his 
interest ;  he  is  careful  not  only  of  his  gifts,  but  of  his  grace  ;  not  only 
to  be  sent  of  men,  but  of  God.  The  one  preaches  himself,  and  foi 
himself;  the  other  preaches  Christ,  and  for  Christ. 

The  hypocrite   is  ambitious  to  show  his  learning, — to  be  admired 


256  FRAGMENTS. 

rather  than  to  be  useful :  not  so  St.  Paul,  1  Cor.  ii.  A  "  scribe  well 
instructed  bringeth  out  of  his  own  treasures  things  new  and  old." 

He  brings  in  learning,  but  not  Divine  learning !  His  artificial  fire 
hath  no  warmth  in  it.  But  the  Christian  minister,  though  perhaps 
learned  in  Egyptian  wisdom  as  Moses,  and  in  Greek  literature  as  St. 
Paul,  who  quoted  Aratus  to  the  Athenians,  Acts  xvii,  28,  Menander  to  the 
Corinthians,  1  Cor.  xv,  38,  Epimenides  to  Titus,  chap,  i,  12,  never  uses 
it  but  as  the  Agar  of  Sarah  ;  Christ  crucified  being  his  chief  knowledge. 

The  hypocrite  uses  Divine  learning  to  human,  carnal  ends, — to  get 
preferment  or  fame,  to  support  opinions  or  parties.  The  minister  of 
Christ  handles  not  the  "  word  of  God  deceitfully,  but  by  manifestation 
of  the  truth,"  2  Cor.  iv,  2.  He  glorieth  not  in  his  preaching,  a  neces- 
sity being  laid  upon  him  by  Christ. 

The  hypocrite  chooses  subjects  on  which  he  may  shine  and  please : 
the  other,  those  which  may  awaken  and  edify,  disclaiming  men  pleasing. 
The  one  shoots  over  the  heads,  the  other  aims  at  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, 
suiting  himself  to  the  meanest  capacity. 

He  puts  on  a  face  of  zeal,  without  zeal ;  and,  trying  to  move  others, 
is  himself  unmoved.  He  cannot  say,  with  Christ,  "  The  zeal  of  thine 
house  hath  eaten  me  up."  His  zeal  is  an  ignis  fatuus,  or  perhaps  a 
heathenish  fire  lighted  at  Seneca's  tor<!Ti  ;  not  a  burning,  as  well  as  a 
shining  light.  He  may  have  some  feelings,  but  they  are  over  with  his 
sermon  or  prayer  ;  some  warmth  for  the  Church,  as  Jehu,  because  it  is 
his  party.  But  the  Christian  minister  hath  more  zeal  in  his  bosom  than 
on  his  tongue.  Elijah  like,  the  "  word  of  the  Lord  is  as  a  fire  in  his 
bones."  His  soul  "  mourns  in  secret  places"  for  the  sins  he  reproves 
openly,  Jer.  xiii,  17.  He  can  put  probaium  est  to  what  he  preaches  ; 
and  his  zeal  hath  a  very  large  measure  of  Gospel  love  ;  it  saves  others 
while  it  consumes  himself. 

The  hypocrite  is,  perhaps,  strict  in  his  rules,  loose  in  his  practice, 
binding  heavy  burdens,  that  he  toucheth  not  himself.  He  is  like  a 
finger  post,  which  shows  the  way,  but  never  walks  in  it.  He  promises 
liberty,  while  he  is  himself  the  slave  of  sin.  The  true  preacher  is 
afraid  to  preach  what  he  practises  not ;  he  lives  his  sermons  over.  As 
a  brave  captain,  he  saith,  "  Follow  me."  He  aims  at  thummim  as  well 
as  urim,  perfection  as  well  as  light. 

The  one  makes  the  way  to  heaven  as  broad  as  he  can,  at  least  to 
himself;  and  ofttimes  allows  things  to  others  to  screen  himself.  The 
other  makes  the  way  to  heaven  narrower  to  himself  than  to  his  hearers, 
and  never  gives  up  the  last  of  the  word,  lest  his  own  foot  should  be 
pinched. 


ON  LUKEWARMNESS. 

The  lukewarm  are  of  two  sorts.  The  first  will  speak  against  enor- 
mities, but  plead  for  little  sins  ;  will  go  to  church  and  sacrament,  but  also 
to  plays,  races,  and  shows ;  will  read  the  Bible,  and  also  romances  and 
trifling  books.  They  will  have  family  prayer,  at  least  on  Sundays,  but 
after  it  unprofitable  talk,  evil  speaking,  and  worldly  conversation.  They 
plead  for  the  Church,  yet  leave  it  for  a  card  party,  a  pot  companion,  or 
the  fire  side.     They  think  they  are  almost  good  enough,  and  they  who 


FRAGMENTS.  fc  .,  i 

aim  at  being  better,  are  (to  be  sure)  hypocrites.  They  are  under  the 
power  of  anger,  evil  desire,  and  anxious  care,  but  suppose  all  men  are 
the  same,  and  talk  much  of  being  saved  by  true  repentance,  and  doing 
all  they  can.  They  undervalue  Christ,  extol  morality  and  good  works, 
and  do  next  to  none.  They  plead  for  old  customs  :  they  will  do  as  their 
fathers  did,  though  ever  so  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and  whatever 
hath  not  custom  to  plead  for  it,  though  ever  so  much  recommended  in 
Scripture,  is  accounted  by  them  a  heresy.  They  are  greatly  afraid  of 
being  too  good,  and  of  making  too  much  ado  about  their  souls  and 
eternity.  They  will  be  sober,  but  not  enthusiasts.  The  scriptures  they 
quote  most,  and  understand  least,  are,  "  Be  not  righteous  over  much  : 
God's  mercies  are  over  all  his  works  :  there  is  a  time  for  all  things,"  &c. 
They  call  themselves  by  the  name  of  Christ,  but  worship  Baal. 

The  second  sort  of  lukewarm  persons  assent  to  the  whole  Bible,  talk 
of  repentance,  faith,  and  the  new  birth,  commend  holiness,  plead  for 
religion,  use  the  outward  means,  and  profess  to  be  and  do  more  than 
others.  But  they  yield  to  carelessness,  self  indulgence,  fear  of  man, 
dread  of  reproach,  and  of  loss,  hatred  of  the  cross,  love  of  ease,  and  the 
false  pleasures  of  a  vain  imagination.  These  say,  do,  and  really  sutler 
many  things  ;  but  rest  short  of  the  true  change  of  heart,  the  one  thing 
needful  being  still  lacking.  They  are  as  the  foolish  virgins,  without  oil, 
as  the  man  not  having  a  wedding  garment. 

Of  these  the  Lord  hath  said,  "  He  will  spue  them  up  out  of  his  mouth." 
But  why  so  severe  a  sentence?  Because,  (1.)  Christ  wiil  have  a  man 
hearty  and  true  to  his  principles ;  he  looks  for  truth  in  the  inward  parts. 
As  a  consistent  character,  he  commended  even  the  unjust  steward. — 
(2.)  Religion  admits  of  no  lukewarmness,  and  it  is  by  men  of  this  cha- 
racter, that  his  name  is  blasphemed.  (3.)  A  bad  servant  is  worse  than 
a  careless  neighbour  ;  and  a  traitor  in  the  guise  of  a  friend,  is  more 
hateful,  and  more  dangerous,  than  an  open  enemy :  Judas  was  more 
infamous  than  Pilate.  (4.)  The  cold  have  nothing  to  trust  to;  and 
harlots  and  publicans  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  before  moral 
or  evangelical  Pharisees,  who,  in  different  degrees,  know  their  Mas- 
ter's will  and  do  it  not :  "they  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes." 


Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee,  because 
he  trusteth  in  thee,  Isaiah  xxvi,  3. 

The  very  centre  of  the  Christian  religion  is  union  with  Christ,  and  the 
icceiving  him  as  our  all ;  in  other  words,  called  faith,  or  a  "  staying  our 
minds  upon  him."  To  the  doing  this,  there  are  many  hinderances,  but 
the  two  greatest  and  most  general  ones  are  : — 

First,  the  want  of  self  knowledge ;  this  keeps  ninety-nine  out  of  one 
hundred  from  Christ.  They  know  not,  or  rather  feel  not  that  they  are 
blind,  naked,  leprous,  helpless,  and  condemned  ;  that  all  their  works  can 
make  no  atonement,  and  that  nothing  they  can  do  will  lit  them  for  hea 
ven.  When  this  is  truly  known,  the  first  grand  hinderance  to  our  union 
with  Christ  is  removed. 

The  second  is  the  want  of  understanding  "the  Gospel  of  Christ :"  the 
want  of  seeing  therein  the  firm  foundation  given  us  for  this  pure  ana 

Vol.  IV.  17 


258  FRAGMENTS. 

simple  faith,  the  only  solid  ground  of  staying  our  souls  on  God.  We 
must  remember  that  the  Gospel  is  "  good  news,"  and  not  be  slow  of 
heart  to  believe  it.  Christ  receiveth  sinners ;  he  undertaketh  their  whole 
concern ;  he  giveth  not  only  repentance,  but  remission  of  sins,  and  the 
gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  creates  them  anew  :  his  love  first  makes 
the  bride,  and  then  he  delights  in  her.  The  want  of  viewing  Christ  in 
this  light,  as  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  salvation,  hinders  the  poor, 
humble  penitent  from  casting  himself  wholly  on  the  Lord,  although  he 
hath  said,  "  Cast  thy  burden  on  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  sustain  thee." 

I  do  not  mention  sin,  for  sin  is  the  very  thing  which  renders  man  the 
object  of  Christ's  pity:  our  sins  will  never  turn  away  the  heart  of  Christ 
from  us,  for  they  brought  him  down  from  heaven  to  die  in  our  place ; 
and  the  reason  why  iniquity  separates  between  God  and  our  souls,  is 
because  it  turns  our  eyes  from  him,  and  shuts  up  in  us  the  capacity  of  re- 
ceiving those  beams  of  love,  which  are  ever  descending  upon  and  offering 
themselves  to  us.  But  sin,  sincerely  lamented,  and  brought  by  "  a  con- 
stant act  of  faith"  and  prayer  before  the  Lord,  shall  soon  be  consumed, 
as  the  thorns  laid  close  to  a  fire ;  only  let  us  abide  thus  waiting,  and  the 
Lord  will  pass  through  them  and  burn  them  up  together. 

When  the  soul  feels  its  own  helplessness,  and  receives  the  glad  tidings 
of  the  Gospel,  it  ventures  upon  Christ ;  and  though  the  world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil  pursue,  so  that  the  soul  seems  often  to  be  on  the  brink  of 
ruin,  it  has  still  only  to  listen  to  the  Gospel,  and  venture  on  Christ,  as 
a  drowning  man  on  a  single  plank,  with  "I  can  but  perish  ;"  remember- 
ing these  words,  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose  mind  is 
stayed  on  thee,  because  he  trusteth  in  thee." 

The  consequence  of  thus  trusting  is,  that  God  keeps  the  soul  from 
its  threefold  enemy  :  defends  it  in  temptation,  in  persecution,  in  heavi- 
ness. Through  all  it  finds  power  to  repose  itself  on  Christ,  to  say,  "  God 
shall  choose  my  inheritance  for  me."  Here  the  Christian  finds  peace 
with  God,  peace  with  himself,  and  peace  with  all  around  him ;  the  peace 
of  pardon,  the  peace  of  holiness ;  for  both  are  obtained  through  staying 
"he  mind  on  Christ.  He  walks  in  the  perpetual  recollection  of  a  present 
God,  and  is  not  disturbed  by  any  thing.  If  he  feels  sin,  he  carries  it  to 
the  Saviou* ;  and  if  in  heaviness,  through  manifold  temptations,  he  still 
holds  fast  his  confidence  :  he  is  above  the  region  of  clouds. 

The  careless  sinner  is  not  to  be  exhorted  to  trust  in  Christ ;  it  would 
be  to  cast  pearls  before  swine.  Before  an  act  of  faith,  there  must  be  an 
act  of  self  despair  ;  before  filling,  there  must  be  emptiness.  Is  this  thy 
character  ?  Then  suffer  me  to  take  away  thy  false  props.  Upon  what 
dost  thou  stay  thy  soul  ?  Thy  honesty,  morality,  humility,  doing  good, 
using  the  means,  business,  friends,  confused  thoughts  of  God's  mercy  ? 
This  will  never  do.  Thou  must  be  brought  to  say,  "  What  shall  I  do  to 
be  saved  ?"  Without  trembling  at  God's  word,  thou  canst  not  receive 
Christ.     Nothing  short  of  love  will  do. 

The  penitent  needs,  and,  blessed  be  God,  has  every  encouragement. 
You  have  nothing  but  sin  ; — it  is  time  you  should  understand  the  Gospel. 
You  see  yourself  sinking, — Christ  is  with  you. 

You  despair  of  yourself, — hope  in  Christ.  You  are  overcome, — 
Christ  conquers.  Self  condemned, — he  absolves.  Why  do  not  you 
beliuve?     Is  not  the  messenger,  the  word,  the  Spirit  of  God  sufficient'' 


FRAGMENTS.  259 

You  want  a  joy  unspeakable, — the  way  to  it  is  by  thus  waiting  patiently 
upon  God.  Look  to  Jesus.  He  speaks  peace  ;  abide  looking,  and  your 
peace  shall  flow  as  a  river. 


Nebuchadnezzar  spake,  and  said  unto  them,  Is  it  true,  O  Shadrach,  Me- 
shach,  and  Abed-nego,  do  not  ye  serve  my  gods,  nor  worship  the  golden 
image  which  I  have  set  up  1  Dau.  iii,  14.* 

Ix  this  chapter  we  have  an  account  of  those  worthies,  who  quenched 
the  violence  of  fire.  (I.)  The  dedication  of  the  image.  (II.)  The 
three  children  accused  and  arraigned.  (HI.)  Soothed  and  threatened, 
but  preferring  death  to  sin,  God's  law  to  the  king's,  faith  to  honour  and 
profit.  (IV.)  Nebuchadnezzar's  anger,  their  punishment,  and  deliver- 
ance.     (V.)  The  effect  it  had  on  the  king. 

This  account  may  be  applied  to  the  trials  of  God's  children,  in  all 
ages.  The  god  of  this  world  sets  up,  in  opposition  to  the  Gospel,  three 
images  :  the  first,  a  golden  image,  profit ;  the  second,  an  airy  image, 
honour  ;  the  third,  a  beautiful  alluring  image,  pleasure. 

The  fii«t,  profit,  is  worshipped  by  setting  our  affections  upon  it,  by 
making  it  the  prime,  if  not  sole  object  of  our  thoughts,  and  lord  even  of 
our  Sabbaths.  We  bow  down  to  this  golden  image,  by  unjust  dealing, 
running  in  debt  without  taking  care  to  discharge  it,  choosing  rather  to 
wound  our  conscience  than  our  pocket,  by  countenancing  or  suffering 
evil  for  filthy  lucre's  sake,  forgetting  that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the 
root  of  all  evil." 

The  second,  honour,  is  worshipped,  when  we  desire  the  applause  of 
men,  or  shrink  from  duty  for  fear  of  their  rage  or  contempt. 

The  third,  pleasure,  when  we  indulge  the  flesh,  by  excessive  eating 
and  drinking,  by  uncleanness,  vain  shows  and  heathenish  sports ;  when 
we  delight  ourselves  in  dress,  furniture,  our  persons,  &c.  In  a  word, 
when  we  do  not  sanctify  the  enjoyment  of  the  creature  by  the  word  of 
God  and  prayer. 

As  the  people  of  God  will  not  bow  down  to  this  threefold  image,  they 
are  accused,  threatened,  and  ridiculed.  Their  duty,  under  such  circum- 
stances, is  to  bear  their  testimony  against  this  idolatrous  worship  of  the 
god  of  this  world,  to  possess  their  souls  in  patience,  to  believe  in  the 
Lord's  will  and  power  to  save  them ;  not  to  comply  by  halves,  or  com- 
promise the  matter  with  the  world ;  but  to  be  ready  to  offer  up  their 
lives,  and  leave  the  event  to  God,  in  a  steady  purpose  not  to  offend  him. 
All  came  to  the  dedication,  even  from  afar ; — but  how  many  stay  from 
the  house  of  God,  though  at  the  door !  All  bowed  down  but  three.  How 
many  are  now  going  to  turn  their  backs  on  the  Lord's  table ! 

From  the  dedication  of  our  Church,  from  days  set  apart  to  be  kept 
holy,  Satan  takes  occasion  to  enforce  the  worship  of  his  threefold  image. 
Now,  remember  the  duty  of  God's  people,  and  quit  yourselves  like  men. 
Some  petty  Nebuchadnezzars  have  sent  to  gather  together,  not  princes, 
but  drunken  men  :  and  have  set  up,  not  a  golden  image,  no,  nor  a  golden 
calf,  but  a  living  bull.  O  ye,  that  fear  God,  be  not  afraid  of  their  ter- 
ror, be  not  allured  by  their  music ;  confess  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Me- 

*  Preached  at  Madeley,  on  the  Wake  Sunday,  A.  D.  17G3 


2b'0  FRAGMENTS. 

shach,  and  Abed-nego ;  and  pray  (bat  tbese  offenders  may,  with  Nebu- 
chadnezzar of  old,  resolve,  not  only  to  do  nothing  against,  but  not  even 
"  to  speak  amiss  of  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego." 

To  you,  my  brethren,  who  worship  the  image,  what  shall  I  say  1 
Shall  Nebuchadnezzar  rise  up  in  judgment  against  you  ?  He  blessed 
the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  ;  will  you  curse  him  ? 
For  inasmuch  as  you  do  it  to  one  of  his  followers,  you  do  it  unto  him. 
Nebuchadnezzar  made  a  decree,  that  whoever  should  speak  against  the 
God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  should  be  cut  in  pieces, 
and  their  houses  made  a  dung  hill ;  and  will  you  cut  in  pieces,  with  your 
tongues ;  or  turn  into  a  dung  hill,  by  riot  and  mobbing,  the  houses  of 
those  who  fear  and  love  the  God  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego  ? 
No  other  God  can  deliver  after  this  sort,  saith  the  heathen :  and  give 
me  leave  to  add,  no  other  God  can  punish  after  this  sort. 

The  King  of  kings  hath  anointed  Jesus  !  He  is  lifted  up  on  the  cross ; 
— upon  a  throne  of  glory.  The  decree  is  gone  forth.  At  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  must  bow.  All  tongues,  nations,  languages,  patri- 
archs, prophets,  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  angels,  archangels,  and 
saints,  above  and  below,  "  all  must  fall  down."  In  heaven,  trumpets, 
thunders,  lightnings,  voices  : — on  earth,  the  terrors  of  Sinai,  all  say, 
"  Kiss  the  Son."  He  is  not  a  dead  image,  but  the  living  God.  He 
comes  :  the  trump  of  God  may  sound  to-day.  The  burning  furnace  of 
his  indignation  is  heated,  and  eternity  is  the  duration  of  their  torments, 
whose  smoke  ascendeth  for  ever  and  ever.  O  let  him  bless  you  now, 
in  turning  every  one  of  you  from  his  iniquities,  and  you  shall  keep  the 
feast  in  heaven. 


Being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed  more  earnestly,  and  his  sweat  was,  as  it 
were,  great  drops  of  blood  falling  down  to  the  ground,  Luke  xxii,  44. 

Many  desire  to  know  what  passes  in  the  heart  of  great  men,  when 
under  afflicting  circumstances,  or  engaged  in  some  great  undertaking. 
Behold  the  most  sublime  scene  of  suffering  held  out  to  us  in  the  word 
of  God.  Here  are  laid  open  the  last,  the  dying  thoughts  and  cruel 
sufferings  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  Here  is  a  scene,  in  which  we 
are  all  most  deeply  interested.     Let  us  look  into, 

I.  The  agony  of  our  Saviour.  II.  What  he  did  in  his  agony.  III. 
The  amazing  consequences  of  that  agony. 

The  agony  of  our  Lord  was  a  conflict : — a  violent  struggle : — a  grap- 
pling and  wrestling  with  the  deepest  horror : — the  agitation  of  a  breast 
penetrated  with  the  greatest  sense  of  fear  and  amazement.  "  He  was 
heard  in  that  he  feared." 

The  cause  of  his  agony  was,  (1.)  The  powers  of  darkness,  legions 
of  devils,  who  poured  on  his  devoted  head  their  utmost  rage  and  malice. 
Every  wound,  which  sin  had  given,  and  the  devil  had  power  to  inflict, 
the  pure  and  naked  bosom  of  Jesus  opened  itself  to  receive.  The 
prince  of  darkness,  whose  chain  was  let  loose  for  the  purpose,  now 
ruled  his  hour,  and,  to  appearance,  triumphed  over  the  Prince  of  life. 
(2.)  The  feeling  of  the  weight  of  the  wrath  of  God  (and  who  knoweth 
the  power  of  his  wrath?)  as  kindled  against  sin: — the  terrors  of  the 
Lord: — the  cup  of  trembling,  the  withdrawing  of  God's  comfortable 


FRAGMENTS.  261 

presence.  (3.)  The  fear  of  his  farther  sufferings: — a  violent,  dreadful, 
and  approaching  death.  (4.)  The  atoning  for  our  coldness,  and  the 
painful  foresight,  with  how  much  truth,  those  words  of  the  prophet 
might  be  applied  to  many,  "  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  you  that  pass  by  ?" 

During  his  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly.  He  prayed  earnestly 
before,  but  now  more  earnestly ;  before  he  kneeled,  but  now  he  threw 
himself  prostrate  on  the  earth.  He  prayed  aloud,  with  strong  cries  and 
tears,  Heb.  v,  7.  He  was  in  an  agony,  every  power  of  soul  and  body 
being  stretched  to  the  utmost.  Those  who  never,  or  seldom  pray,  are 
strangers  to  spiritual  conflicts. 

The  greatness  of  his  agony,  and  intenseness  of  his  prayer,  caused 
that  amazing  circumstance  "of  his  sweat  being  as  it  were  great  drops 
of  blood."  Amazing!  because  it  was  a  cold  damp  night: — he  lay  on 
the  dewy  ground: — it  was  so  profuse  as  to  run  down  in  great  drops  to 
the  ground  ;  the  sweat  was  mixt  with  blood,  bursting  out  of  the  capillary 
vessels  through  the  open  pores. 

Observe,  Adam  sinned  in  a  garden ;  in  a  garden  Christ  expiates  his 
sin.  Before  death,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  brow,"  &c,  Gen.  iii,  before 
death,  Christ  sweat,  and  with  all  his  body  laboured.  "  In  sorrow  shalt 
thou  bring  forth ;"  Christ  sweat  blood,  strong  sign  of  pain.  "  Cursed 
is  the  ground,"  &c.  Christ,  when  made  sin  and  a  curse,  lies  prostrate 
on  the  ground,  and  bedews  it  with  blood. 

Brethren,  we  must  all  be  brought  to  an  agony ;  yea,  we  must  be  cru- 
cified with  Christ,  if  we  would  reign  with  him.  Beware  then  of  villi- 
fying  the  spiritual  agonies  of  the  children  of  God,  by  calling  them  mad  fits. 

You  who,  in  agony,  have  brought  forth  children,  or  struggled  under 
the  load  of  excessive  drinking,  or  laboured  for  life  when  in  danger, 
struggle  and  agonize  now  for  your  souls. 

Learn  to  pray  most,  when  most  troubled — when  weakest — when 
most  tempted.  Still  look  to  the  Lord  Jesus — adore  him — love  him. 
Be  net  dry,  like  Gideon's  fleece,  in  the  midst  of  this  sacred  dew.  O 
come  for  the  answer  of  his  prayer.  It  is  thy  balm,  O  Gilead,  the  pre- 
cious ointment,  which  runs  down  to  the  skirts  of  his  clothing !  Wash 
away  thy  sin :  bathe  in  his  bloody  sweat ;  it  is  the  former  and  the  latter 
rain,  bedewing  prophets  and  apostles. 

Let  every  believer  remember,  (and  rejoice  in  the  remembrance,)  that 
sweat,  pain,  the  earth,  the  grave,  are  sanctified :  and  let  every  stubborn 
unbeliever  beware  of  the  cry  of  his  blood.  It  now  cries  better  things : 
by  and  by  it  will  cry  bitterer  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel. 


The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffer eth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by 
force,  Matthew  xi,  12. 

The  grand  device  of  Satan  is  1o  prevent  us  from  seeing  the  necessity 
of  this  holy  violence,  or  from  putting  it  in  execution.  To  prevent  the 
effect  of  this  stratagem,  our  blessed  Lord  gives  us  the  plainest  directions 
in  these  words  :  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  "  Labour  for  the 
meat  that  endureth  to  eternal  life,"  &c,  &c.  But  in  no  scripture  is  the 
direction  more  plain  than  in  that  of  the  text :  "  The  kingdom,"  &c.  Let 
us  consider,  I.  The  nature  of  this  kingdom.  II.  How  the  violent  take 
it  by  force.     III.  Answer  an  objection  to  the  doctrine  of  the  text. 


262  FRAGMENTS. 

This  kingdom  is  that  of  grace,  which  brings  down  a  heavenly  nature 
and  felicity  into  the  believing  soul.  The  kingdom  within  us  is  righteous, 
ness,  and  peace,  and  joy.  It  is  Jesus  apprehended  by  faith,  as  given  for 
us  ;  and  felt  by  love,  as  living  in  us.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  image  of  God 
lost  in  x\dam  and  restored  by  Christ ; — pardon,  holiness,  and  happiness 
issuing  in  eternal  glory. 

This  kingdom  suffereth  violence,  which  is  offered,  (1.)  To  those  lords 
who  reign  over  us, — the  world,  the  devil,  the  flesh.  These  rebels  must 
be  turned  out :  our  own  wills  must  be  overcome,  and  ourselves  surren- 
dered up  to  God,  as  to  our  lawful  and  chosen  sovereign.  (2.)  An  hum- 
ble, holy,  sacred  violence  must  be  used  in  prayer, — with  Jesus,  that  he 
would  open  in  our  hearts  the  power  of  faith,  apply  the  efficacy  of  his 
blood,  and  bestow  upon  us  the  spirit  of  prayer ;  or  in  other  words  the 
prayer  of  faith  : — with  the  Father,  that  he  would  look  through  the  pillar 
of  tire,  and  discomfit  all  our  enemies : — with  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he 
would  take  up  his  abode  with  us. 

Of  this  violence  we  have  an  example  in  Jacob  wrestling  with  the 
Angel,  who  said,  "  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh ;"  and  he  said,  "  I 
will  not  let  thee  go  till  thou  bless  me,"  Genesis  xxxii,  26.  Here  Jacob, 
being  left  alone,  improves  his  solitude  ;  danger  and  trouble  work  in  him 
the  right  way.  He  prays,  prays  earnestly,  and  that  against  much  dis- 
couragement. God  and  man  seem  to  oppose  him  ;  for  the  Angel  of  the 
covenant  wrestled  as  if  to  get  loose  from  his  hold.  It  was  a  spiritual 
wrestling  ;  he  wept  and  made  supplication  ;  but  before  he  prevailed  the 
Angel  touched  the  hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh,  and  hindered  him  from  wrest- 
ling in  his  own  strength.  Then  the  Spirit  alone  made  intercession ; 
nature  failed,  and  grace  was  conqueror.  "  When  I  am  weak,  then  am 
I  strong."  He  says,  "Let  me  go;"  as 'God  once  said  to  Moses,  "Let 
me  alone  :"  thus  does  the  Lord  sometimes  try  our  faith.  This  was  the 
case  of  the  woman  of  Canaan,  when  Jesus,  at  first,  answered  her  not, 
and  afterward  said,  "  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread,  and  cast 
it  to  the  dogs."  But  when  she  still  worshipped,  prayed,  and  waited,  she 
obtained  these  words  of  approbation  :  "  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith !" 
as  well  as  the  answer  of  her  prayer.  So  the  Angel  said,  "  Let  me  go, 
the  day  breaketh  ;" — thy  affairs  want  thee  ; — thou  must  have  rest ;  but 
Jacob  foregoes  all  for  the  blessing, — rest,  family,  weariness,  pain ;  and 
answers,  "  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  unless  thou  bless  me."  So  must  it  be 
with  us  ;  none  prevail  but  those  who  take  the  kingdom  by  violence.  He 
conquers  at  last.  "  What  is  thy  name  1"  saith  God.  He  will  have  the 
sinner  know  himself,  and  confess  what  he  is ;  then  he  gives  the  new 
name,  "  A  prince  with  God.  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?" 
The  Angel  does  not  tell  him  his  name  ;  for  the  tree  of  life  is  better  than 
the  tree  of  knowledge.  "  He  saw  God  face  to  face  and  lived."  So  it  is 
with  faithful  wrestlers  :  God  resists  only  to  increase  our  desires ;  and  we 
must  be  resolved  to  hearken  to  nothing  that  would  hinder.  Weariness, 
care,  friends,  fear,  and  unbelief,  must  all  be  thrown  aside  when  we  seek 
to  see  God  face  to  face,  and  to  be  brought  into  the  light  of  life. 

They  who  are  weary  of  the  Egyptian  yoke  of  outward  and  inward 
sin,  who  cannot  resist  without  the  love  of  Jesus,  the  life  of  God,  at  last 
become  violent.  They  forcibly  turn  from  the  world;  by  force  they 
attack  the  devil ;  bringing  themselves  by  force  before  God ;  and  drag 


*  FRAGMENTS.  263 

out,  by  strong  confession,  the  evils  that  lurk  within.  Against  these  they 
fight,  by  detesting  and  denying  them.  Their  strength  is  in  crying 
mightily  to  the  Lord,  and  expecting  continually  that  fire  which  God  will 
rain  from  heaven  upon  them.  All  this  must  be  done  by  force  and  with 
great  conflicts  ;  for  it  is  against  nature,  which  hath  the  utmost  reluctance 
to  it. 

The  words  of  the  text  allude  to  the  taking  a  fortified  town  by  storming 
it ;  and  this  is  of  all  military  expeditions  the  most  dangerous.  Th<-i 
enemy  is  covered  and  hid,  and  those  who  scale  the  walls  have  nothing 
but  their  arms  and  courage.  But  can  the  wrestling  soul  overcome,  can 
he  take  this  kingdom  ?  Ah  !  no,  not  by  his  own  strength  ;  but  his  Joshua 
will  take  it  for  him.  God  only  requires  that  we  should  entreat  him  to 
do  this ;  the  prayer  of  repentance,  the  prayer  of  faith,  storm  Mount 
Sion,  the  city  of  God.  He  that  is  violent  shall  receive  the  kingdom  of 
God, — justification  and  sanctification  :  but  remember  the  violent  take  it 
by  force.  He  shall  have  many  a  hard  struggle  with  God's  enemies, 
and  it  may  be,  many  with  the  Lord  himself,  before  he  declares  him  con- 
queror. 

Some  object,  "  We  have  no  might ;"  and  to  endeavour  to  take  the 
kingdom  by  violence,  is  taking  the  matter  out  of  God's  hand :  is  it  not 
better  to  wait  for  the  promise,  "  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of 
God  V  If  you  mean  by  standing  still,  not  agonizing  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate,  not  wrestling  in  prayer  and  fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith ; 
may  God  save  you  from  this  stillness !  "  You  err,  not  knowing  the 
Scriptures."  The  standing  still  there  recommended  is  to  possess  your 
soul  in  patience,  without  dejection,  fear,  and  murmuring.  Stand  still,  as 
the  apostles,  who  watched  together  in  prayer,  ran  with  patience  the  race 
set  before  them,  and  fought  manfully,  as  faithful  soldiers,  under  the 
banner  of  the  cross.  Any  other  stillness  is  of  the  devil,  and  leads  to  his 
kingdom.  Search  the  New  Testament  and  show  me  one  standing  still 
after  he  had  been  convinced  of  his  wants.  Did  the  centurion,  did  the 
woman  of  Canaan,  did  blind  Bartimeus  stand  still?  Did  St.  Paul,  did 
the  woman  with  the  bloody  issue  stand  still  1  Did  not  all  of  them  use 
the  power  they  had  ?  I  do  not  desire  you  to  use  what  you  have  not ; 
only  be  faithful  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  entrusted  to  you.  A 
kingdom,  a  kingdom  of  heaven  is  before  you — power  to  reign  with  Jesus 
as  his  priests  and  kings.  Stir  up  then  thy  faith  ;  reach  forward  to  the 
things  which  are  before.  Become  a  wrestling  Jacob  and  you  shall 
shortly  be  a  prevailing  Israel.  Be  not  discouraged,  for,  as  a  good  man 
observes,  "  God  frequently  gives  in  one  moment  what  he  hath  apparently 
withheld  for  many  years." 


Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  he  required  of  thee,  Luke  xii,  20. 

Let  us  consider,  I.  Why  our  Lord  calls  the  person  mentioned  in  the 
text,  fool, — Thou  fool.  II.  The  sudden  and  unexpected  separation 
between  this  rich  man  and  his  all.  HI.  The  circumstance  of  the  parti- 
cular time  of  his  death, — This  night.  IV.  Make  some  observations  on 
the  nature  and  value  of  a  soul.  V.  Observe  who  shall  require  the  rich 
man's  soul, — It  shall  be  required.  VI.  Make  some  remarks  on  the  last 
words  of  the  text, — "  Thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee." 


264  FRAGMENTS. 

I.  It  is  not  without  good  reason  that  our  Lord  addresses  the  rich  man 
in  the  text  with,  Thou  fool.  The  picture  our  Lord  has  drawn  of  him 
.hath  eight  strokes,  each  of  which  proves  this  worldling  to  have  been  an 
egregious  fool. 

(1.)  He  was  rich  in  this  world,  but  neglected  being  rich  toward  God, 
rich  in  grace.  (2.)  He  was  perplexed  without  reason,  and  exclaimed, 
"  What  shall  I  do  !  I  have  not  where  to  bestow  my  fruits."  Had  he  been 
wise,  he  would  rather  have  cried  out,  with  the  jailer,  "  What  shall  I  do 
to  be  saved?"  or  he  would  have  inquired  whether  all  the  houses  of  his 
poor  neighbours  were  full,  and  whether  he  could  not  bestow  upon  them 
some  of  those  fruits,  the  abundance  of  which  made  him  so  uneasy.  (3.) 
He  determined  to  pull  down  his  barns :  not  to  break  off  his  sins.  The 
pile  of  them,  though  towering  to  heaven,  like  Babel,  did  not  make  him 
uneasy.  (4.)  He  resolved  to  build  greater  barns  ;  but  forgot  to  build  the 
hopes  of  his  salvation  on  the  Rock  of  ages,  Matt,  vii,  24.  (5.)  He  would 
say  to  his  soul,  Soul,  thou  hast  goods  laid  up :  but  had  he  been  wise,  he 
would  have  considered,  that  although  he  was  rich  as  to  his  outward  cir- 
cumstances and  the  things  which  support  the  body,  yet  his  soul  was  "  poor, 
miserable,  blind,  and  naked,"  Rev.  iii,  17.  (6.)  He  had  the  folly  to 
promise  himself  a  long  life,  as  if  he  had  a  lease  of  it,  signed  by  his 
heavenly  Lord.  "  Soul,"  said  he,  "  thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years :"  but  God  said,  "  Thou  fool,  this  night,"  &c.  (7.)  He 
would  say  to  his  soul,  "  Soul,  take  thine  ease  ;"  but  had  he  been  direct- 
ed  by  wisdom,  he  would  have  exhorted  his  soul  not  to  rest  till  he  had 
obeyed  the  apostle's  precept,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling,"  Phil,  ii,  12.  Alas!  how  common  and  how  dangerous 
is  the  mistake  of  the  children  of  this  world,  who  openly  follow  this  fool, 
and  say  either  to  themselves  or  one  to  another,  "  Soul,  take  thine  ease  ; 
take  care  of  being  under  any  concern  about  salvation,  there  is  no  need 
of  so  much  ado  about  religion  and  heaven."  (8.)  The  last  mark  of  the 
rich  man's  folly,  was  to  say  to  his  deluded  soul,  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  mer- 
ry ;"  as  if  a  soul  could  eat  and  drink,  what  money  can  procure  or  barns 
contain.  No,  my  brethren  :  the  grace  of  God,  and  the  benefits  of 
Christ's  death,  which  are  called  his  "  flesh  and  blood,  the  bread  of  life, 
and  the  living  water,"  are  the  only  food  and  drink  proper  for  our  souls ; 
and  the  true  mirth  and  solid  joy  of  a  spirit,  is  that  to  which  St.  Paul 
exhorts  us,  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  ;  and  again,  I  say,  rejoice,"  Phil,  iv,  4. 

II.  The  separation  between  this  rich  farmer  and  his  all  was  sudden 
and  unexpected  :  "This  night,"  said  God,  "shall  thy  soul  be  required  of 
thee."  This  night,  not  so  much  as  to-morrow  is  allowed  him  to  dispose 
of  those  goods  which  were  laid  up  for  many  years ;  he  must  suddenly, 
immediately,  part  with  all.  (1.)  All  his  movable  goods,  except  a  wind- 
ing sheet.  (2.)  All  his  landed  estate,  except  a  grave.  (3.)  All  his 
barns,  houses,  and  halls,  except  a  coffin.  (4.)  All  his  friends  and  rela- 
tions without  exception.  He  must  go  this  dismal  journey  alone  and  un- 
attended. (5.)  All  his  time,  his  precious  time,  which  the  living  kill  so 
many  ways,  and  which  the  dying  and  the  dead  would  gladly  recover,  by 
parting  with  a  world,  if  they  had  it  to  part  with.  (6.)  His  soul,  it  is  to 
be  feared. 

Let  us  here  reflect,  how  careful  we  are  to  secure  our  door,  lest  thieves 
should  break  in  and  take  away  some  of  our  goods  ;  and  yet  how  careless 


FRAGMENTS.  265 

lo  provide  for  death,  "which  carries  away  all,  or  rather  hurries  us  away 
from  all  at  once !  What  an  alarming  thought  is  this  for  impenitent  sin- 
ners !  May  their  souls  be  required  this  very  night  ?  O  let  them  not  plot 
wickedness  and  contrive  vanity  against  to-morrow. 

III.  The  circumstance  of  the  particular  time  of  this  rich  man's  death 
is  very  awful,  "  This  night,"  not  this  day,  "  shall  thy  soul,"  &c.  This 
seems  to  imply  four  things. 

(1.)  Darkness  and  horror,  which  chiefly  belong  to  the  night.  Of  this 
we  have  striking  illustrations,  in  the  destruction  of  the  first  born  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  of  Sennacherib's  army  in  Judea.  (2.)  Drowsiness 
and  carnal  security,  illustrated  in  the  opposite  case  of  the  foolish  virgins, 
Matt.  xxv.  (3.)  Sadness,  in  opposition  to  those  nights  which  he  had 
perhaps  spent  in  debauchery  and  vain  diversions.  (4.)  Sin  and  igno- 
rance of  the  ways  of  God  ;  which  are  called  darkness  and  night,  works  of 
darkness,  &c,  in  various  parts  of  the  Scripture. 

0  think  upon  this  night  of  death,  ye  that  forget  God.  How  soon  may 
it  be  here,  to  cast  a  veil  upon  your  pride,  and  make  it  share  the  fate  of 
Absalom's  beauty,  Jezebel's  paint,  and  Saul's  stature. 

If  this  night  of  death  is  coming  upon  all !  This  night  "  when  no  man 
can  work  !"  Let  us  follow  our  Lord's  advice,  "  and  work  the  works  of 
God,  while  it  is  day,"  John  ix,  4. 

IV.  How  wonderful  is  the  nature,  how  inestimable  is  the  value  of  that 
soul,  which  was  required  of  this  fool ;  and  which  shall  be  required  of  us  ! 

How  excellent  is  that  noble,  that  neglected  being,  in  itself!  Spiritual, 
immortal,  endued  with  the  most  glorious  faculties,  made  after  the  very 
image  of  God ! 

How  precious  is  it,  as  well  as  how  excellent.  It  is  a  jewel  of  inesti- 
mable value,  and  its  worth  may  be  estimated,  (1.)  From  the  admirable 
texture  of  the  body,  which  is  only  the  casket  where  that  jewel  is 
placed.  (2.)  From  the  extraordinary  pains  which  the  sons  of  men  take 
lo  repair  and  adorn  the  body,  whose  value  depends  only  on  the  jewel  it 
contains.  (3.)  From  the  testimony  of  Christ,  who  prefers  one  soul  to 
the  whole  material  creation  :  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?"  Matt,  xvi,  26. 

Suffer  me  then  to  entreat  you,  brethren,  to  bestow  on  your  souls  pains 
and  care,  in  some  measure,  proportionable  to  their  worth ;  at  least,  be 
not  offended  with  us  ministers,  for  showing  some  concern  for  the  salva- 
tion of  your  precious,  immortal  souls. 

V.  Who  shall  require  his  soul?  "Thy  soul  shall  be  required."  The 
original  word,  anrat-xciv  means,  "  They  shall  require."  The  question 
then  offers  itself,  Who  they  are  that  shall  require  the  unprepared  world- 
ling's soul  ? 

1  answer,  (1.)  Not  Christ  as  a  Saviour;  for  in  that  capacity  he  hath 
nothing  to  do  with  dying  unbelievers.  They  would  not  receive  his  grace 
into  their  hearts,  and  he  will  not  receive  them  into  his  glory,  Prov.  i,  24, 
&c.  (2.)  Nor  good  angels  :  we  read,  indeed,  that  they  "  carried  Laza- 
rus to  Abraham's  bosom,"  Luke  xvi,  22  :  but  the  rich  man  found  his 
way  to  the  flames  without  them.  (3.)  Nor  departed  saints,  who  neither 
can  nor  will  meddle  with  unregenerated  souls.  For  this  we  may  read 
the  conversation  between  Abraham  and  the  wretch  who  prayed  to  him 
for  help,  Luke  xvi.     Who  then?     (1.)   Some  unforeseen  accident  or 


266  FRAGMENTS. 

distemper.  (2.)  Death,  who,  as  an  officer,  delivers  the  wicked  into  the 
hands  of  the  tormentors.  (3.)  Evil  spirits,  the  ministers  of  Divine  jus- 
tice ;  which  may  be  inferred  from  the  strong  sense  of  the  powers  of 
darkness,  which  some  wicked  men  have  in  their  last  moments.  See  the 
case  of  the  memorable  Francis  Spira. 

Believers  cheerfully  resign  their  souls  into  their  Saviour's  hands  ;  yea, 
they  long  to  "depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better."  Un- 
believers, who  have  their  portion  in  this  world,  are  loath  to  leave  it :  but 
a  peremptory,  forcible  command  shall  set  aside  all  their  pleas :  their 
souls  shall  be  required. 

VI.  The  last  words  of  the  text  afford  matter  for  the  last  head  of  the 
discourse.  Death  comes  to  require  a  soul :  "  Not  of  me,"  says,  per- 
haps, the  rich  farmer ;  "  not  of  me,  for  I  have  much  goods  laid  up  for 
many  years  ;"  but  God  says,  "Of  thee  shall  thy  soul  be  required." 

What !  May  not  the  soul  of  some  poor  Lazarus,  who  pines  away  in 
want,  sickness,  and  obscurity,  be  required  first?  No,  says  God,  it  must 
be  required  of  thee.  May  not  an  old  Simeon,  who  longs  to  depart  in 
peace,  be  allowed  to  die  for  the  rich  man  1  No  :  his  hour  is  come  ;  of 
him  is  his  soul  required.  But,  perhaps,  some  of  the  rich  man's  ser- 
vants, at  the  feet  of  the  bed,  may  go  upon  his  fatal  errand  for  him  1  No, 
says  death,  he  must  go  himself:  of  thee  is  thy  soul  required.  See  all 
those  weeping  friends  who  surround  his  bed !  May  not  one  of  them  do 
for  death  ?  No,  cries  the  stern  messenger,  my  errand  is  to  thee. 

Consider  the  peremptoriness  of  the  inexorable  messenger.  Gold  will 
not  bribe  him.  Entreaties  prevail  not.  He  takes  no  notice  of  promises 
of  amendment.  Tears  melt  him  not.  In  spite  of  physicians  and  medi- 
cines, he  does  his  office,  and  requires  of  the  worldling  his  unprepared 
soul. 

The  epithet,  which  God  fixes  on  the  rich  man,  belongs,  (1.)  To  all 
who  depend  upon  many  years  of  life,  and  do  not  habitually  prepare  for 
death.  (2.)  To  all,  whether  rich  or  poor,  who  are  not  rich  toward 
God.  (3.)  Especially  to  those  who,  though  they  have  not  the  con- 
veniences, and  hardly  the  necessaries  of  life,  will  yet  trample  on  the 
riches  of  Divine  grace  and  heavenly  glory.  If  the  rich  worldling  was  a 
fool  in  God's  esteem,  how  doubly  foolish  are  the  poor,  to  whom  the  Gos- 
pel is  preached  in  vain  ! 

Ye  foolish  virgins,  ye  slumbering  souls,  awake, — arise, — trim  your 
lamps.  Be  wise  to  salvation ;  be  as  anxious  about  your  eternal,  as  he 
was  for  his  temporal  prosperity.  Pull  down,  not  your  barns,  but  your 
sins.  ■  Build  not  larger  houses,  but  the  house  that  will  stand  when  death 
beats  upon  you  with  all  its  storms.  And  never  say  to  your  soul,  "  Soul, 
take  thine  ease,"  until  you  have  a  habitation,  "  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens." 

Ye,  who  are  wise  virgins,  and  who  are  preparing  to  meet  the  Bride- 
groom, apply  to  your  souls,  but  in  a  better  sense,  the  words  that  the 
rich  fool  spake  to  his  soul,  "  Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry."  Feed  upon  the 
flesh  of  Christ,  and  drink  his  blood  ;  that  is,  believe  the  Gospel  of  Jesus, 
firmly  believe  that,  by  his  cross,  he  redeemed  you  from  sin,  death,  hell, 
and  the  grave :  and  through  faith  in  him,  you  will  be  able  to  rejoice  in 
the  Lord  with  unspeakable  joy,  and  to  antedate  your  heaven. 

I  beseech  thee,  awakened  sinner,  who  tremblest  at  death  and  judg- 


FRAGMENTS.  267 

ment,  to  come,  by  the  prayer  of  faith,  to  the  Prince  of  life,  that,  through 
the  value  of  his  death,  he  may  take  away  the  sting  of  death,  sin,  from 
thy  heart.  Steadfastly  believe  these  comfortable  words  of  St.  Paul : 
"  He  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  that  he,  through  death,  might  destroy 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil ;  and  deliver  them 
who,  through  fear  of  death,  were  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage," 
Heb.  ii,  9,  14,  15.  If  you  heartily  credit  this  blessed  report,  you  will 
find  your  fears  of  death  changed  into  longings  after  it ;  and  with  youi 
dying  breath  you  will  be  able,  through  mercy,  to  challenge  the  king  of 
terrors,  and  to  say,  with  the  apostle,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  vic- 
tory, through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


THE  TEST  OF  A  NEW  CREATURE : 

OR,  HEADS  OF  EXAMINATION  FOR  ADULT  CHRISTIANS. 
"  Examine  yourselves,  whether  ye  be  in  the  faith,"  2  Cor.  xiii,  5. 

Whatever  is  the  state  of  one  wholly  renewed,  must  be,  in  a  less  de- 
gree,  the  state  of  all  "  who  are  born  from  above :"  and  whatever  is  the 
fruit  of  perfect  holiness,  to  walk  by  the  same  rule  must  be  the  way  to 
obtain  the  same  salvation.  The  image  of  God  is  one,  grace  is  the 
same ;  and  to  be  in  Christ  is  to  believe,  and  have  the  fellowship  of  his 
Spirit. 

Regeneration  differs  only  in  degrees  of  strength  and  soundness.  In 
our  early  justification  the  Divine  life  is  comparatively  small,  and  mixed 
with  sin ;  but  when  perfectly  renewed,  we  are  strong,  and  every  part 
pure,  holding  by  faith  that  salvation  which  makes  us  one  with  the  Son 
of  God.  ' 

The  law  given  in  our  first  state,  and  the  law  required  by  the  Gospel, 
the  covenant  of  works,  and  the  covenant  of  faith,  are  different.  What- 
ever we  see  in  the  example  of  Jesus,  and  whatever  he  promises  to  be- 
stow on  his  followers,  are  unquestionable  privileges  of  Gospel  salvation. 
Neither  is  the  whole  of  this  salvation,  of  our  justification,  or  of  our  re- 
newal after  the  image  of  God,  finished,  till  the  resurrection,  when  we 
shall  "  see  him  as  he  is,"  and  beholding  him  face  to  face,  "  his  name 
shn.ll  be  written  on  our  foreheads."  Nor  can  we  ever  have  so  much  of  the 
likeness  of  God  as  to  be  incapable  of  more  ;  but  rather  the  more  we  ob- 
tain of  his  image  and  favour,  the  more  we  are  fitted  to  receive  for  ever 
and  ever. 

HEADS   OF  EXAMINATION. 

I.  Do  I  feel  any  pride ;  or  am  I  partaker  of  the  meek  and  lowiy 
mind  that  was  in  Jesus  ?  Am  I  dead  to  all  desire  of  praise  ?  If  any  de- 
spise me,  do  I  like  them  the  worse  for  it  ?  Or  if  they  love  and  approve 
me,  do  I  love  them  more  on  that  account  ?  Am  I  willing  to  be  accounted 
useless,  and  of  no  consequence, — glad  to  be  made  of  no  reputation  ? 
Do  humiliations  give  me  real  pleasure,  and  is  it  the  language  of  my 
heart, 

Make  me  little  and  unknown, 
Loved  and  prized  by  God  alone  ? 


268  FRAGMENTS. 

II.  Does  God  bear  witness  in  my  heart  that  it  is  purified  ?  that  in  all 
things  I  please  him  ? 

III.  Is  the  life  I  live,  "  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God  ;"  so  thai  Christ 
dwelleth  in  me  ?  Is  Christ  the  life  of  all  my  affections  and  designs,  as 
my  soul  is  the  life  of  my  body  ?  Is  my  eye  single,  and  my  soul  full  of 
light, — all  eye  within  and  without ;  always  watchful  ? 

IV.  Have  I  always  the  presence  of  God  ?  Does  no  cloud  come  be- 
tween God  and  the  eye  of  my  faith  ?  Can  I  "  rejoice  evermore,  pray 
without  ceasing,  and  in  every  thing  give  tbanks?" 

V.  Am  I  saved  from  the  fear  of  man  ?  Do  I  speak  plainly  to  all, 
neither  fearing  their  frowns,  nor  seeking  their  favours  ?  Have  I  no  shame 
of  religion ;  and  am  I  always  ready  to  confess  Christ,  to  suffer  with  his 
people,  and  to  die  for  his  sake  ? 

VI.  Do  I  deny  myself  at  all  times,  and  take  up  my  cross  as  the  Spirit 
of  God  leads  me  ?  Do  I  embrace  the  cross  of  every  sort,  being  willing 
to  give  up  my  ease  and  convenience  to  oblige  others ;  or  do  I  expect 
them  to  conform  to  my  hours,  ways,  and  customs?  Does  the  cross  sit 
light  upon  me,  and  am  I  willing  to  suffer  all  the  will  of  God  ?  Can  I 
trample  on  pleasure  and  pain  ?   Have  I 

A  soul  inured  to  pain, 

To  hardship,  grief,  and  loss  ; 
Bold  to  take  up,  firm  to  sustain, 

The  consecrated  cross  ? 

VII.  Are  my  bodily  senses,  and  outward  things,  all  sanctified  to  me? 
Do  I  not  seek  my  own  things,  to  please  myself?  Do  I  seek  grace  more 
for  God's  honour  than  my  own  profit,  preferring  the  glory  of  God  to  all 
in  earth  or  heaven,  the  giver  to  the  gift? 

VIII.  Am  I  "poor  in  spirit?"  Do  I  "take  pleasure  in  infirmities, 
necessities,  distresses,  reproaches;"  so  that  out  of  weakness,  want,  and 
danger,  I  may*  cast  myself  on  the  Lord?  Have  I  no  false  shame  in  ap- 
proaching God  ?  Do  I  seek  to  be  saved,  as  a  poor  sinner,  by  grace 
alone  ? 

IX.  Do  I  not  "  lean  to  my  own  understanding  ?"  Am  I  ready  to  give 
up  the  point,  when  contradicted,  unless  conscience  forbid  ?  Am  I  easy 
to  be  persuaded  ?  Do  I  esteem  every  one  better  than  myself?  Am  I  as 
willing  to  be  a  cypher  as  to  be  useful,  and  does  my  zeal  burn  bright, 
notwithstanding  this  willingness  to  be  nothing? 

X.  Have  I  no  false  wisdom,  goodness,  strength  ;  as  if  the  grace  I  feel 

were  my  own  ?   Do  I  never  take  that  glory  to  myself  which  belongs  to 

Christ  ?    Do  I  feel  my  want  of  Christ,  as  much  as  ever,  to  be  my  all  ? 

and  do  I  draw  near  to  God,  as  poor  and  needy,  only  presenting  before 

him  his  well  beloved  Son  ?  Can  I  say, 

♦ 

"  Every  moment  Lord,  I  need 

The  merit  of  thy  death  ? 
I  shall  hang  upon  my  God, 

Till  I  thy  perfect  glory  see, 
Till  the  sprinkling  of  thy  blood 

Shall  speak  me  up  to  thee  ?" 

Do  I  find  joy  in  being  thus  nothing,  empty,  undeserving,  giving  all  the 
glory  to  Christ  ?  Or  do  I  wish  that  grace  made  me  something,  instead 
of  God  being  all  ? 


FRAGMENTS.  269 

XI.  Have  I  meekness  ?  Does  it  bear  rule  over  all  my  tempers,  affec- 
tions, and  desires ;  so  that  my  hopes,  fears,  joy,  zeal,  love,  and  hatred, 
are  duly  balanced  ?  Do  I  feel  no  disturbance  from  others,  and  do  I  de- 
sire to  give  none  ?  If  any  offend  me,  do  I  still  love  them,  and  make  it  an 
occasion  to  pray  for  them  ?  If  condemned  by  the  world,  do  I  entreat ; — 
if  condemned  by  the  godly,  am  I  one  in  whose  mouth  there  is  no  re- 
proof;  replying  only  as  conscience,  and  not  as  impatient  nature  die- 
tates  ?  If  in  the  wrong,  do  I  confess  it  ?  If  in  the  right,  do  I  submit, 
being  content  to  do  well,  and  suffer  for  it?  It  is  the  sin  of  superiors  to  • 
be  overbearing,  of  inferiors  to  be  stubborn  ;  if,  then,  I  am  a  servant,  do  I 
yield  not  only  to  the  gentle,  but  to  the  froward,  committing  my  cause  in 
silence  to  God  ;  or  if  a  master,  do  I  "  show  all  long  suffering?"  The 
Lord  of  all  was  "  as  he  that  serveth."  If  I  am  the  greatest,  do  I  make 
myself  least,  "  and  the  servant  of  all ;"  if  a  teacher,  am  I  lowly,  meek, 
and  patient,  not  conceited,  self  willed,  nor  dogmatic  ?  Am  I  ready  to 
give  up  the  claims  of  respect  due  to  age,  station,  parent,  master,  &c  ; 
or  do  I  rigidly  exact  those  demands  ? 

XII.  Do  I  possess  resignation  ;  am  I  content  with  whatever  is,  or  may 
be ;  seeing  that  God,  the  Author  of  all  events,  does,  and  will  do,  all  for 
my  good  ?  Do  I  desire  nothing  but  God,  willing  to  part  with  all,  if  the 
Lord  manifest  his  will  for  my  so  doing  ?  Do  I  "  know  how  to  abound," 
and  yet  not  gratify  unnecessary  wants  ;  but  being  content  with  things 
needful,  do  I  faithfully  and  freely  dispose  of  all  the  rest  for  the  help  of 
others  ?  Do  I  know  how  to  suffer  need  ?  Is  my  confidence  unshaken 
while  I  feel  the  distress  of  poverty,  and  have  the  prospect  of  future  want, 
while,  humanly  speaking,  strangling  were  better  than  life  ?  And,  in  these 
circumstances,  do  Dpity  those  who,  having  plenty,  waste  it  in  excess, 
instead  of  helping  me  ? 

XIII.  Am  I  just ;  doing  in  all  things  as  I  would  others  should  do  unto 
•  me?     Do  I  render  due  homage  to  those  above  me,  not  presuming  on 

their  lenity  and  condescension  ?  As  a  superior,  do  I  exercise  no  undue 
authority,  taking  no  advantage  of  the  timidity,  respect,  or  necessity  of 
any  man  ?  Do  I  consider  the  great  obligation  superiority  lays  me  under, 
of  being  lowly  and  kind,  and  of  setting  a  good  example  ? 

XIV.  Am  I  temperate,  using  the  world,  and  not  abusing  it  ?  Do  I 
receive  outward  things  in  the  order  of  God,  making  earth  a  scale  to 
heaven  ?  Is  the  satisfaction  I  take  in  the  creation  consistent  with  my 
being  dead  to  all  below,  and  a  mean  of  leading  me  more  to  God  ?  Is  the 
turn  of  my  mind  and  temper  in  due  subjection,  not  leading  me  to  any 
extreme,  either  of  too  much  silence,  or  of  too  much  talkativeness,  of  re- 
serve, or  freedom? 

XV.  Am  I  courteous,  not  severe  ?  Suiting  myself  to  all  with  sweet- 
ness ?  Striving  to  give  no  one  pain,  but  to  gain  and  win  all  for  their 
good  ? 

XVI.  Am  I  vigilant ;  redeeming  time,  taking  every  opportunity  ot 
doing  good ;  or  do  I  spare  myself,  being  careless  about  the  souls  and 
bodies  to  which  I  might  do  good  ?  Can  I  do  no  more  than  I  do  ?  Do  I 
perform  the  most  servile  offices,  such  as  require  labour  and  humiliation, 
with  cheerfulness?  Is  my  conversation  always  seasoned  with  salt,  at 
every  time  administering  some  kind  of  favour  to  those  I  am  with  ? 

XVII.  Do  I  "love  God  with  all  my  heart?"    Do  I  constantly  present 


270  FRAGMENTS. 

myself,  my  time,  substance,  talents,  and  all  that  I  have,  a  living  sacrifice  ? 
Is  every  thought  brought  into  subjection  to  Christ  ?  Do  I  like,  or  dislike, 
only  such  tilings  as  are  pleasing  or  displeasing  to  God  ? 

XVIII.  Do  I  love  God  with  all  my  strength,  and  are  my  spiritual  facul- 
ties always  vigorous  ?  Do  I  give  way  to  no  sinful  languor  ?  Am  I  always 
on  my  watch  1  Do  not  business,  worldly  care,  and  conversation,  damp 
my  fervour  and  zeal  for  God  1 

XIX.  Do  I  love  my  neighbour  as  myself;  every  man  for  Christ's 
sake,  and  honour  all  men,  as  the  image  of  God  1  Do  I  think  no  evil, 
listen  to  no  groundless  surmises,  nor  judge  from  appearances?  Can  I 
bridle  my  tongue,  never  speaking  of  the  faults  of  another,  but  with  a 
view  to  do  good ;  and  when  I  am  obliged  to  do  it,  have  I  the  testimony 
that  I  sin  not  ?  Have  I  that  love  which  hopeth,  believeth,  and  endureth 
all  things  1 

XX.  How  am  I  in  my  sleep  ?  If  Satan  presents  an  evil  imagination, 
does  my  will  immediately  resist,  or  give  way  to  it  ? 

XXI.  Do  I  bear  the  infirmities  of  age  or  sickness  ;  without  seeking  to 
repair  the  decays  of  nature  by  strong  liquors;  or  do  I  make  Christ  my 
sole  support,  casting  the  burden  of  a  feeble  body  into  the  arms  of  his 
mercy  1 

Many  consider  that  "  perfect  love  which  casteth  out  fear"  as  instanta- 
neous :  all  grace  is  so ;  but  what  is  given  in  a  moment,  is  enlarged  and 
established  by  diligence  and  fidelity.  That  which  is  instantaneous  in  its 
descent,  is  perfective  in  its  increase. 

This  is  certain, — too  much  grace  cannot  be  desired  or  looked  for ; 
and  to  believe  and  obey  with  all  the  power  we  have,  is  the  highway  to 
receive  all  we  have  not.  There  is  a  day  of  pentecost  for  believers ;  a 
time  when  the  Holy  Ghost  descends  abundantly  Happy  they  who  re- 
ceive most  of  this  perfect  love,  ana  oi  that  establishing  grace,  which  may 
preserve  them  from  such  falls  and  decays  as  they  were  before  liable  to. 

Jesus,  Lord  of  all,  grant  thy  purest  gifts  to  every  waiting  disciple. 
Enlighten  us  with  the  knowledge  of  thy  will,  and  show  us  "  the  mark  of 
the  prize  of  our  high  calling."  Let  us  die  to  all  thou  art  not;  and  seek 
thee  with  our  whole  heart,  till  we  enjoy  the  fulness  of  the  purchased 
possession.     Amen ! 


POSTHUMOUS    PIECES 


LATE    REV.  JOHN    FLETCHER 


CONTAINING 


SIX  LETTERS  ON  THE  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF 
THE  SON  OF  GOD; 


TOGETHER  WITH 


RIVERS   PASTORAL   AND   FAMILIAR   LETTERS,   COLLECTED   AND    FIRST   PUB- 
LISHED  BY  THE  REV.   MELVILLE  HORNE. 


MR.  HORNE'S  PREFACE. 


The  name  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Fletcher,  inscribed  on  this  volume, 
will  introduce  it  to  the  perusal  of  many ;  and  its  own  intrinsic  worth 
will,  I  flatter  myself,  entitle  it  to  the  approbation  of  proper  judges. 
Thus  I  am  relieved  from  the  pain  of  soliciting  for  it  the  notice  of  the 
public,  and  giving  it  that  commendation  which  will  better  become  any 
other  person  than  the  editor.  It  may,  however,  be  expected  that  I 
should  give  some  account  of  my  book ;  and  I  conform  the  more  cheer- 
fully to  general  custom,  as  it  affords  me  an  opportunity  of  conciliating 
the  candour  of  the  reader. 

This  book  is  truly  Mr.  Fletcher's.  A  large  part  of  the  Letters  is 
transcribed  from  the  originals,  others  from  authentic  copies,  and  some 
from  a  small  Collection  of  Letters,  published  a  few  years  ago  in  Dublin. 
For  the  Letters  on  the  Manifestation  of  Christ,  and  the  Fragments,  I  am 
obliged  to  Mrs.  Fletcher :  the  first  are  in  the  author's  own  manuscript, 
the  last  copied  by  Mrs.  Fletcher  from  some  of  his  old  pocket  books. 
The  Pastoral  and  Familiar  Letters  are  written  from  the  period  of  Mr. 
Fletcher's  conversion,  to  within  a  few  days  of  his  decease.  When 
the  Letters  on  the  Manifestation  were  written,  or  to  whom  they  are 
addressed,  I  cannot  learn ;  but  from  the  beginning  of  the  first  letter, 
the  decaved  state  of  the  manuscript,  and  the  extreme  smallness  of  the 
character,  (which  could  scarcely  have  been  legible  to  the  author  in  his 
latter  years,)  I  judge  them  to  have  been  the  first  essay  of  a  genius  after- 
ward so  much  admired.  The  Fragments,  of  which  some  appear  as  the 
thoughts  of  the  day,  others  as  notes  of  sermons,  bear  date  the  first  few 
years  of  his  ministry. 

If,  therefore,  any  part  of  this  volume,  however  excellent,  be  deemed 
inferior  to  the  more  mature  productions  of  the  same  admirable  pen,  it  is 
hoped  that  candour  will  have  at  least  as  much  weight  as  criticism.  * 
The  reader  is  farther  requested  to  remember  that  the  pious  author 
wrote  only  for  himself  and  his  friends  ;  that  these  sheets  want  his  per- 
fecting hand  ;  and  that  the  editor  thought  himself  entitled  to  take  no 
liberties. 

It  is  not  expected  that  Mr.  Fletcher's  reputation,  as  a  writer,  will 
receive  new  lustre  from  these  Posthumous  Pieces:  but,  if  the  many 
friends  who  revere  his  memory,  find  edification  and  delight  in  perusing 
his  apostolic  letters  ;  if  any,  whose  opposition  of  sentiment  would  not 
allow  them  to  converse  with  him  as  a  polemic  divine,  shall  now  receive 
him  to  their  breasts  as  a  Christian  brother  ;  if  any  who  have  not  reaped 
Vol.  IV.  18 


2<4  mr.  horne's  preface. 

the  rich  harvest  of  his  former  writings,  are  benefited  by  tne  gleanings 
of  the  field  ;  and  if  the  world  in  general  is  made  better  acquainted  with 
the  virtues  of  this  excellent  man,  all  the  ends  proposed  by  their  publica- 
tion will  be  obtained,  and  the  editor  will  think  himself  justified  in  giving 
them  to  the  press. 

That  the  benediction  of  the  Almighty  may  attend  these  last  labours 
of  his  servant,  that  the  reader  may  imbibe  the  spirit  of  the  author,  and 
that  myself  and  all  my  fellow  labourers  in  the  Gospel  may  emulate  his 
faith  and  work  in  the  Lord,  is  the  earnest  desire  of 

The  Editor. 


SIX   LETTERS 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 


LETTER  I. 

Sir, — When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  last,  you  seemed  sur- 
prised to  hear  me  say  that  the  Son  of  God,  for  purposes  worthy  of  his 
wisdom,  manifests  himself,  sooner  or  later,  to  all  his  sincere  followers, 
in  a  spiritual  manner,  which  the  world  knows  not  of.  The  assertion 
appeared  to  you  unscriptural,  enthusiastical,  and  dangerous.  What  I 
then  advanced  to  prove  that  it  was  Scriptural,  rational,  and  of  the  greatest 
importance,  made  you  desire  I  would  write  to  you  on  the  mysterious 
subject.  I  declined  it,  as  being  unequal  to  the  task ;  but  having  since 
considered  that  a  mistake  here  may  endanger  your  soul  and  mine,  I  sit 
down  to  comply  with  your  request :  and  the  end  I  propose  by  it,  is  either 
to  give  you  a  fair  opportunity  of  pointing  out  my  error,  if  I  am  wrong, 
or  to  engage  you,  if  I  am  right,  to  seek  what  I  esteem  the  most  valuable 
of  all  blessings — revelations  of  Christ  to  your  own  soul,  productive  of 
the  experimental  knowledge  of  him,  and  the  present  enjoyment  of  his 
salvation. 

As  an  architect  cannot  build  a  palace  unless  he  be  allowed  a  proper 
spot  to  erect  it  upon,  so  I  shall  not  be  able  to  establish  the  doctrine  I 
maintain  unless  you  allow  me  the  existence  of  the  proper  senses  to 
which  our  Lord  manifests  himself.  The  manifestation  I  contend  for 
being  of  a  spiritual  nature,  must  be  made  to  spiritual  senses ;  and  that 
such  senses  exist,  and  are  opened  in,  and  exercised  by  regenerate  souls, 
is  what  I  design  to  prove  in  this  letter,  by  the  joint  testimony  of  Scrip- 
ture, our  Church,  and  reason. 

I.  The  Scriptures  inform  us  that  Adam  lost  the  experimental  know- 
ledge of  God  by  the  fall.  His  foolish  attempt  to  hide  himself  from  his 
Creator,  whose  eyes  are  in  every  place,  evidences  the  total  blindness  of 
his  understanding.  The  same  veil  of  unbelief  which  hid  God  from  his 
mind,  was  drawn  over  his  heart  and  all  his  spiritual  senses.  He  died 
the  death,  the  moral,  spiritual  death,  in  consequence  of  which  the  cor- 
ruptible body  sinks  into  the  grave,  and  the  unregenerate  soul  into  hell. 

In  this  deplorable  state  Adam  begat  his  children.  We,  like  him,  are 
not  only  void  of  the  life  of  God,  but  alienated  from  it  through  the  igno- 
rance that  is  in  us.  Hence  it  is,  that  though  we  are  possessed  of  such 
an  animal  and  rational  life,  as  he  retained  after  the  commission  of  his 
sin,  yet  we  are,  by  nature,  utter  strangers  to  the  holiness  and  bliss  he 
enjoyed  in  a  state  of  innocence.  Though  we  have,  in  common  with 
beasts,  bodily  organs  of  sight,  hearing,  tasting,  smelling,  and  feeling, 
adapted  to  outward  objects ;  though  we  enjoy,  in  common  with  devils, 
the  faculty  of  reasoning  upon  natural  truths  and  mathematical  proposi- 


276  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

lions,  yet  we  do  not  understand  supernatural  and  Divine  things.  Not- 
withstanding all  our  speculations  about  them,  we  can  neither  see  nor 
taste  them  truly,  unless  we  are  "risen  with  Christ  and  taught  of  God." 
We  may,  indeed,  speak  and  write  about  them,  as  the  blind  may  speak  of 
colours,  and  the  deaf  dispute  of  sounds,  but  it  is  all  guesswork,  hearsay, 
and  mere  conjecture.  The  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  cannot  be  dis- 
covered but  by  spiritual,  internal  senses,  which  are,  with  regard  to  the 
spiritual  world,  what  our  bodily  external  senses  are  with  regard  to  the 
material  world.  They  are  the  only  medium  by  which  an  intercourse 
between  Christ  and  our  souls  can  be  opened  and  maintained. 

The  exercise  of  these  senses  is  peculiar  to  those  who  are  born  of 
God.  They  belong  to  what  the  apostles  call  "the  new  man,  the  inward 
man,  the  new  creature,  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart."  In  believers, 
this  hidden  man  is  awakened  and  raised  from  the  dead,  by  the  power  of 
Christ's  resurrection.  Christ  is  his  life,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  his  spirit, 
prayer  or  praise  his  breath,  holiness  his  health,  and  love  his  element. 
We  read  of  his  hunger  and  thirst,  food  and  drink,  garment  and  habita- 
tion, armour  and  conflicts,  pain  and  pleasure,  fainting  and  reviving, 
growing,  walking,  and  working.  All  this  supposes  senses,  and  the  more 
these  senses  are  quickened  by  God,  and  exercised  by  the  new-born  soul, 
the  clearer  and  stronger  is  his  perception  of  Divine  things. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  unbelievers,  the  inward  man  is  deaf,  blind, 
naked,  asleep,  past  feeling ;  yea,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins ;  and  of 
course,  as  incapable  of  perceiving  spiritual  things,  as  a  person  in  a  deep 
sleep,  or  a  dead  man,  of  discovering  outward  objects.  St.  Paul's  lan- 
guage to  him  is,  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light."  He  calls  him  a  natural  man,  one  who 
hath  no  higher  life  than  his  parents  conveyed  to  him  by  natural  genera- 
tion— one  who  follows  the  dictates  of  his  own  sensual  soul,  and  is  nei- 
ther born  of  God,  nor  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  "  The  natural  man," 
says  the  apostle,  "  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit,  for  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually discerned."  He  has  no  sense  properly  exercised  for  this  kind  of 
discernment,  "  his  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  en- 
tered into  his  heart  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
love  him." 

The  reverse  of  the  natural  man  is  the  spiritual,  so  called,  because 
God  hath  revealed  spiritual  things  to  him  by  his  Spirit,  who  is  now  in 
him  a  principle  of  spiritual  and  eternal  life.  "  The  spiritual  man,"  says 
the  apostle,  "  judgeth,  [i.  e.  discerneth]  all  things,  yet  he  himself  is  dis- 
cerned of  no  one."  The  high  state  he  is  in  can  no  more  be  discerned 
by  the  natural  man,  than  the  condition  of  the  natural  man  can  be  dis- 
cerned by  a  brute,  1  Cor.  x,  15. 

Si.  Paul  not  only  describes  the  spiritual  man,  but  speaks  particularly 
of  his  internal,  moral  senses.  Christians,  says  he,'of  full  age,  by  reason 
of  use,  have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil,  Heb.  v,  14. 
He  prays,  that  the  love  of  the  Philippians  "  may  abound  more  and  more 
in  knowledge,  and  sv  iratfrj  aidbrfiei  in  all  sense  or  feeling,"  Phil,  i,  9. 
The  Scriptures  constantly  mention,  or  allude  to  one  or  other  of  these 
spiritual  senses.     Give  me  leave  to  produce  some  instances. 

(1.)  To  begin  with  sight.     St.  Paul  prays  that  the  eyes  of  his  con 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  277 

verte  being  enlightened,  they  might  "  know  what  was  the  hope  of  their 
calling."  He  reminds  them  that  Christ  had  been  "  evidently  set  forth 
crucified  before  their  eyes."  He  assures  them,  that  "the  god  of  this 
world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  them  that  believe  not  the  Gospel ;"  and 
declares  that  his  commission  was  "  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light."  "  Abraham  saw  Christ's  dav, 
and  was  glad."  Moses  persevered,  as  "seeing  Him  who  is  invisible." 
David  prayed,  "  Open  my  eyes  that  I  may  see  wonders  out  of  thy  law." 
Our  Lord  complains  that  the  heart  of  unbelievers  is  "  waxed  gross,  that 
their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  that  they  have  closed  their  eyes,  lest 
they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  understand  with  their  hearts,  and  be 
converted."  He  counsels  the  Laodiceans  to  anoint  their  eyes  with  eye 
salve,  that  they  might  see."  He  declares  that  the  world  cannot  receive 
the  Spirit  of  truth,  "  because  it  sees  him  not ;"  that  "  the  things  which 
belong  to  the  peace"  of  obstinate  unbelievers  are,  at  last,  judicially  "hid 
from  their  eyes  ;"  and  that  the  "  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God."  St.  John 
testifies  that  he  who  does  evil  "  hath  not  seen  God  :"  and  that  darkness 
"  hath  blinded  the  eyes  of  him"  that  loves  not  his  brother.  The  Holy 
Ghost  informs  us,  that  believers  "  look  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen, 
and  behold  the  glory  of  God,  shining  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  These 
are  the  eyes  with  which  believers  see  the  salvation  of  God.  They  are 
so  distinct  from  those  of  the  body,  that  when  our  Lord  opened  them  in 
St.  Paul's  soul,  he  suffered  scales  to  grow  over  his  bodily  eyes.  And 
no  doubt,  when  Christ  gave  outward  sight  to  the  blind,  it  was  chiefly  to 
convince  the  world  that  it  is  He  who  can  say  to  blind  sinners,  "  Re- 
ceive your  sight ;  see  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living ; 
look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved." 

(2.)  If  you  do  not  admit  of  a  spiritual  hearing,  what  can  you  make 
of  our  Lord's  repeated  caution,  "  He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him 
hear  ?"  And  what  can  be  the  meaning  of  the  following  scriptures : — 
"  Hear,  O  foolish  people,  who  have  ears  and  hear  not.  Ye  uncircum- 
cised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  cannot  hear  my  words ;  ye  are  of  your  fa- 
ther the  devil.  He  that  is  of  God,  heareth  God's  words ;  ye,  therefore, 
hear  them  not,  because  ye  are  not  of  God  ?"  Can  it  be  supposed  that  our 
Lord  spake  of  outward  hearing,  when  he  said,  "  The  hour  cometh,  and  now 
is,  that  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  and  live.  My 
sheep  hear  my  voice.  He  that  hath  heard  and  learned  of  the  Father, 
cometh  unto  me?"  Do  not  all  sinners  stand  spiritually  in  need  of 
Christ's  powerful  Ephphatha,  "Be  thou  opened?"  Is  that  man  truly 
converted,  who  cannot  witness  with  Isaiah,  "  The  Lord  hath  wakened 
my  ear  to  hear  as  the  learned  ;"  and  with  the  psalmist,  "  Mine  ears  hast 
thou  opened  ?"  Had  not  the  believers  at  Ephesus  "  heard  Christ,  and 
been  taught  of  him  ?"  When  St.  Paul  was  caught  up  into  the  third 
heaven,  did  he  not  "  hear  words  unspeakable  ?"  And,  far  from  thinking 
spiritual  hearing  absurd,  or  impossible,  did  he  not  question,  whether  he 
was  not  then  out  of  the  body?  And  does  not  St.  John  positively  declare 
that  he  was  in  the  Spirit,  when  he  heard  Jesus  say,  "lam  the  first  and 
the  last?" 

(3.)  How  void  of  meaning  are  the  following  passages,  if  they  do  not 
allude  to  that  sense,  which  is  calculated  for  the  reception  of  what  the 
barrenness  of  human  language  compels  me  to  call  spiritual  perfumes  • 


278  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

"  The  smell  of  thy  ointments  is  better  than  all  spices.  The  smell  of  thy 
garments  is  like  the  smell  of  Lebanon,  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh, 
aloes,  and  cassia ;  and  because  of  the  savour  of  thy  good  ointments,  thy 
name  is  as  ointment  poured  forth." 

(4.)  If  believers  have  not  a  spiritual  faculty  of  tasting  Divine  things, 
what  delusion  must  they  be  under,  when  they  say,  Christ's  "  fruit  is  sweet 
to  their  taste ;"  and  cry  out,  "  How  sweet  are  thy  words  to  my  taste ; 
they  are  sweeter  than  honey  to  my  mouth  !"  But  how  justly  can  they 
speak  thus,  if  they  have  "  tasted  the  heavenly  gift,  and  the  good  word  of 
God,  and  as  new-born  babes,  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  it !"  Surely,  if 
they  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  God,  drink  his  blood,  and  taste  that  the 
Lord  is  gracious,"  they  have  a  right  to  testify,  that  "  his  love  is  better 
than  wine ;"  and  to  invite  those  that  "  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness, to  taste  that  the  Lord  is  good,"  that  they  also  may  be  satisfied  with 
his  goodness  and  mercy,  "  as  with  marrow  and  fatness." 

(5.)  If  we  be  not  perfect  Stoics  in  religion,  if  we  have  one  degree 
more  of  devotion,  than  the  marble  statues,  which  adorn  our  churches, 
we  should  have,  I  think,  some  feeling  of  our  unworthiness,  some  sense 
of  God's  majesty.  Christ's  tender  heart  was  pierced  to  atone  for,  and 
to  remove  the  hardness  of  ours.  God  promises  to  take  from  us  the 
"  heart  of  stone,"  and  to  give  us  a  heart  of  flesh,  "  a  broken  and  con- 
trite heart,"  the  sacrifice  of  which  he  will  not  despise.  Good  King  Jo- 
siah  was  praised,  because  his  heart  was  "  tender."  The  conversion  of 
the  three  thousand,  on  the  day  of  pentecost,  began  by  their  being  pricked 
in  their  heart.  We  are  directed  to  feel  after  God,  if  haply  we  may  find 
him.  Our  Lord  himself  is  not  ashamed  to  be  touched,  in  heaven,  with 
a  feeling  of  our  infirmities.  And  St.  Paul  intimates,  that  the  highest 
degree  of  obduracy  and  apostasy,  is  to  be  past  feeling,  and  to  have  our 
consciences  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron.* 

I  hope,  sir,  you  will  not  attempt  to  set  aside  so  many  plain  passages 
by  saying  they  are  unfit  to  support  a  doctrine,  as  containing  empty 
metaphors,  which  amount  just  to  nothing.  This  would  be  pouring  the 
greatest  contempt  on  the  perspicuity  of  the  oracles  of  God,  the  integrity 
of  the  sacred  writers,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  Holy  Ghost  who  inspired 
them.  As  certainly  as  there  is  a  spiritual  life,  there  are  senses  calcu- 
lated for  the  display  and  enjoyment  of  it ;  and  these  senses  exist  no 
more  in  metaphor  than  the  life  that  exerts  itself  by  them.  Our  Lord 
settled  the  point  when  he  declared  to  Nicodemus,  that  "  no  man  can  see 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  the  kingdom  of  grace  here  and  of  glory  hereafter, 
"  except  he  be  first  born  of  God,  born  of  the  Spirit ;"  just  as  no  child 
can  see  this  world  except  he  be  first  born  of  a  woman,  born  of  the 
flesh.  Hence  it  appears  that  a  regenerate  soul  hath  its  spiritual  senses 
opened,  and  made  capable  of  discerning  what  belongs  to  the  spiritual 
world,  as  a  new-born  infant  hath  its  natural  senses  unlocked,  and  begins 
to  see,  hear,  and  taste  what  belongs  to  the  material  world  into  which  he 
enter-. 

II.  These  declarations  of  the  Lord,  his  prophets,  and  apostles,  need 
no  confirmation.  Nevertheless,  to  show  you,  sir,  that  I  do  not  mistake 
their  meaning  I  shall  add  the  testimony  of  our  own  excellent  Church. 
As  she  strictly  agrees  with  the  Scripture,  she  makes  also  frequent  men- 
tion of  spiritual  sensations ;  and  you  know,  sir,  that  sensations  necessarily 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SON  OF   GOD.  279 

suppose  senses.  She  prays  that  God  would  "  give  us  a  due  sense  of 
his  inestimable  love  in  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  (Thanksgiving.)  She  begs  that  he  would  "  make  us  know  and 
feel  that  there  is  no  other  name  than  that  of  Jesus,  whereby  we  must 
be  saved."  (Office  for  the  sick.)  She  affirms  that  true  penitents  feel 
"the  burden  of  their  sins  intolerable;"  (communion;)  that  godly  persons 
"  feel  in  themselves  the  workings  of  Christ's  Spirit ;"  (seventeenth  arti- 
cle;) that  "the  Lord  speaks  presently  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  to  the 
great  and  endless  comfort  of  all  that  have  any  feeling  of  God  in  them  at 
all ;"  that  "  godly  men  felt  inwardly  the  Holy  Ghost  inflaming  their 
hearts  with  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  and  that  they  are  miserable 
wretches  who  have  no  feeling  of  God  within  them  at  all !"  (Horn,  on 
certain  places  of  Scripture ;)  and  that  "if  we  feel  the  heavy  burden  of 
our  sins  pressing  our  souls  and  tormenting  us  with  the  fear  of  death, 
hell,  and  damnation,  we  must  steadfastly  behold  Christ  crucified  with  the 
eyes  of  our  heart."  (Second  Horn,  on  the  passion.) 

Our  Church  farther  declares  that  "  true  faith  is  not  in  the  mouth  and 
outward  profession  only,  but  liveth  and  stirreth  in  the  heart,  and  if  we 
feel  and  perceive  such  a  faith  in  us,  we  must  rejoice,"  (Horn,  on  faith, 
first  and  third  part :)  that  "  correction,  though  painful,  bringeth  with  it 
a  taste  of  God's  goodness:"  (Horn,  on  the  fear  of  death,  third  part:)  that 
"  if  after  contrition  we  feel  our  consciences  at  peace  with  God,  through 
the  remission  of  our  sin,  it  is  God  who  worketh  that  great  miracle  in 
us ;"  and  she  prays,  that  "  as  this  knowledge  and  feeling  is  not  in  our- 
selves, and  as  by  ourselves  it  is  not  possible  to  come  by  it,  the  Lord 
would  give  us  grace  to  know  these  things,  and  feel  them  in  our  hearts." 
(Horn,  for  Rogation  week,  third  part.)  She  begs  that  "  God  would  assist 
us  with  his  Holy  Spirit,  that  we  may  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  good 
Shepherd:"  (Horn,  on  repentance,  second  part:)  she  sets  upon  asking 
continually  that  the  Lord  would  "  lighten  our  darkness,"  and  deliver  us 
from  the  two  heaviest  plagues  of  Pharaoh,  "  blindness  and  hardness  of 
heart."  (Evening  prayer  and  litany.)  And  she  affirms  that  "if  we  will 
be  profitable  hearers  of  the  Scriptures,  we  must  keep  under  our  carnal 
senses,  taken  by  the  outward  words,  search  the  inward  meaning,  and 
give  place  to  the  Holy  Ghost,"  whose  peculiar  office  it  is  to  open  our 
spiritual  senses,  as  he  opened  Lydia's  heart.  (Horn,  on  certain  places  of 
Scripture.) 

If  I  did  not  think  the  testimony  of  our  blessed  reformers,  founded  upon 
that  of  the  sacred  writers,  of  sufficient  weight  to  turn  the  scale  of  your 
sentiments,  I  could  throw  in  the  declarations  of  many  ancient  divines. 
To  instance  in  two  or  three  only.  St.  Cyril,  in  the  thirteenth  Book  of 
his  Treasure,  affirms,  that  "  men  know  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  no  otherwise  than  they  who  taste  honey  know  it  is  sweet,  even  by 
its  proper  quality."  Dr.  Smith,  of  Queen's  college,  Cambridge,  in  his 
Select  Discourses,  observes,  after  Plotinus,  that  "  God  is  best  discerned 
vo£pcc  TV]  a<p?],  by  an  intellectual  touch  of  him."  We  must,  says  he,  "  see 
with  our  eyes,  to  use  St.  John's  words ;  '  we  must  hear  with  our  ears, 
and  our  hands  must  handle  the  word  of  life,'  sffli  yap  4,UX"'15  u't^d'S  rig, 
for  the  soul  hath  its  sense  as  well  as  the  body."  And  Bishop  Hopkins, 
in  his  Treatise  on  the  New  Birth,  accounts  for  the  Papists  denying  the 
knowledge  of  salvation  by  saying,  "  It  is  no  wonder  that  they  who  will 


280  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SON  OF  GOD. 

not  trust  their  natural  senses  in  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  should 
not  trust  their  spiritual  ones  in  the  doctrine  of  assurance." 

III.  But  instead  of  proving  the  point  by  multiplying  quotations,  let  me 
entreat  you,  sir,  to  weigh  the  following  observations  in  the  balance  of 
reason ; — 

(1.)  Do  not  all  grant  there  is  such  a  thing  as  moral  sense  in  the 
world,  and  that  to  be  utterly  void  of  it  is  to  be  altogether  unfit  for  social 
life  1  If  you  had  given  a  friend  the  greatest  proofs  of  your  love,  would 
not  he  be  inexcusable  if  lie  felt  no  gratitude,  and  had  absolutely  no  sense 
of  your  kindness?  Now,  if  moral  sense  and  feeling  are  universally 
allowed  between  man  and  man  in  civil  life,  why  should  it  appear  incredi- 
ble, or  irrational,  that  there  should  be  such  a  thing  between  God  and 
man  in  the  Divine  life  ? 

(2.)  To  conclude.  If  material  objects  cannot  be  perceived  by  man  in 
his  present  state,  but  through  the  medium  of  one  or  other  of  his  bodily 
senses,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  spiritual  objects  cannot  be  discovered  but 
through  one  or  other  of  the  senses,  which  belong  to  the  inward  man. 
God  being  a  Spirit,  cannot  be  worshipped  in  truth,  unless  he  be  known  in 
Spirit.  You  may  as  soon  imagine  how  a  blind  man,  by  reasoning  on 
what  he  feels  or  tastes,  can  get  true  ideas  on  light  and  colours,  as  how 
one,  who  has  no  spiritual  senses  opened,  can,  by  all  his  reasoning  and 
guessing,  attain  an  experimental  knowledge  of  the  invisible  God. 

Thus  from  the  joint  testimony  of  Scripture,  of  our  Church,  and  of 
reason,  it  appears  that  spiritual  senses  are  a  blessed  reality.  I  have 
dwelt  so  long  on  the  proof  of  their  existence  for  two  reasons.  First,  they 
are  of  infinite  use  in  religion.  Saving  faith  cannot  subsist  and  act  with- 
out them.  If  St.  Paul's  definition  of  grace  be  just,  if  it  be  "  the  sub- 
stance, or  subsistence  rather,  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen,"  it  must  be  a  principle  of  spiritual  life,  more  or  less,  attended 
with  the  exercise  of  these  senses ;  according  to  the  poetic  and  evangeli- 
cal lines  of  Dr.  Young  : — 

My  heart,  awake. 
Feel  the  great  truths  :  to  feel  is  to  be  fired, 
And  to  believe,  Lorenzo,  is  to  feel. 

Till  professors  see  the  necessity  of  believing,  in  this  manner,  they  resi  In 
a  refined  "form  of  godliness."  To  the  confidence  of  the  Antinomians, 
they  may,  indeed,  join  the  high  profession  of  the  foolish  virgins.  They 
may  even  crown  their  partial  assent  to  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  with  the 
zeal  of  Pharisees  and  the  regularity  of  moralists  ;  but  still  they  stop  short 
of  the  "  new  creation',"  the  "  new  birth,  the  life  of  God"  in  the  soul  of 
man.  Nay  more,  they  stumble  at  some  of  the  most  important  truths  of 
Christianity,  and  think  the  discoveries  that  sound  believers  have  of  Christ 
and  the  spiritual  world  are  enthusiastical  delusions,  or  at  least  extra- 
ordinary favours,  which  they  can  very  well  do  without.  Thus,  even 
while  they  allow  the  power  of  godliness  in  others,  they  rest  satisfied 
without  experiencing  it  in  themselves. 

Secondly.  What  I  shall  write  will  depend  very  much  on  the  existence 
of  "  spiritual  senses :"  if  this  letter  convince  you  that  they  are  opened 
in  every  new-born  soul,  you  will  more  easily  believe  Christ  can  and 
does  manifest  himself  by  that  proper  medium  ;  and  my  letters  on  Divine 
Manifestations  will  meet  with  a  less  prejudiced  reader. 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  281 

That  Emmanuel,  "  the  light  of  the  world,"  may  direct  me  to  write 
with  soberness  and  truth,  and  you  to  read  with  attention  and  candour,  is 
the  sincere  prayer  of,  sir,  yours,  &c, 

John  Fletcher. 


LETTER  II. 

Sir, — Having  proved  in  my  first  letter  the  existence  of  the  "  spiritual 
senses,"  to  which  the  Lord  manifests  himself,  I  shall  now  enter  upon 
that  subject,  by  letting  you  know,  as  far  as  my  pen  can  do  it : — I.  "What 
is  the  nature  of  that  manifestation,  which  makes  the  believer  more  than 
conqueror  over  sin  and  death. 

(1.)  Mistake  me  not,  sir,  for  the  pleasure  of  calling  me  enthusiast. 
I  do  not  insist,  as  you  may  imagine,  upon  a  manifestation  of  the  voice, 
body,  or  blood  of  our  Lord  to  our  external  senses.  Pilate  heard  Christ's 
voice,  the  Jews  saw  his  body,  the  soldiers  handled  it,  and  some  of  them 
were  literally  sprinkled  with  his  blood ;  but  this  answered  no  spiritual 
end  :  they  knew  not  God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

(2.)  Nor  do  I  understand  such  a  knowledge  of  our  Redeemer's  doc- 
trine, offices,  promises,  and  performances,  as  the  natural  man  can  attain, 
by  the  force  of  his  understanding  and  memory.  All  carnal  professors, 
all  foolish  virgins,  by  conversing  with  true  Christians,  hearing  Gospel 
sermons^  and  reading  evangelical  books,  attain  to  the  historical  and  doc- 
trinal knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  Their  understandings  are  informed  ; 
but,  alas !  their  hearts  remain  unchanged.  Acquainted  with  the  letter, 
they  continue  ignorant  of  the  Spirit.  Boasting,  perhaps,  of  the  great- 
ness of  Christ's  salvation,  they  remain  altogether  unsaved ;  and  full  of 
talk  about  what  he  hath  done  for  them,  they  know  nothing  of  "  Christ  in 
them,  the  hope  of  glory." 

(3.)  Much  less  do  I  mean  such  a  representation  of  our  Lord's  person 
and  sufferings  as  the  natural  man  can  form  to  himself,  by  the  force  of  a 
warm  imagination.  Many,  by  seeing  a  striking  picture  of  Jesus  bleed- 
ing on  the  cross,  or  hearing  a  pathetic  discourse  on  his  agony  in  the 
garden,  are  deeply  affected  and  melted  into  tears.  They  raise,  in  them- 
selves, a  lively  idea  of  a  great  and  good  man  unjustly  tortured  to  death : 
their  soft  passions  are  wrought  upon,  and  pity  fills  their  heaving  breasts. 
But,  alas  !  they  remain  strangers  to  the  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  murder  of  Julius  Cesar,  pathetically  described, 
would  have  the  same  effect  upon  them  as  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ. 
A  deep  play  would  touch  them  as  easily  as  a  deep  sermon,  and  much  to 
the  same  purpose ;  for  in  either  case  their  impressions  and  their  tears 
are  generally  wiped  away  together. 

(4.)  Nor  yet  do  I  understand  good  desires,  meltings  of  heart,  victories 
over  particular  corruptions,  a  confidence  that  the  Lord  can  and  will  save 
us,  power  to  stay  ourselves  on  some  promises,  gleams  of  joy,  rays  of 
comfort,  enlivening  hopes,  touches  of  love ;  no,  not  even  foretastes  of 
Christian  liberty,  and  of  the  good  word  of  God.  These  are  rather  the 
delightful  "  drawings  of  the  Father,"  than  the  powerful  "  revelation  of 
the  Son."  These,  like  the  star  that  led  the  wise  men  for  a  time,  then 
disappeared,  and  appeared  again,  are   helps  and  encouragements,   to 


282  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

come  to  Christ,  and  not  a  Divine  union  with  him,  by  the  revelation  of 
himself. 

I  can  more  easily  tell  you,  sir,  what  this  revelation  is  not,  than  what 
it  is.  The  tongues  of  men  and  angels  want  proper  words  to  express  the 
sweetness  and  glory  with  which  the  Son  of  God  visits  the  soul  that  can- 
not  rest  without  him.  This  blessing  is  not  to  be  described,  but  enjoyed. 
It  is  to  be  "  written,  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God,  not 
on  paper,  or  tables  of  stone,  but  in  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  heart."  May 
the  Lord  himself  explain  the  mystery,  by  giving  you  to  eat  of  the  "  hid- 
den  manna,"  and  bestowing  upon  you  the  "  new  name,  which  no  man 
knows  save  he  that  receives  it !"  In  the  meantime  take  a  view  of  the 
following  rough  draft  of  his  mercy ;  and,  if  it  be  agreeable  to  the  letter 
of  the  word,  pray  that  it  may  be  engraved  on  your  heart  by  the  power 
of  the  Spirit. 

The  revelation  of  Christ,  by  which  a  carnal  professor  becomes  a  holy 
and  happy  possessor  of  the  faith,  is  a  supernatural,  spiritual,  experimental 
manifestation  of  the  Spirit,  power,  and  love,  and  sometimes  of  the  person 
of  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  whereby  he  is  known  and  enjoyed  in  a 
manner  altogether  new  :  as  new  as  the  knowledge  that  a  man,  who  never 
tasted  any  thing  but  bread  and  water,  would  have  of  honey  and  wine, 
suppose,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  best  descriptions  of  those  rich  pro- 
ductions of  nature,  he  actually  tasted  them  for  himself. 

This  manifestation  is,  sooner  or  later,  in  a  higher  or  lower  degree, 
vouchsafed  to  every  sincere  seeker,  through  the  medium  of  one  or  more 
of  the  spiritual  senses  opened  in  his  soul,  in  a  gradual  or  instantaneous 
manner,  as  it  pleases  God.  No  sooner  is  the  veil  of  unbelief,  which 
covers  the  heart,  rent,  through  the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  efforts 
of  the  soul  struggling  into  a  living  belief  of  the  word ;  no  sooner,  I  say, 
is  the  door  of  faith  opened,  than  Christ,  who  stood  at  the  door  and 
knocked,  comes  in,  and  discovers  himself  full  of  grace  and  truth.  "  Then 
the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  man.  His  kingdom  comes  with  power. 
Righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  spread  through  the 
new-born  soul ;  eternal  life  begins  ;  heaven  is  open  on  earth ;  the  con- 
scious heir  of  glory  cries,  "'Abba,  Father  ;"  and  from  blessed  experience 
can  witness  that  he  is  come  to  "  Mount  Sion,  and  to  the  city  of  the  living 
God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels; 
to  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of  the  first  born  which  are  written 
in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling,  which  speaketh  better  things  than  the  blood  of  Abel." 

If  this  manifestation  be  duly  improved,  the  effects  of  it  are  admirable. 
The  believer's  heart,  now  set  at  liberty  from  the  guilt  and  dominion  of 
sin,  and  drawn  by  the  love  of  Jesus,  pants  after  greater  conformity  to 
his  holy  will,  and  mounts  up  to  him  in  prayer  and  praise.  His  life  is  a 
course  of  cheerful,  evangelical  obedience,  and  his  most  common  actions 
become  good  works  done  to  the  glory  of  God.  If  he  walk  up  to  his  pri- 
vileges, outward  objects  entangle  him  no  more.  Having  found  the  great 
I  am,  the  eternal  substance,  he  looks  upon  all  created  things  as  shadows. 
Man,  the  most  excellent  of  all,  appears  to  him  altogether  lighter  than 
vanity.  "  Yea,  doubtless,  he  counts  all  things  but  loss,  for  the  excellency 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  his  Lord,  esteeming  them  but  dung,  that 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  283 

he  may  win  Christ,  and.  to  the  last,  be  found  in  him,  not  having  his  own 
righteousness,  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ :"  that  by 
new  discoveries  of  himself  he  may  "  know  him  and  the  power  of  his 
resurrection"  every  day  more  clearly.  In  the  meantime  he  casts  his 
sins  and  miseries  upon  Jesus,  and  Jesus  bestows  his  righteousness  and 
happiness  upon  him.  "  He  puts  on  Christ,"  and  becomes  a  partaker  of 
the  Divine  nature.  Thus,  they  are  mutually  interested  in  each  other ; 
and  to  use  St.  Paul's  endearing  expressions,  they  are  espoused  and  mar- 
ried. Joined  by  the  double  band  of  redeeming  love  and  saving  faith, 
they  "  are  one  Spirit,"  as  Adam  and  Eve  by  matrimony  were  "  one 
flesh."  "  This  is  a  great  mystery,"  says  the  apostle,  but  thanks  be  to 
God,  it  is  made  manifest  to  his  saints,  Eph.  v,  32. 

II.  If  you  ask,  sir,  "  How  can  these  things  be  ?"  Describe  to  me  the  par- 
ticular  manner  of  these  manifestations  !  I  reply,  in  our  Lord's  words  to 
Nicodemus,  "  Art  thou  a  master  in  Israel,  [nay  more,  a  Christian,]  and 
knowest  not  these  things  ?  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  [though  we  cannot 
fix  the  exact  mode,  and  precise  manner  of  the  breathing  of  the  Spirit, 
yet]  we  speak  what  we  do  know,  and  testify  what  we  have  seen,  but  you 
receive  not  our  witness."  Marvel  not,  however,  if  we  find  it  impossible 
to  tell  you  all  the  particulars  of  a  Divine  manifestation.  You  yourself, 
though  you  feel  the  wind,  see  its  amazing  effects,  and  hear  the  sound  of 
it,  "  cannot  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth,"  much  less  could 
you  describe  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  one  who  never  heard  or  felt  it  him- 
self. Many  earthly  things  cannot  be  conceived  by  earthly  men.  The 
blind,  for  example,  can  never  conceive  the  difference  of  colours ;  what 
wonder  then  if  natural  men  do  not  understand  us  when  we  tell  them  of 
heavenly  things  ? 

Nevertheless,  I  would,  in  general,  observe,  that  the  manner  in  which 
the  manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God  is  vouchsafed,  is  not  the  same  in  all 
persons,  nor  in  the  same  person  at  all  times.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where 
it  listeth,"  much  more  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God.  "  His  thoughts  are 
not  as  our  thoughts."  He  dispenseth  his  blessings,  not  as  we  expect 
them,  but  as  it  pleases  him.  Most  commonly,  however,  the  sinner, 
driven  out  of  all  his  refuges  of  lies,  feels  an  aching  void  in  his  soul.  Un- 
able to  satisfy  himself  any  longer  with  the  husks  of  empty  vanity,  dry 
morality,  and  speculative  Christianity ;  and  tired  with  the  best  form  of 
godliness  which  is  not  attended  with  the  power  of  it,  he  is  brought  to  a 
spiritual  famine,  and  hungers  after  heavenly  food.  Convinced  of  unbe- 
lief, he  feels  the  want  of  the  "  faith  of  God's  operation."  He  sees  that 
nothing  short  of  an  immediate  display  of  the  Lord's  arm  can  bring  his 
soul  into  "  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  fill  it  "  with  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Sometimes,  encouraged  by  lively  hopes, 
he  struggles  into  liberty  of  heart,  and  prays  "  with  groanings  which 
cannot  be  uttered."  At  other  times,  almost  sinking  under  a  burthen  of 
guilty  fear,  or  stupid  unbelief,  he  is  violently  tempted  to  throw  away  his 
hope,  and  go  back  to  Egypt ;  but  an  invisible  hand  supports  him,  and, 
far  from  yielding  to  the  base  suggestion,  he  resumes  courage,  and  de- 
termines to  "  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord,"  or  to  die  seeking  him.  Thus 
he  continues  wandering  up  and  down  in  a  spiritual  wilderness,  until  the 
Lord  gives  him  the  rest  of  faith,  the  "  subsistence  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen  " 


284  SPIRITUAL    MANIFESTATION    OF    THE    SON    OF    GOD. 

This  evidence  comes  various  ways.  Sometimes  the  "  spiritual  eye" 
is  first  opened,  and  chiefly,  though  not  only,  wrought  upon.  Then  the 
believer,  in  a  Divine,  transforming  light,  discovers  God  in  the  man  Christ, 
perceives  unspeakable  glories  in  his  despised  person,  and  admires  infi- 
nite wisdom,  power,  justice,  and  mercy,  in  the  blood  of  the  cross.  He 
reads  the  Scripture  with  new  eyes.  The  mysterious  book  is  unsealed, 
and  every  where  testifies  of  Him  whom  his  soul  loves.  He  views  ex- 
perimentally, as  well  as  doctrinally,  the  suitableness  of  the  Redeemer's 
offices,  the  firmness  of  his  promises,  the  sufficiency  of  his  righteousness, 
the  preciousness  of  his  atonement,  and  the  completeness  of  his  salvation. 
He  sees  and  feels  his  interest  in  all.  Thus  he  beholds,  believes,  won- 
ders, and  adores.  Sight  being  the  noblest  sense,  this  sort  of  manifesta- 
tion is  generally  the  brightest. 

Perhaps  his  "  spiritual  ear"  is  first  opened,  and  that  voice,  which 
raiseth  the  dead,  "  Go  in  peace,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,"  passes  with 
power  through  his  waiting  soul.  He  knows,  by  the  "  gracious  effect," 
it  is  the  voice  of  Him  who  said  once,  "  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was 
light."  He  is  sensible  of  a  new  creation,  and  can  say,  by  the  testimony 
of"  God's  Spirit,  bearing  witness  with  his  spirit,"  This  is  my  Beloved's 
voice ;  "  he  is  mine,  and  I  am  his."  I  have  "  redemption  through  his  blood, 
even  the  forgiveness  of  my  sins :"  and  having  much  forgiven,  he  loves 
much,  and  obeys  in  proportion. 

Frequently  also  Christ  manifests  himself  first  and  chiefly  to  the  "  spirit- 
ual feeling."  He  takes  the  burden  of  guilt,  dejection,  and  sin,  from  the 
heavy  laden  soul ;  and  in  the  room  of  it,  imparts  a  strong  sense  of  liber- 
ty, peace,  love,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  ransomed  sinner,  ena- 
bled to  overcome  racking  doubts  or  dull  insensibility,  "  believes  now  with 
the  heart  unto  righteousness,"  and  makes  "  confession  with  the  mouth 
unto  salvation."  "  Surely,"  says  he,  "  in  the  Lord  I  have  righteousness 
and  strength."  This  is  the  finger  of  God.  "  This  day  is  salvation  come 
to  my  soul."  None  but  Jesus  could  do  this  for  me.  "The  Lord  he  is 
God ;  he  is  my  Lord  and  my  God."  This  manifestation  is  generally  the 
lowest,  as  being  made  to  a  lower  sense  ;  therefore  great  care  ought  to 
be  taken  not  to  confound  it  with  the  strong  drawings  of  the  Father,  on 
which  it  borders.  Some  babes  in  Christ,  who,  like  young  Samuel,  have 
not  yet  their  senses  properlv  exercised  to  know  the  things  freely  given 
to  them  of  God,  are  often  made  uneasy  on  this  very  account.  Nor  can 
they  be  fully  satisfied,  until  they  find  the  effects  of  this  manifestation  are 
lasting,  or  they  obtain  clearer  ones  by  means  of  the  nobler  senses, — the 
sight  or  hearing  of  the  heart. 

III.  Though  I  contend  only  for  those  discoveries  of  Christ  which  are 
made  by  the  internal  senses,  because  such  only  are  promised  to  all ;  yet 
I  cannot,  without  contradicting  Scripture,  deny  that  the  external  senses 
have  been  wrought  upon  in  some  manifestations.  When  Abraham  saw 
his  Saviour's  day  he  was,  it  seems,  allowed  to  wash  his  feet  with  water, 
Gen.  xviii,  3,  as  afterward  the  penitent  harlot  did  with  her  tears.  And 
Saul,  in  his  way  to  Damascus,  saw  Jesus'  glory  and  heard  his  voice  both 
externally  and  internally,  "  for  they,  that  journeyed  with  him  saw  the 
light  and  heard  his  voice,"  though  they  could  not  distinguish  the  words 
that  were  spoken. 

Sometimes  also  manifestations,  though  merely  internal,  have  appeared 


SPIRITUAL    MANIFESTATION    OF  THE   SON  OF  GOD.  285 

external  to  those  who  were  favoured  with  them.  When  the  Lord  called 
Samuel,  in  Shiloh,  the  pious  youth  supposed  the  call  was  outward,  and 
ran  to  Eli,  saying,  "  Thou  calledst  me ;"  but  it  seems  the  voice  had 
struck  his  spiritual  ear  only,  otherwise  the  high  priest,  who  was  within 
hearing,  would  have  heard  it  as  well  as  the  young  prophet.  And  though 
Stephen  steadfastly  looked  up  to  heaven,  as  if  he  really  saw  Christ  there 
with  his  bodily  eyes,  it  is  plain  he  discovered  him  only  with  those  of  his 
faith,  for  the  roof  of  the  house,  where  the  court  was  held,  bounded  his 
outward  sight ;  and  if  Christ  had  appeared  in  the  room,  so  as  to  be  vis- 
ible to  common  eyes,  the  council  of  the  Jew's  would  have  seen  him,  as 
well  as  the  pious  prisoner  at  the  bar. 

Hence  we  learn,  1st,  That  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  things,  received 
by  spiritual  sense,  is  as  clear  as  the  knowledge  of  natural  things,  obtain- 
ed by  bodily  sense.  2dly,  That  it  is  sometimes  possible  to  be  doubtful, 
whether  the  outward  eye  or  ear  is  not  concerned  in  particular  revela- 
tions :  since  this  was  not  only  the  case  of  Samuel,  but  of  St.  Paul  him- 
self, who  could  not  tell  whether  the  unspeakable  words  he  heard  in 
paradise  struck  his  bodily  ears,  or  only  those  of  his  soul.  3dly,  That 
no  stress  is  to  be  laid  upon  the  external  circumstances  which  have  some- 
times accompanied  the  revelation  of  Christ.  If  aged  Simeon  had  been 
as  blind  as  old  Isaac,  and  as  much  disabled  from  taking  the  child  Jesus 
in  his  arms  as  the  paralytic,  the  internal  revelation  he  had  of  Christ  could 
have  made  him  say  with  the  same  assurance,  "  Now,  Lord,  let  thy  ser- 
vant depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation."  If  the 
apostle  had  not  been  struck  to  the  ground,  and  his  eyes  dazzled  by  out- 
ward light,  his  conversion  would  not  have  been  less  real,  provided  he  had 
been  inwardly  humbled  and  enlightened.  And  if  Thomas,  waiving  the 
carnal  demonstration  he  insited  upon,  had  experienced  only  in  his  inner 
man,  that  "  Christ  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  he  could  have  con- 
fessed him  with  as  great  a  consciousness  he  was  not  mistaken,  as  when 
he  cried  out,  "  My  Lord,  and  my  God !"     I  am,  sir,  yours,  &c, 

John  Fletcher. 


LETTER  III. 

IV.  Why  the  Lord  manifests  himself  to  the  children  of  men,  is  an 
important  question,  which  I  now  come  to  consider.  It  is  not,  we  may 
easily  think,  for  the  gratification  of  their  curiosity,  but  for  purposes 
worthy  of  his  wisdom  :  and  what  these  are,  we  shall  soon  learn,  if  we 
reduce  Divine  manifestations  to  three  general  classes,  extraordinary, 
ordinary,  and  mixt  ones  ;  and  then  consider  the  design  and  use  of  each, 
as  it  may  be  collected  from  Scripture. 

I.  To  begin  with  manifestations  of  the  extraordinary  kind :  they  are 
such  as  are  either  merely  external,  or  vouchsafed  to  a  few  only  on  par- 
ticular occasions,  and  are  by  no  means  essential  to  salvation. 

1.  Some  of  these  are  calculated  to  rouse  the  thoughtless  into  consi- 
deration. Of  this  kind  was  the  manifestation  some  were  favoured  with, 
a  little  before  our  Lord's  passion  :' "  As  he  prayed,  there  came  a  voice 
from  heaven,  saying,  I  have  glorified  my  name,  and  will  glorify  it 
again.  The  people  that  stood  by  and  heard  it,  said  it  thundered !" 
They  looked  upon  the  extraordinary  call  as  something  common  and 


280  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

natural.      "Others  said,  An  angel  spake  to  him."      But  Jesus  said 
"  This  voice  came  not  because  of  me,  but  for  your  sakes." 

2.  Others  are  intended  as  a  last  warning  to  notorious  sinners.  Of 
this  nature  was  the  terrifying  sight  Nebuchadnezzar  had,  in  his  second 
dream  of  "  a  Watcher  and  Holy  One  coming  down  from  heaven,  and 
crying  aloud,  Cut  down  the  tree."  And  that  of  the  mysterious  hand, 
which  wrote  Belshazzar's  doom  on  the  wall,  while  he  profaned  the 
sacred  vessels  in  his  night  revels. 

3.  Some  are  designed  for  the  protection  of  God's  people,  and  the 
destruction  and  humiliation  of  their  proud  enemies.  As  when  the 
"  Lord  looked  to  the  Egyptians,  through  the  pillar  of  fire,  and  troubled 
their  host :"  when  "he  cast  down  great  stones  from  heaven"  upon  the 
armies  of  the  five  kings,  who  fought  against  Israel  :  or  when  he  mani- 
fested his  presence  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace,  to  quench  the  violence 
of  the  flame,  preserve  the  three  confessors,  and  convince  the  raging 
tyrant  that  God's  kingdom  ruleth  over  all. 

4.  The  design  of  others  is  to  encourage  the  children  of  God  in  dan- 
gerous enterprises,  or  direct  them  in  important  steps.  Of  this  kind  was 
that  to  Joshua,  before  he  began  the  conquest  of  Canaan  ;  and  that  to 
St.  Paul,  when  the  "  Lord  stood  by  him"  in  the  prison,  and  informed 
him  he  must  bear  witness  to  him  also  at  Rome. 

5.  Some  are  calculated  to  appoint  some  persons  to  uncommon  ser- 
vices and  trials,  or  to  the  prophetic  and  ministerial  office  :  as  to  that  in 
which  Noah  was  commissioned  to  build  the  ark,  Abraham  to  offer  up 
Isaac,  Moses  to  deliver  Israel,  Nathan  to  reprove  David,  Balaam  to 
bless  Israel,  and  Jeremiah  to  preach  to  the  Jews. 

6.  Others  again  are  designed  to  answer  providential  ends  for  the  de- 
liverance of  the  people  of  God,  as  those  of  Gideon  ;  or  spiritual  ends  of 
reproof,  instruction,  and  consolation  to  the  Church  throughout  all  ages, 
as  most  of  the  revelations  vouchsafed  to  the  prophets,  and  to  St.  John. 

II.  The  manifestations  essential  either  to  the  conversion  of  sinners 
or  edification  of  saints,  and  which  the  word  of  God  and  the  experiences 
of  Christians  show  to  be  common  to  all  believers  of  the  Church,  are  of 
the  ordinary  kind,  and  their  use  or  design  is, 

1.  To  make  the  word  "  spirit  and  life,  quick  and  powerful,  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  soul  and 
spirit,"  that  the  Gospel  may  not  come  to  sinners  "  in  word  only,  bu< 
also  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assurance." 

2.  To  ease  an  anguished  conscience,  and  impart  the  peace  of  God  tc 
a  troubled  mind :  as  in  the  case  of  broken-hearted  David,  mourning 
Hezekiah,  weeping  Peter,  and  Paul  agonizing  in  prayer. 

3.  To  reveal  Christ  to  us,  and  in  us,  so  as  to  make  us  savingly  be- 
lieve, and  "  know  in  whom  we  have  believed,"  according  to  the  expe- 
riences of  Peter,  Lydia,  Cornelius,  and  every  living  member  of  Christ. 

4.  To  open  a  blessed  intercourse,  and  keep  up  a  delightful  commu- 
nion with  Christ ;  as  appears  from  the  experience  of  believers  illustrated 
in  the  Canticles. 

5.  To  silence  the  remains  of  self  righteousness,  and  deepen  the  hu- 
miliation of  our  souls,  as  in  the  case  of  Job.  To  make  us  "  grow  in 
grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  To  bruise  Satan 
under  our  feet,"  yea,  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head  in  our  hearts  and  seal 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  287 

"  the  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises  given  to  us,  that  we  might 
be  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature,"  and  continue  "  immovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  faith,  the  patience  of  hope,  and  the  labour  of 
love."  In  a  word,  to  "  strengthen  us  with  might,  by  God's  Spirit,  in  the 
inner  man,  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  our  hearts  by  faith,  and  we  may  be 
filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God." 

6.  To  prepare  us  for  great  trials,  support  us  under  them,  and  comfort 
us  after  them.  This  was  our  Lord's  experience  before  his  temptation, 
after  he  had  overcome  the  tempter,  and  when  he  was  in  the  height  of 
his  agony.  This  was  also  the  case  of  David,  St.  Paul,  and  of  all  the 
apostles,  when  they  had  been  scourged  for  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  and  it  is 
still  the  case  of  all  true  and  deep  mourners  in  Sion. 

7.  And  lastly,  to  make  us  "  depart  in  peace,"  as  Simeon ;  or  die  in 
perfect  love  with  our  enemies,  and  in  the  full  triumph  of  faith,  as  St. 
Stephen.  All  who  live  and  die  in  the  Lord,  partake,  more  or  less,  of 
these  ordinary  displays  of  his  powerful  presence ;  and  I  desire  you,  sir, 
to  remember,  that  it  is  chiefly,  if  not  only,  in  support  of  these  important 
manifestations,  I  take  up  the  pen. 

III.  The  third  class  of  manifestations,  is  that  of  mixt  ones :  so  called, 
because  they  are  partly  extraordinary,  and  partly  ordinary.  Some  are 
ordinary  in  their  design,  and  extraordinary  in  their  circumstances.  Of 
this  sort  was  the  manifestation  to  the  apostles,  Acts  iv,  31.  The  design 
of  it  was  merely  common,  that  is,  to  comfort  them  under  contempt,  and 
encourage  them  to  do  good  and  suffer  evil ;  but  the  "  shaking  of  the 
place  where  they  were  assembled,"  was  an  uncommon  circumstance. 
The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty,  who  were  assembled  in  the  upper  room  on 
the  day  of  pentecost;  and,  some  time  after,  on  Cornelius  and  his  sol- 
diers. That  they  should  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  spiritual 
fire,  was  not  extraordinary,  since  it  is  the  common  blessing  which  can 
alone  make  a  man  a  Christian,  or  confirm  him  in  the  faith  :  but  that  the 
sound  of  a  rushing  wind  should  be  heard,  and  luminous  appearances 
seen  resting  upon  them,  that  they  should  have  been  enabled  to  speak  the 
wonderful  works  of  God  in  other  tongues,  were  uncommon  circum- 
stances attending  their  spiritual  baptism. 

Some  manifestations  are  mixt,  both  as  to  their  design  and  circum- 
stances. That  the  iniquity  of  Isaiah  should  be  put  away,  and  St.  Paul 
converted,  were  not  uncommon  things ;  they  are  the  common  effects  of 
ordinary  manifestations  :  but  that  the  prophet  should  be  commissioned 
to  preach  to  the  Jews,  and  the  apostle  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Gentiles, 
were  extraordinary  circumstances  ;  as  also  a  flying  cherub  appearing 
to  the  one,  and  a  light  brighter  than  the  sun  blinding  the  other. 

IV.  For  want  of  distinguishing  properly  between  what  is  ordinary 
and  extraordinary,  in  mixt  manifestations,  persons  who  are  not  possessed 
of  a  clear  head,  or  what  is  worse,  of  an  honest  heart,  conclude,  that 
none  but  enthusiasts  speak  now  of  Divine  manifestations.  If  they  hear 
it  affirmed,  that  they  must  be  converted  as  well  as  St.  Paul,  they  pertly 
ask,  whether  they  are  Jews,  and  whether  they  must  be  struck  to  the 
earth  by  a  voice  from  heaven?  They  wilfully  forget  that  our  Lord 
spake  to  his  hearers  as  sinful  men,  and  not  as  bigoted  Jews,  when  he 
said,  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 


£88  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

heaven."  They  obstinately  refuse  to  see  that  the  circumstances  of  the 
apostle's  falling  to  the  ground,  &c,  were  not  essential  to  his  conversion, 
and  had  no  other  use  than  to  make  his  call  more  remarkable  for  the  con- 
version of  the  Jews  and  comfort  of  the  Christians.  When  the  same 
prejudiced  persons  are  told  that  they  must  be  "  born  of  the  Spirit,  and 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost,"  as  well  as  Cornelius  and  his  servants,  over- 
looking the  ordinary  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  they  pitch  upon  the  extraor- 
dinary circumstance  of  the  gift  of  tongues,  imparted  for  a  season,  to 
remove  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews,  and  to  draw  the  attention  of  the 
Gentiles;  and  think,  with  a  sneer,  and  a  charge  of  enthusiasm,  to  over- 
turn the  apostolic  saying,  "  If  any  man  hath  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  his."  Be  not  deceived,  sir,  by  these  persons.  Acknow- 
ledge, that  so  sure  as  you  want  the  regenerating  knowledge  of  Christ, 
you  want  the  manifestation  of  his  Spirit,  without  which  he  can  never 
be  known  savingly.     To  return  : — 

Though  1  contend  only  for  the  ordinary  manifestations  of  Christ,  I  am 
far  from  supposing  that  all  extraordinary  or  mixt  manifestations  have 
ceased.  Such  a  concession  would  savour  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  in- 
fidelity, which  prevails  in  the  Church.  They  are  more  frequent  than 
many  imagine.  To  instance,  in  one  particular,  how  far  I  am  from  ac- 
quiescing in  that  infidel  spirit : — I  am  so  attached  to  that  old  book,  the 
Bible,  as  to  say  of  many,  who  pass  for  ministers  of  Christ,  "  Wo  to 
the  foolish  prophets,"  that  follow  their  own  spirit,  "  and  have  seen  no- 
thing ;  that  say,  The  Lord  says,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  sent  them." — 
I  think  the  desire  of  being  styled  reverend,  and  right  reverend,  and 
the  prospect  of  a  living  or  a  mitre,  are  very  improper  motives  for  as- 
suming the  sacred  character.  And  I  am  such  an  enthusiast  as  to  believe 
our  Church  in  the  right  for  requiring  that  all  her  ministers  should  not 
only  be  called,  but  even  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  take  the  office  of 
ambassadors  for  Christ  upon  themselves.  {Ordination.) 

V.  Having  manifested  the  design  and  use  of  ordinary  manifestations, 
it  may  not  be  improper  to  touch  upon  the  abuse  of  them.  Their  genu- 
ine tendency  is  to  humble  to  dust.  The  language  of  those  who  are 
favoured  with i them  is,  "Will  God  indeed  dwell  on  the  earth?  Lord, 
what  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man,  that 
thou  visitest  him !"  Now,  that  I  "  see  thee,  I  abhor  myself.  I  am  not 
worthy  of  the  least  of  thy  mercies.  I  am  dust  and  ashes."  But  as 
there  is  nothing  which  the  heart  of  man  cannot  be  tempted  to  corrupt 
and  pervert,  so,  as  soon  as  the  power  attending  the  manifestation  is  a 
liitle  abated,  Satan  begins  to  shoot  his  fiery  darts  of  spiritual  pride. 
"You  are  a  peculiar  favourite  of  Heaven,"  whispers  that  old  serpent, 
"  few  are  so  highly  blessed.  All  your  enemies  are  scattered  ;  you  need 
not  be  so  watchful  in  prayer,  and  so  strict  in  self  denial ;  you  shall  ne- 
ver fall."  If  the  believer  is  not  upon  his  guard,  and  quenches  not  these 
fiery  darts  with  his  shield,  as  fast  as  the  enemy  throws  them,  he  is  soon 
wounded,  and  pride  kindles  again  upon  him. 

St.  Paul  himself  was  in  danger  from  this  quarter  :  "  There  was  given 
him  a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger  of  Satan,  to  buffet  him,  lest  he 
should  be  exalted  above  measure,  through  the  abundance  of  the  revela- 
tions." Aaron  and  Miriam  fell  into  this  snare,  when  they  spake  against 
Moses,  saying,  "  Hath  the  Lord  indeed  only  spoken  by  Moses  1     Hath 


SPIRITUAL  MArttFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  2S9 

he  not  spoken  by  us  also  ?"  David  likewise  acknowledges  his  error  in 
this  respect :  "  In  my  prosperity,  I  said,  I  shall  never  be  moved,  thou 
Lord,  of  thy  goodness,  hast  made  my  hill  so  strong ;"  but  my  heart  was 
lifted  up,  and  my  confidence  partly  carnal ;  therefore  "  thou  didst  turn 
thy  face  from  me,  and  I  was  troubled."  The  way  to  avoid  the  danger 
is  to  foresee  it :  to  look  much  to  the  lowly  Jesus,  and  upon  the  first 
approach  of  a  temptation  to  pride,  to  give,  with  double  diligence,  all  the 
glory  to  Him  that  graciously  bestowed  all,  and  to  take,  with  double  care, 
all  the  shame  of  our  sins  to  ourselves.  St.  Paul's  direction  in  this  case 
is  excellent :  "  Because  of  unbelief  some  were  broken  off,  and  thou 
standest  by  faith.     Be  not  high  minded,  but  fear." 

Another  genuine  effect  of  Divine  manifestations  is  an  increase  of  con- 
fidence in  the  Lord,  and  of  activity  in  his  service.  What  holy  boldness 
filled  the  souls  of  those  worthies,  who,  "  through  faith,  wrought  right- 
eousness, and  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens !"  How  did  the 
love  of  Christ  constrain  the  disciples  to  speak  and  act  for  God  after  the 
day  of  pentecost !  Nothing  could  exceed  their  fortitude  and  diligence. 
Nevertheless,  if  the  temptation  to  pride  is  yielded  to,  the  Comforter  is 
grieved,  and  carnal  security,  indolence  of  spirit,  and  indulgence  of  the 
flesh,  insensibly  prevail.  The  deluded  professor,  though  shorn  of  his 
strength,  like  Samson,  fancies  himself  the  same.  "  Soul,"  says  he, 
"  thou  hast  goods  laid  up  for  many  years,"  even  for  ever ;  though  the 
Lord  manifest  himself  to  thee  no  more,  be  neither  uneasy  nor  afraid : 
he  changes  not.  Sometimes  the  delusion  grows  to  that  height,  that 
the  farther  he  goes  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  stronger  he  imagines 
his  faith.  He  even  speaks  contemptuously  of  that  kingdom.  He  calls 
"  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,"  a  frame,  a  sensible 
feeling,  a  low  dispensation,  beyond  which  he  has  happily  got.  He 
thanks  God,  he  can  now  rest  upon  the  bare  word,  without  an  applica- 
tion of  it  to  his  heart ;  that  is  to  say,  he  can  be  fully  satisfied  with  the 
letter  without  the  Spirit,  he  can  feed  upon  the  empty  husks  of  notions 
and  opinions,  as  if  they  were  power  and  life. 

The  end  of  this  dreadful  mistake  is  generally  a  relapse  into  gross  sin. 
Witness  the  falls  of  David  and  Solomon  ;  or,  what  is  not  much  better,  a 
settling  in  a  form,  without  the  "  power  of  godliness,"  as  the  Laodiceans 
of  old,  and  too  many  now,  who  "have  a  name  to  live 'and  are  dead." 
The  only  way  to  avoid  this  precipice  is  to  follow  the  light  of  the  first 
manifestation,  and  look  daily  for  new  visits  from  Christ,  till  he  makes 
his  "  abode  with  us,"  and  we  "  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light." 
A  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  last  year  will  no  more  support  a  soul  this 
year,  than  air  breathed  yesterday  will  nourish  the  flame  of  life  to-day. 
The  sun  which  warmed  us  last  week  must  shine  again  this  week.  Old 
light  is  dead  light.  A  notion  of  old  warmth  is  a  very  cold  notion.  We 
must  have  fresh  food  daily,  and  though  we  need  not  a  new  Christ,  we 
need,  perpetually,  new  displays  of  his  eternal  love  and  power.  The 
Lord  taught  us  this  important  lesson,  by  making  the  manna  he  gave  Is- 
rael in  the  wilderness  to  disappear  every  day,  and  causing  that  which 
was  not  gathered  fresh  to  "  breed  worms  and  stink."  Nevertheless,  as 
the  mysterious  food  kept  sweet  in  the  golden  pot  in  the  ark,  so  does  the 
heavenly  power  in  Christ,  to  whom  every  true  Israelite  will  come  daily 
for  new  supplies  of  hidden  manna,  for  fresh  manifestations  of  the  Holy 

Vol.  IV.  19 


290  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

Spirit.  Thousands,  by  not  considering  this,  seek  the  living  among  the 
dead,  fancying  that  a  living  Saviour  is  to  be  found  in  dead  experiences, 
and  that  all  is  well,  though  they  "  live  after  the  flesh,"  and  are  perhaps 
"  led  captive  by  the  devil  at  his  will."  But  when  their  souls  awake  out 
of  this  dangerous  dream,  they  will  be  sensible  of  their  mistake,  and  frankly 
acknowledge,  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  ;"  and 
that  "  if  after  they  have  escaped  the  pollution  of  the  world,  through  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled 
therein  and  overcome,  the  latter  end  is  worse  with  them  than  the  begin- 
ning." 

.Leaving  these  lukewarm,  formal  Laodicean  professors  to  the  mercy 
of  God,  I  subscribe  myself,  sir,  yours,  &c, 

John  Fletcher. 


LETTER  IV. 

Sir, — VI.  That  some  persons  are  blessed  with  clearer,  stronger,  or 
earlier  manifestations  than  others  is  undeniable ;  and  why  it  is  so  is  one 
of  the  mysteries  of  God's  kingdom,  that  shall  not  be  explained  until  the 
day  of  judgment.  In  the  meantime  the  following  reflections  may  possi- 
bly cast  some  light  on  that  dark  subject,  and  help  us  to  say,  He  does  all 
things  well. 

1.  Our  Lord  suits  the  manifestations  of  himself  to  the  various  states 
of  the  Church.  Under  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  which  consisted  much 
in  externals,  Divine  manifestations  had,  generally,  some  external  circum- 
stances ;  but  the  Christian  Church,  being  formed  upon  a  more  spiritual 
plan,  is  favoured  with  revelations  of  a  more  spiritual  and  internal  nature. 

2.  The  Lord  considers  us  as  rational  creatures  in  a  state  of  probation. 
Were  he  to  indulge  us  with  powerful,  incessant,  overwhelming  dis- 
coveries of  himself,  he  would  rather  violently  force  than  gently  lead  us 
to  repentance  and  obedience.  Every  day  is  not  a  day  of  pentecost. 
Soon  after  the  Son  of  God  had  seen  the  "  heavens  open,"  he  was  "  led 
into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil ;"  and  so  is  his  spouse  after 
him,  Hosea  ii,  14.  St.  Paul,  by  observing  that  he  was  "  not  disobedient 
to  the  heavenly  vision,"  and  that  he  "  kept  his  body  under  lest  he  should 
become  a  castaway,"  intimates  that  his  bright  manifestation  was  not  of 
such  continuance  and  force  but  he  might  have  disobeyed,  as  Jonah  did  in 
a  similar  case.  Some  have,  in  fact,  resisted  bright  manifestations  in  their 
day ;  witness  Cain,  Judas,  Balaam,  Saul,  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the 
Israelites  who  perished  in  the  wilderness :  and  too  many  backsliders 
are  resisting  them  now.  So  sure,  then,  as  there  is  a  time  of  trial  for 
faith,  hope,  and  patience,  there  is  also  an  abatement  of  the  power  which 
attends  Divine  manifestations. 

3.  Our  wise  Redeemer  proportions  the  means  to  the  end.  If  the 
effect  of  a  manifestation  of  his  love  is  to  be  exceeding  great,  the  manifest- 
ation must  be  exceeding  bright.  Suppose  the  burden  of  guilt  and  hard- 
ness, temptation  and  sorrow,  under  which  one  groans,  is  ten  times  greater 
than  that  which  oppresses  another,  it  is  plain,  the  manifestation  which  is 
to  remove  the  tenfold  weight  is  to  be  ten  times  stronger.  The  same 
rule  holds  also  with  regard  to  sufferings  and  labours.     The  hotter  the 


•      SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SONeOF   GOD.  291 

fight  of  afflictions  which  God's  children  are  to  go  thiough,  the  stronger 
and  the  brighter  also  is  the  celestial  armour  put  upon  them  at  the  revela- 
tion of  the  Captain  of  their  salvation. 

4.  Neither  can  it  be  doubted,  but  that  our  good  God,  in  fixing  the  degree 
of  Divine  manifestation,  hath  a  particular  respect  to  the  state  and  capa- 
city of  the  souls  to  whom  he  discovers  himself.  The  deeper  sinners 
mourn  for  him  the  deeper  he  makes  them  drink  of  the  cup  of  salvation 
at  his  appearing.  "Blessed  are  they  that"  greatly  "hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness  ;"  their  souls  are  thereby  greatly  enlarged  to  receive 
the  oil  of  gladness  and  the  wine  of  the  kingdom.  "  Blessed  are  the  poor 
in  spirit;"  those  whose  souls  are  empty  as  the  vessels  of  the  desolate 
widow  in  the  days  of  Elisha ;  when  the  heavenly  prophet  shall  visit 
them,  the  streams  of  his  fulness  shall  certainly  flow  according  to  the 
degree  of  their  emptiness. 

5.  A.  skilful  physician  prescribes  weaker  or  stronger  medicines,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  of  his  patients.  So  does  the  Physician  of  souls  :  he 
weighs,  if  I  may  so  speak,  every  dram  of  the  heavenly  power  in  the 
scales  of  goodness  and  wisdom.  He  knows  what  quantity  of  the  hea- 
venly cordial  our  spirits  can  bear,  and  will  not,  without  the  greatest  care, 
put  the  strong  wine  of  his  powerful  love  into  a  weak  vessel.  He  sees, 
that  as  some  persons  can  stand,  for  a  time,  the  sight  of  the  meridian  sun, 
when  others  are  hurt  by  the  first  appearance  of  a  taper,  so  some  Chris- 
tians can  bear  the  strong  beams  of  his  gracious  presence,  while  others 
are  almost  overpowered  by  his  fainter  rays. 

6.  If  some  live  and  die  without  any  manifestations  of  the  Redeemer's 
love  and  glory,  the  reason  of  it  may  possibly  be  found  in  the  abysses  of 
his  justice  and  goodness.  They  "  grieve"  and  "  quench  the  Spirit"  that 
"  convinces  the  world  of  sin :"  and  it  is  very  fit  they  should  not  have 
him  as  a  "  Comforter,"  whom  they  obstinately  reject  as  a  "  reprover." 
Add  to  this,  that  as  our  Lord  foresees,  if  such  people  were  favoured  with 
tokens  of  his  more  distinguishing  condescension  they  would  only  abuse 
them  as  Cain  and  the  Pharisees  did,  he  puts  them  not  to  the  trial,  nor 
suffers  them  to  enhance  their  guilt  by  trampling  richer  mercy  and  love 
under  foot ;  so  that  this  seeming  severity  is  in  fact  real  benignity. 

7.  The  Lord  not  only  proportions  the  degree  of  his  powerful  appearance 
to  the  weakness  of  our  souls,  but  also  to  that  of  our  bodies.  He  knoweth 
whereof  we  are  made,  and  remembers  that  we  are  but  flesh.  If  the 
natural  sun,  that  glorious  emblem  of  our  Emmanuel,  were  to  approach 
as  near  our  earth,  and  shine  as  bright  as  possible,  the  insufferable 
blaze  and  heat  would  instantly  blind  and  consume  us.  By  a  parity  of 
reason,  were  our  bright  Sun  of  righteousness  to  manifest  his  unclouded 
glory,  or  to  appear  without  the  tempering  medium  of  his  manhood,  no 
flesh  could  support  the  sight.  The  brain,  unable  to  bear  the  high  opera- 
tions of  the  soul,  would  turn ;  the  heart  of  the  wicked,  swelled  with 
intolerable  pangs  of  fear,  and  that  of  the  righteous  dilated  by  over- 
whelming'transports  of  joy,  would  instantly  burst.  God,  therefore,  says, 
"  No  man  can  see  my  face,"  without  some  dimming  veil,  "  and  live." 
Hence  arose,  likewise,  the  grateful  exclamations  of  Manoah  and  others, 
when  the  Lord  had  manifested  himself  to  them,  concealed  under  human 
appearances  :  "  We  have  seen  God  and  live  !"  We  have  beheld  him, 
and  are  not  consumed ' 


292  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

8.  This  may,  perhaps,  help  us  to  account  why  the  Lord  still  hides  his 
face  from  some  of  his  sincere  seekers.  They  sit  begging  by  the  way  of 
his  ordinances,  and  yet  he  does  not  pass  by  so  as  to  restore  to  them  their 
spiritual  sight,  that  they  might  know  him.  In  all  probability  he  designs 
them  such  a  bright  manifestation  as  they  are  not  yet  able  to  bear.  When 
their  hearts  are  strengthened  for  the  heavenly  vision,  it  shall  speak.  Let 
them  only  wait  for  it.  "  Let  patience  have  her  perfect  work,"  and  faith 
in  the  word  be  tried  to  the  uttermost ;  and  "  he  that  cometh,  will  come, 
and  will  not  tarry."  He  will  bring  "his  reward  with  him  ;"  and  a  moment 
'  of  his  presence  will  make  them  abundantly  amends  for  the  waiting  of  an 
age.  Were  he  to  appear  before  they  are  prepared  by  the  humiliation 
of  repentance  and  the  patience  of  hope,  they  would  be  in  the  case  of 
those  carnal  Israelites,  who,  far  from  being  able  to  commune  with  God, 
could  not  so  much  as  speak  to  Moses  when  he  came  down  from  the 
mount,  without  first  obliging  him  to  put  a  veil  over  his  shining  face. 

Peter,  James,  and  John  were,  it  seems,  the  foremost  of  the  apostles  in 
spiritual  strength  and  boldness  ;  nevertheless,  the  manifestation  they  had 
of  Christ  on  the  mount  almost  overwhelmed  them.  Their  body  sunk 
under  the  weight  of  his  glory,  and  when  they  came  out  of  their  sleep  or 
trance,  they  could  not  recover  themselves,  "  they  knew  not  what  they 
said."  This  had  been  before  the  case  of  Daniel,  and  was  once  more 
that  of  St.  John.  The  "  comeliness"  of  the  man  "  greatly  beloved" 
was  "  turned  to  corruption  :"  he  retained  no  strength.  And  the  beloved 
apostle,  when  he  saw  his  Saviour  with  some  additional  beams  of  glory, 
fell  at  his  feet  as  dead.  St.  Paul  not  only  lost  his  sight  on  such  an 
occasion  but  was  near  losing  his  life,  being  unable  to  take  any  refresh- 
ment for  three  days  and  three  nights.  And  it  is  also  generally  supposed 
that  Moses  actually  died  under  the  overpowering  displays  of  the  Re- 
deemer's love.  Hence  we  learn  that  God's  way  and  time  are  best,  and 
that  we  are  to  leave  both  to  his  gracious  wisdom ;  using  the  means  in 
which  he  has  promised  to  manifest  himself  to  those  who  diligently  seek 
him. 

VII.  What  those  means  are  is  what  I  come  in  the  last  place  to  con- 
sider. The  agent  or  author  of  every  Divine  manifestation  is  the  eternal 
God,  one  in  three,  and  three  in  one.  The  Father  reveals,  the  Son  freely 
discovers  himself,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  freely  testifies  of  him.  Never- 
theless, the  Scriptures,  in  general,  attribute  this  wonder  of  grace  to  the 
blessed  Spirit.  "  No  man  can"  experimentally  "  say  that  Jesus  is  the 
Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  It  is  his  peculiar  office  to  "convince 
the  world  of  righteousness,"  by  giving  us  to  know  savingly  the  Lord  our 
righteousness.  "  He  shall  glorify  me,"  says  Christ,  "  for  he  shall  take 
of  mine,  and  show  it  unto  you."  And  this  he  does  without  any  merit 
of  ours,  in  the  means  which  God  hath  appointed,  and  which  he  enables 
us  to  use  aright. 

These  means  are  both  outward  and  inward.  The  outward  are  what 
our  Church  calls  "  the  means  of  grace,"  particularly  hearing  or  reading 
the  word,  partaking  of  the  sacraments,  and  praying  together  with  one 
accord  for  the  manifestation  of  the  Spirit,  as  the  primitive  Christians  did, 
Acts  ii,  1.  These  means  are  to  be  used  with  the  greatest  diligence,  but 
not  to  be  trusted  to ;  the  only  proper  object  of  our  confidence  is  God, 
who  works  all  in  all.     It  was  not  Moses'  rod  which  parted  the  Red  Sea, 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  293 

but  that  Almighty  arm,  which  once  divided  the  water  from  the  water 
without  a  rod.  Nevertheless,  as  Moses  was  not  to  throw  his  rod  away 
under  pretence  of  trusting  in  God  alone,  neither  was  he  to  rely  on  the 
weak  instrument,  as  if  the  Divine  power  resided  in  it. 

Though  the  Lord  in  general  works  by  means,  he  ties  himself  to  none, 
and  sometimes  works  without  any.  The  same  Spirit,  which  fell  upon 
Cornelius,  while  Peter  preached,  fell  upon  Peter  on  the  day  of  pentecost 
without  any  preaching.  And  the  same  Lord,  who  opened  Lydia's  heart, 
by  the  ministry  of  St.  Paul,  opened  the  heart  of  St.  Paul  by  the  sole  exer- 
tion of  his  power.  We  hence  learn,  that  as,  on  the  one  hand,  we  ought 
not,  with  the  profane  and  enthusiasts,  to  tempt  the  Lord  by  neglecting 
the  use  of  any  of  the  means  he  hath  appointed ;  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  must  beware  of  confining  God  to  particular  means,  times,  and  places, 
as  the  bigoted  and  superstitious  do  ;  remembering,  that  when  we  are 
cut  off  from  all  outward  means,  it  is  our  privilege  to  wait  for  the  imme- 
diate display  of  God's  arm,  in  the  use  of  the  inward  means. 

Of  these  the  first  is,  "  Believing  there  will  be  a  performance  of  the 
Lord's  promise,"  and  that  he  is  willing  and  able  to  manifest  himself  t< 
us,  as  he  does  not  to  the  world  :  this  is  the  very  root  of  prayer,  fervency, 
hope,  and  expectation.  Without  the  actings  of  this  preparatory  faith, 
the  soul  droops,  and  becomes  an  easy  prey  to  despondency,  vanity,  or 
sloth.  Where  this  talent  is  buried,  the  Lord  seldom  works.  "  Believest 
thou  that  I  am  able  to  do  this  for  thee  ?"  is  generally  the  first  question 
he  puts  to  the  seeker's  heart.  If  it  is  answered  in  ihe  negative,  he  can 
do  no  great  miracle,  because  of  this  unbelief.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be 
acknowledged,  that  St.  Paul  was  blessed  with  the  revelation  of  the  Son 
of  God,  without  any  previous  desire  or  expectation  of  it.  In  him  and 
others  was  this  scripture  fulfilled,  "I  was  found  of  them  that  sought  me 
not ;  I  was  manifested  to  them  that  asked  not  after  me."  But,  in  gene- 
ral, where  the  Gospel  is  preached,  the  Lord  will  be  inquired  of  by  the 
house  of  Israel  to  do  this  ;  and  if  he  visit  any  with  conviction,  as  he  did 
St.  Paul,  it  is  only  to  make  them  pray  as  that  apostle  did,  until  he  mani- 
fests himself  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  a  way  of  consolation  and  love. 

The  second  inward  means  of  the  manifestation  of  Christ  is  resignation 
as  to  the  particular  manner,  time,  and  place  of  it.  "  Through  patience," 
as  well  as  faith  and  prayer,  "  we  inherit  this  promised"  blessing.  Some, 
according  to  their  carnal  wisdom  and  forward  imagination,  mark  out  the 
way  in  which  salvation  is  to  come  to  their  hearts ;  but  the  Lord  gene- 
rally disappoints  those  unhumbled  seekers,  though,  as  in  the  case  of 
Gideon,  he  may  gratify  one  in  a  thousand  :  for  believers  are  "  not  born 
of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  The  Jews 
expected  the  Messiah,  and  there  they  were  right :  but  they  expected 
him  "  in  their  own  way,"  and  there  they  stumbled  and  fell.  While  they 
looked  for  a  mighty  conqueror,  another  Alexander,  to  make  them  great, 
they  overlooked  the  lowly  Prince  of  Peace,  who  came  to  make  them 
good ;  and  at  last  they  crucified  him  as  a  base  impostor.  This  Jewish 
disposition  is  in  all  by  nature.  Hence  Christ  is  commonly  rejected  in 
the  Spirit  by  Christians,  as  he  was  in  the  flesh  by  the  Jews.  We  would 
have  him  come  to  give  us  an  idle  rest,  but  he  appears  to  teach  us  to  deny 
ungodliness,  and  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  :  this  we  do  not  like.  Our 
nature  wants  to  step  at  once  into  a  throne :  but  he  offers  first  to  nail  u*i 


294  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

* 

to  the  tree,  and  to  crucify  our  flesh  with  its  affections  and  lusts :  and 
from  this  we  shrink  as  from  the  grave.  We  expect  to  be  carried  at  once 
to  the  top  of  Mount  Tabor,  to  see  unutterable  glory ;  but  he  leads  us  to 
Gethsemane  to  watch  and  pray,  or  to  Calvary  to  suffer  and  die  with  him  : 
here  we  recoil,  and  do  not  choose  to  know  him.  Our  forward  impatience 
dictates  that  he  shall  instantaneously  turn  our  midnight  into  noon  day ; 
but  instead  of  manifesting  himself  at  once  as  the  meridian  sun,  he  will, 
perhaps,  appear  only  as  the  morning  star,  that  our  light  "may  shine 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  This  defeats  our  counsel,  "  we 
despise  the  day  of  small  things,"  and  do  not  think  so  low  an  appear- 
ance worth  our  notice  and  thanks.  If  you,  sir,  ever  seek  the  saving 
knowledge  of  Jesus,  never  stop  till  you  can  witness  your  sun  goes  down 
no  more ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  never  slight  the  least  ray  of  the  hea- 
venly light.  The  least  may  open  into  the  broad  day  of  eternity.  Cease 
from  your  own  false  wisdom,  and  become  as  a  "  little  child,"  or  you 
"  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  see  the  King  in  his  beauty." 
The  third  and  last  inward  means  I  would  recommend  to  mourners  in 
Sion,  is  "  a  tender  regard  for  the  reproofs  of  the  Spirit,  a  constant  atten- 
tion to  the  drawings  of  the  Father,"  obedience  to  the  calls  they  have  to 
secret  prayer,  and  a  fear  of  depending  upon  their  duties,  and  not  solely 
upon  the  faithfulness  of  Jesus.  Whoever  follows  these  directions,  accord- 
ing to  the  grace  given  to  him,  will,  of  course,  cease  from  outward  evil, 
and  do,  as  he  can,  the  little  good  his  hands  find  to  do.  This  is  a  better 
way  of  waiting  for  the  revelation  of  Christ,  than  to  lie  down  in  dejec- 
tion and  hopeless  unbelief.  All  those,  who  sullenly  bury  their  one  talent, 
and  wilfully  retain  the  accursed  thing,  complain  in  vain  that  their  Lord 
makes  long  tarrying.  They  obstinately  grieve  his  convincing  Spirit, 
and  then  absurdly  clamour,  because  he  does  not  reward  them  for  it,  by 
the  comforts  of  his  heavenly  presence.  Let  us  not  be  so  unreasonable. 
Let  us  "  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,"  remembering  that  "  many 
shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able."  But  let  us  "  strive  law- 
fully," not  making  ourselves  a  righteousness  of  our  own  seeking,  knock- 
ing, and  striving.  The  sun  shines,  not  because  we  deserve  it  by  undraw- 
ing our  curtains,  but  because  it  is  his  nature.  Jesus  visits  us,  not  because 
of  any  merit  in  our  prayers,  &c,  but  for  his  own  sake,  because  his  truth 
and  compassion  fail  not.  Free  grace  opens  the  door  of  mercy,  not  to 
works  and  merit,  but  to  want  and  misery.  That  you  and  I  may  knock 
and  press  in,  with  all  needy,  penitent,  believing  sinners,  is  the  earnest 
wish  of  a  heart,  which  prompts  me  to  subscribe  myself,  sir,  yours,  &c, 

John  Fletcher. 


LETTER  V. 

Sir, — When  I  told  you  that,  in  all  ages,  Jehovah  Jesus  manifests 
himself  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  his  people,  you  exclaimed  against  the 
assertion  as  altogether  new  and  unscriptural.  It  lies  upon  me,  there- 
fore, to  prove,  that  antiquity  and  Scripture  are  on  my  side.  I  shall  then 
in  this  letter  appeal  to  the  manifestations  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament. 
You  cannot  expect  all  the  revelations  of  any  child  of  God,  much  less  those 
of  every  one,  to  be  mentioned  in  so  short  a  history  as  that  of  the  Bible. 
Nevertheless,  enough  is  said  on  the  point  to  convince  us  that,  in  every 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  295 

ao-e  of  the  Church,  God  hath  favoured  the  sons  of  men  with  peculiar- 
displays  of  his  presence. 

Let  us  go  back  as  far  as  Adam  himself.  Did  not  the  Lord  familiarly 
converse  with  him  before  the  fall,  both  when  he  presented  him  a  partner, 
and  when  he  brought  every  beast  of  the  field  before  him,  to  see  what  he 
would  call  them  ?  Did  he  not  visit  him  after  the  fall,  to  pronounce  his 
sentence,  and  to  promise  that  he  would  become  the  woman's  seed,  and 
bruise  the  serpent's  head  ?  Was  not  this  manifestation  granted  to  Abel, 
when  the  Lord  had  respect  to  his  sacrifice  :  the  very  cause  of  Cain's 
envy,  wrath,  and  murder  ?  Did  not  Enoch's  walking  with  God  imply  a 
constant  union  and  communion  with  Emmanuel?  And  how  could  this 
union  have  taken  place,  if  the  Lord  had  not  first  revealed  himself  to  the 
patriarch  ?  Must  not  two  persons  meet  and  agree,  before  they  can  walk 
and  converse  together? 

"  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,"  and  in  consequence  of 
it,  was  made  acquainted  with  his  righteous  designs,  and  received  direc- 
tions how  to  escape  from  a  perishing  world.  The  history  of  Abraham 
is  full  of  accounts  of  such  manifestations.  In  one  of  them  the  Lord  called 
him  out  of  his  sins,  and  from  his  kindred,  to  go  both  to  the  heavenly  and 
earthly  Canaan.  In  others  he  promised  him  Isaac,  and  Isaac's  myste- 
rious seed.  Several  years  after,  for  the  trial  of  his  faith,  he  commanded 
him  to  sacrifice  that  favourite  son  ;  and  when  the  trial  was  over,  he  testi- 
fied his  approbation  of  Abraham's  conduct.  He  went  farther.  Read 
Gen.  xviii,  and  you  will  see  how  the  Divine  philanthropy,  or  the  love  of 
God  toward  man  appeared,  in  his  condescending  to  clothe  himself,  be- 
forehand, with  the  nature  he  was  to  assume  in  the  virgin's  womb,  and  to 
converse,  in  this  undress,  with  the  father  of  the  faithful  as  a  prince  with 
his  favourite,  or  a  friend  with  his  confident. 

Sarah  and  Agar,  Isaac  and  Rebekah,  had  their  Divine  manifestations ; 
but  those  of  Jacob  deserve  our  particular  attention.  When  he  fled  to 
Syria  from  the  face  of  his  brother  Esau,  and  lay  desolate  in  a  field, 
having  only  a  heap  of  stones  for  his  pillow,  the  God  of  all  consolation 
appeared  unto  him :  "  and  behold  the  Lord  stood  on  the  mysterious 
ladder,  on  which  the  angels  of  God  ascended  and  descended,  and  said,  I 
am  the  Lord ;  behold,  I  am  with  thee,  and  will  keep  thee  in  all  places, 
whither  thou  goest.  And  Jacob  called  that  place  Bethel,  the  house  of 
God,  and  the  gate  of  heaven  :"  as  if  he  had  wanted  to  intimate,  no  one 
ever  found  the  gate  of  heaven  but  by  a  manifestation  of  Christ,  who  is 
alone  the  way  to  the  Father,  and  the  door  into  glory.  When  the  same 
patriarch  returned  to  Canaan,  and  was  left  alone  one  night,  there  wrestled 
a  man  with  him  till  the  breaking  of  the  day.  And  when  this  extraordi- 
nary person  said,  "  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh  ;  he  replied,  I  will 
not  let  thee  go,  unless  thou  bless  me ;  and  he  blessed  him  there,  ac- 
knowledging that  he  had  power  with  man  and  God,"  even  with  him 
whose  name  is  Emmanuel,  God  with  us.  "  And  Jacob  called  the  name 
of  the  place  Peniel,  [the  face  of  God,]  for  he  said,  I  have  seen  God  face 
to  face,  and  my  life  is  preserved."  The  design  of  this  manifestation  was 
merely  to  strengthen  his  faith,  and  we  learn  from  it,  that  the  children  of 
faithful  Abraham  wrestle  in  prayer  with  the  God-man,  as  Jacob  did,  till 
they  prevail  and  are  blessed  as  he  was. 

Moses  was  favoured  with  numberless  manifestations,  sometimes  as 


296  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OP  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

prime  minister  of  the  King  of  the  Jews,  and  at  other  times  only  as  a 
common  believer.  "  There  appeared  to  him,  in  the  wilderness  of  Mount 
Sinai,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  in  a  flame  of  fire  in  a  bush ;  and  when 
Moses  saw  it,  he  drew  near,  and  the  voice  of  the  Lord  came  unto  him, 
saying,  I  am  the  God  of  thy  fathers,"  &c,  Acts  vii,  30.  Many  partook 
of  a  sight  equally  glorious :  "  Moses,  Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  and 
seventy  of  the  elders  of  Israel,  went  up  and  saw  the  God  of  Israel,  and 
there  was  under  his  feet  as  it  were  a  paved  work  of  sapphire  stone,  and 
as  it  were  the  body  of  heaven  in  its  clearness ;  and  upon  the  nobles  of 
the  children  of  Israel  he  laid  not  his  hand ;  also  they  saw  God  and  did 
eat  and  drink,"  Exod.  xxiv,  10,  11.  "Behold,  (said  Moses  upon  the 
occasion,)  the  Lord  our  God  hath  showed  us  his  glory,  and  we  have 
heard  his  voice  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  we  have  seen  this  day 
that  God  doth  talk  with  man,  and  he  liveth,"  Deut.  v,  24.  All  Israel 
shared  sometimes  in  the  glorious  manifestation.  "  They  all  drank  of 
that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  (says  St.  Paul,)  and  that  rock 
was  Christ.  The  cloud  of  the  Lord  was  upon  the  tabernacle  by  day, 
says  the  Jewish  historian,  and  fire  was  upon  it  by  night,  in  the  sight  of 
all  the  house  of  Israel.  "  It  came  to  pass  as  Moses  entered  into  the 
tabernacle,  the  cloudy  pillar  ascended,  and  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  the  Lord  talked  with  Moses,  and  all  the  people  saw  the 
cloudy  pillar,  and  rose  up  and  worshipped,  every  man  in  the  door  of  hia 
tent.  And  the  Lord  spake  to  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  to 
his  friend."  So  indulgent  was  Emmanuel  to  him,  that  when  he  said, 
"  I  beseech  thee,  show  me  thy  glory,  the  Lord  answered,  I  will  make 
my  goodness  pass  before  thee ;  but  thou  canst  not  see  my  face  [without 
some  veil]  and  live.  And  [O  astonishing  condescension !]  the  Lord  de- 
scended in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him,  and  proclaimed  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  And  Moses  made  haste,  bowed  his  head  toward  the  earth, 
and  worshipped."  These  displays  of  Divine  goodness  and  glory  left 
a  Divine  impression  on  the  countenance  of  the  man  of  God ;  his 
face  shone  so  transcendently  glorious,  that  the  children  of  Israel  were 
afraid  to  come  nigh  him ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  put  a  veil  over  it,  be- 
fore he  could  converse  with  them.  Though  this  appears  very  extra- 
ordinary, the  apostles  inform  us  that  what  happened  to  the  countenance 
of  Moses,  happens  to  the  souls  of  believers.  By  faith  they  behold  the 
Lord  through  the  glass  of  Gospel  promises,  and  beholding  him  they  "are 
made  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature  :  they  are  changed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory." 

Joshua,  Moses'  successor,  was  blessed  with  many  such  manifestations, 
each  of  which  conveyed  to  him  new  degrees  of  courage  and  wisdom. 
To  instance  in  one  only  :  "  When  he  was  by  Jericho,  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes  and  looked,  and  behold,  there  stood  a  map  «ver  against  him,  with 
his  sword  drawn  in  his  hand.  And  Joshua  went  t<?  him,  and  said,  Art 
thou  for  us,  or  for  our  adversaries  ?  And  he  said-  Nav,  but  as  Captain 
of  the  Lord's  host  am.  I  come.  And  Joshua,  [sensible  it  was  Jehovah] 
fell  on  his  face  to  the  earth,  worshipped,  and  said  to  him.  What  says  my 
Lord  to  his  servant  ?  And  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host  «aid  to  Joshua, 
Loose  thy  shoe  from  off'  thy  foot,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is 
holy  ground;  and  Joshua  did  so,"  Josh,  v,  13.  Every  true  discovery 
of  Christ  hath  a  similar  effect.     It  humbles  the  sinner,  and  makfc^  him 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  297 

worship  in  the  dust.  He  sees  "  holiness  to  the  Lord"  written  upon  every 
surrounding  object ;  he  is  loosed  from  earth  and  earthly  things,  and  the 
towering  walls  of  sin  fall  before  him,  as  those  of  Jericho,  soon  after  this 
manifestation,  did  before  Joshua. 

When  that  chief  was  dead,  the  same  heavenly  person,  called  "the 
Angel  of  the  Lord,  came  from  Gilgal  to  Bochim,"  and  spake  such  words 
to  all  the  children  of  Israel,  that  the  people  were  universally  melted  ; 
"they  lift  up  their  voice,  wept,"  and  sacrificed,  Judges  ii,  1.  Nothing 
can  so  effectually  make  sinners  relent  as  a  sight  of  Him  whom  they  have 
pierced.  When  they  have  it,  whatever  place  they  are  in  becomes  a 
Bochim,  a  valley  of  tears  and  adoration. 

Not  long  after,  the  Lord  manifested  himself  to  Deborah,  and  by  the  wis- 
dom and  fortitude  communicated  to  her  in  that  revelation,  she  was  ena- 
bled to  judge  Israel,  and  lead  desponding  Barak  to  certain  victory,  through 
nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron. 

The  condescension  of  our  Emmanuel  appears  in  a  still  more  striking 
light,  in  the  manifestation  which  he  vouchsafed  to  Gideon.  This  mys- 
terious "  Angel  of  the  Lord  [again  and  again  called  Jehovah]  came  and 
sat  under  an  oak  in  Ophra,"  appeared  to  Gideon,  and  said,  "  The  Lord 
is  with  thee,  and  thou  shalt  smite  the  Midianites  as  one  man.  And  the 
Lord  looked  upon  him  [what  a  courage-inspiring  look  was  this  !  as  power- 
ful, no  doubt,  as  that  which  met  cursing  Peter's  eye,  and  darted  repent- 
ance to  his  heart !]  and  he  said,  Go  in  this  thy  might ;  have  not  I  sent 
thee  ?  And  Gideon  said,  Alas  !  O  Lord  God,  for  because  I  have  seen  the 
Angel  of  the  Lord  face  to  face.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Peace  be 
unto  thee,  fear  not,  thou  shalt  not  die."  Thus  strengthened  and  com- 
forted, he  built  an  altar  to  Jehovah-Shalom,  and  threw  down  the  altar  of 
Baal,  Judges  vi,  12,  &c.  Hence  we  learn  that,  when  Jesus  manifests 
himself  to  a  sinner,  he  fills  him  with  a  noble  contempt  of  Baal,  an  effec- 
tual resolution  to  break  down  his  altars,  and  a  Divine  courage  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  the  spiritual  Midianites.  He  imparts  to  him  a  comforta- 
ble assurance  that  the  bitterness  of  death  is  past,  and  that  "Jehovah- 
Shalom,  the  God  of  peace,  even  Christ  our  peace,"  is  with  him ;  and  the 
sinner,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ,  gives  him  his  believing  heart, 
and  offers  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  on  that  best  of  altars.  Here  begins 
such  a  free  intercourse  between  the  Lord  and  Gideon,  only  of  a  far  more 
spiritual  and  delightful  nature. 

Some  years  after,  the  same  Angel  of  God  appeared  to  Manoah's  wife, 
and  promised  her  a  son.  Her  husband  prayed  for  the  same  manifesta- 
tion— God  hearkened  to  his  voice.  The  heavenly  personage  manifested 
himself  a  second  time.  Manoah  asked  him  his  name,  and  the  "  Angel 
said  to  him,  Why  askest  thou  after  my  name,  seeing  it  is  secret?"  I  am 
not  yet  called  Jesus.  Manoah  offered  a  burnt  offering,  the  Angel  received 
it  at  his  hands ;  and,  while  he  ascended  in  the  flame  of  the  altar,  Ma- 
noah fell  on  his  face  to  the  ground,  knew  that  he  was  the  Angel  Jehovah, 
and  said  to  his  wife,  "We  shall  surely  die,  because  we  have  seen  God." 
She  comforted  him  under  his  fears  ;  and  the  birth  of  Samson,  instead  of 
their  death,  was  the  consequence  of  this  twofold  manifestation. 

There  was  a  time  when  Samuel  did  not  yet  "  know  the  Lord,  neither 
was  the  Word  of  the  Lord,"  that  Word  which  was  afterward  made  flesh, 
yet  revealed  unto  him.     The  devoted  youth  worshipped  in  the  dark,  till 


298  spiritual  manifestation  of  the  son  of  god. 

"  the  Lord  appeared  again  in  Shiloh,  came,  stood,  and  called,  Samuel, 
Samuel :  for  the  Lord  revealed  himself  to  him  there,  by  the  Word  of 
the  Lord."  From  that  memorable  time  the  "  Lord  was  with  him,  and  did 
let  none  of  his  words  fall  to  the  ground."  The  intercourse  between  God 
and  his  prophet  soon  grew  to  so  great  a  degree,  that  the  sacred  historian 
says,  "  The  Lord  told  him  in  his  ear,"  what  he  wanted  him  to  be  informed 
of,  1  Sam.  iii,  7 ;  ix,  17. 

David  had  many  manifestations  of  Christ  and  his  pardoning  love ;  and,  far 
from  supposing  this  blessing  peculiar  to  himself  as  a  prophet,  he  declares 
that  "  for  this  every  one  that  is  godly  shall  pray  to  God,  when  he  may 
be  found,"  Psalm  xxxii,  6.  He  knew  his  Shepherd's  inward  voice  so 
well  that,  without  it,  no  outward  message,  though  ever  so  comfortable, 
could  restore  peace  to  his  troubled  mind.  When  he  had  been  convinced 
of  his  crimes  of  adultery  and  murder,  by  the  close  application  of  Nathan's 
parable,  the  prophet  assured  him  that  the  Lord  had  "  put  away  his  sin, 
he  should  not  die."  This  report  would  have  contented  many  of  our 
modern  penitents ;  but  nothing  short  of  an  immediate  manifestation  of 
the  forgiving  God  could  comfort  the  royal  mourner :  "  Wash  thou  me, 
(says  he,)  and  I  shall  be  clean."  Nathan's  words,  though  ever  so  true, 
cannot  do  this  :  speak  thyself,  merciful  God,  "  make  me  hear  joy  and 
gladness,  that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice." 

Exceeding  remarkable  was  the  revelation  his  son  Solomon  was 
favoured  with.  "  In  Gibeon,  [where  he  was  gone  to  sacrifice,]  the 
Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  God  said,  Ask  what 
I  shall  give  thee."  Conscious  of  his  greatest  want,  "  he  asked  an  un- 
derstanding heart.  The  speech  pleased  the  Lord,  and  God  said,  Because 
thou  hast  asked  this  thing,  I  have  done  according  to  thy  word :  lo,  I  have 
given  it  thee  ;  and  that  also  which  thou  hast  not  asked,  both  riches  and 
honour."  Though  this  promise  was  made  to  him  in  a  dream,  he  knew 
by  the  change  which  he  found  in  himself  when  he  awoke,  and  by  the 
powerful  evidence  which  accompanies  Divine  manifestations,  that  it  was 
a  glorious  reality.  Fully  persuaded  of  it,*he  scrupled  not  to  offer  peace 
offerings,  and  make  a  feast  to  all  his  servants  on  the  occasion,  1  Kings 
iii.  Nor  was  this  the  only  time  Solomon  was  thus  favoured.  When  he 
had  built  the  temple,  and  prayed  for  a  blessing  upon  it,  "  the  Lord  ap- 
peared to  him  a  second  time,  as  he  had  appeared  to  him  in  Gibeon,  and 
said,  I  have  heard  thy  prayer,"  1  Kings  ix,  2. 

Elijah  is  so  famous  for  the  power  he  had  to  obtain  Divine  manifesta- 
tions by  the  prayer  of  faith,  that  St.  James  proposes  him  to  the  Church 
for  a  pattern  of  successful  wrestling  with  God.  And  who  is  the  Lord 
God  of  Elijah  but  the  God  that  manifests  himself  to  his  worshippers,  in 
opposition  to  Baal  and  other  false  gods,  from  whom  neither  visits  nor 
answers  can  be  obtained  ?  The  Lord  answered  him  by  fire  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  Carmel,  and  by  showers  on  the  top ;  and  when  he  lodged  in 
Mount  Horeb  in  a  cave,  "  behold,  the  Word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him, 
and  said,  What  dost  thou  here,  Elijah  ?"  "  Go  forth  and  stand  upon  the 
mount  before  the  Lord."  "And  behold  the  Lord  passed  by;"  and  in 
his  still,  small  voice,  comforted,  supported,  and  directed  him,  1  Kings 
xix,  9. 

Micaiah,  another  man  of  God,  "  saw  the  Lord  sitting  on  his  throne, 
and  all  the  host  of  heaven  standing  by  him  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  299 

left,"  1  Kings  xxii,  19.  Elisha  was  not  only  blessed  with  frequent 
manifestations  of  the  Lord  and  his  power,  but  of  his  heavenly  retinue 
also.  He  saw  in  an  hour  of  danger  "  the  mountain  full  of  horses  and 
chariots  of  fire,"  ready  to  protect  him  ;  and  at  his  request  the  Lord  con- 
descended to  open  his  servant's  eyes,  that  his  drooping  spirits  might, 
revive  at  the  sight,  2  Kings  vi,  17. 

Eliphaz,  one  of  Job's  friends,  related  to  him,  that  "  in  thoughts  from 
visions  of  the  night,  when  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men,  fear  and  trembling 
came  upon  him.  Then  a  spirit  passed  before  his  face  ;  it  stood  still,  but 
he  could  not  discern  [i.  e.  clearly  distinguish]  the  form  thereof.  An 
image  was  before  his  face,  and  he  heard  a  voice  saying,  Shall  mortal 
man  be  more  pure  than  God  ?"  As  for  Job,  when  he  had  long  contended 
with  his  friends,  the  Lord  answered  him  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and  mani- 
fested himself  in  a  manner  to  which  that  good  man  was  before  a  stranger. 
"  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth 
thee ;  wherefore,  I  abhor  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes,"  Job 
xxxvii,  1,  and  xlii,  5.  Hence  we  learn  that  nothing  but  a  discovery  of 
the  Lord  can  silence  the  vain  reasonings  of  self-righteous  pleas  and  un- 
believing fears ;  this  alone  makes  us  to  lie  in  deep  prostration  at  our 
Maker's  feet. 

St.  John  informs  us  that  "  Isaiah  saw  Christ's  glory,  and  spake  of 
him,"  when  he  described  the  glorious  manifestation  in  which  he  received 
a  new  seal  of  pardoning  and  sanctifying  love.  "  I  saw  the  Lord,"  says 
he,  "  sitting  upon  his  throne,  high  and  lifted  up ;  his  train  filled  the 
temple.  The  seraphim,  covering  their  faces  with  their  wings,  cried  one 
to  another,  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Then  said  I,  Wo  is 
me,  for  I  am  undone,  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King, 
the  Lord  of  hosts."  "  Then  flew  one  of  the  seraphim,  and  touching  me 
with  a  live  coal  from  off  the  altar,"  he  said,  "  Thine  iniquity  is  taken 
away,  and  thy  sin  purged,"  Isa.  vi,  1,  &c.  Many  never  witness  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins  till  they  see  by  faith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  are 
melted  into  repentance,  and  inflamed  with  love  at  the  glorious  sight. 
Isaiah  not  only  beheld  Christ's  glory,  but  was  blessed  with  the  clearest 
views  of  his  sufferings.  He  saw  him  as  "  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  ac- 
quainted with  griefs  :"  and  asked  him,  "  Why  he  was  red  in  his  apparel, 
and  his  garments  like  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine  fat  ?"  These  revela- 
tions  were  not  only  calculated  for  the  good  of  the  Church,  but  also  for 
the  establishment  of  the  prophet's  faith. 

I  shall  not  mention  those  of  Ezekiel ;  they  are  so  numerous,  that  a 
particular  account  of  them  would  alone  fill  a  letter.  I  refer  you  to  the 
book  itself.  Jeremiah,  speaking  of  God's  people,  says,  in  express  terms, 
The  Lord  hath  appeared  of  old  unto  me,  saying,  "  Yea,  I  have  loved  thee 
with  an  everlasting  love ;  therefore  with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn 
thee,"  Jeremiah  xxxi,  3.  Daniel  enjoyed  the  same  favour.  "  He  saw 
the  Ancient  of  days,  and  one  like  the  Son  of  man  coming  with  the  clouds 
of  heaven."  We  may  naturally  suppose  that  Daniel's  three  companions, 
Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  were  sensible  of  their  heavenly 
Deliverer's  presence.  They  were  more  concerned  in  the  discovery  than 
Nebuchadnezzar,  who  cried  out,  "  Lo  I  see  four  men  loose,  walking  in 
the  midst  of  the  fire,  and  the  form  of  the  fourth  is  like  the  Son  of  God." 


300  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SON  OF  GOD. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  the  lesser  prophets  and  other  men 
of  God  to  whom  the  word  of  the  Lord  came,  had  no  discovery  of  the 
Lord  himself,  the  essential  Word.  If  some  display  of  his  presence  had 
not  attended  their  every  revelation,  might  they  not  have  said,  Thus  says 
my  warm  imagination, — Thus  says  my  enthusiastic  brain,  as  well  as, 
Thus  says  the  Lord  ? 

From  the  variety  and  authenticity  of  these  manifestations  left  upon 
sacred  record,  I  conclude,  that  the  doctrine  I  maintain,  far  from  being 
new  and  unscriptural,  is  supported  by  the  experiences  of  God's  children 
for  3600  years,  viz.  from  the  creation  of  the  world  till  the  close  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

With  respect  to  what  is  extraordinary,  as  to  the  design,  and  barely 
external,  as  to  the  circumstances  of  some  of  these  manifestations,  I  refer 
you  to  the  distinctions  I  made  on  that  subject  in  my  second  letter. 
Should  you  object,  that  the  contents  of  this  prove  only,  that  God  favoured 
the  patriarchs  and  Jews  with  immediate  revelations  of  himself,  because 
they  had  neither  the  Gospel  nor  the  Scriptures  :  I  answer, 

1.  The  Gospel  was  preached  to  them  as  well  as  to  us.  The  patriarchs 
had  tradition,  which  answered  the  end  of  the  Scriptures  in  their  day. 
The  Jews,  in  the  time  of  the  judges,  had  not  only  tradition  but  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  Scriptures,  even  all  the  wrtings  of  Moses.  Under 
the  kings  they  had  the  Psalms,  Job,  Ecclesiastes,  the  Proverbs,  and  a 
thousand  and  five  songs  of  Solomon,  one  of  which  only  has  been  handed 
down  to  our  times.  They  had  also  the  book  of  Nathan  the  prophet, 
the  prophecy  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite,  and  the  visions  of  Iddo  the  seer, 
which  are  now  lost.     These  contained  the  substance  of  the  Bible. 

2.  When  the  Lord  answered  Saul  no  more,  neither  by  prophets  nor 
by  dreams,  the  reason  assigned  for  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost  is,  not  that  the 
canon  of  Scripture  was  filled,  and  there  was  no  more  occasion  for  im- 
mediate revelations ;  but  that  "  the  Lord  was  departed  from  him,"  and 
was  become  his  enemy. 

3.  David,  who  had  the  honour  of  being  a  sacred  writer  himself,  after 
his  relapse  into  sin,  could  not  be  satisfied  with  the  psalms  he  had  penned 
down,  but  mourned,  prayed,  and  watered  his  bed  with  his  tears,  inconso- 
lable till  the  Lord  immediately  revealed  his  pardoning  love,  and  said  to 
his  soul,  "  I  am  thy  salvation." 

4.  If,  because  we  have  the  letter  of  Scripture,  we  must  be  deprived 
of  all  immediate  manifestations  of  Christ  and  his  Spirit,  we  are  great 
losers  by  that  blessed  book,  and  we  might  reasonably  say,  "  Lord, 
bring  us  back  to  the  dispensation  of  Moses.  Thy  Jewish  servants  could 
formerly  converse  with  thee  face  to  face,  but  now  we  can  know  nothing 
of  thee  but  by  their  writings.  They  viewed  thy  glory  in  various  wonder 
ful  appearances,  but  we  are  indulged  ordy  with  black  lines,  telling  us  oi 
thy  glory.  They  had  the  bright  shekinah,  and  we  have  only  obscure 
descriptions  of  it.  They  were  blessed  with  lively  oracles,  and  we  only 
with  a  dead  letter.  The  ark  of  thy  covenant  went  before  them,  and 
struck  terror  into  all  their  adversaries  ;  but  a  book,  of  which  our  enemies 
make  daily  sport,  is  the  only  revelation  of  thy  power  among  us.  They 
made  their  boast  of  Urim  and  Thummim,  and  received  particular,  imme 
diate  answers  from  between  the  cherubim ;  but  we  have  only  general 
ones,  by  means  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  writings,  which  many  do  not 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SON  OF  GOD.  301 

understand.  They  conversed  familiarly  with  Moses  their  mediator ; 
with  Aaron  their  high  priest ;  and  Samuel  their  prophet :  these  holy 
men  gave  them  unerring  directions  in  doubtful  cases ;  but,  alas !  the 
apostles  and  inspired  men  are  all  dead,  and  thou  Jesus,  our  Mediator, 
Priest,  and  Prophet,  canst  not  be  consulted  to  any  purpose,  for  thou 
manifestest  thyself  no  more.  As  for  thy  sacred  book,  thou  knowest  that 
sometimes  the  want  of  money  to  purchase  it,  the  want  of  learning  to  con- 
sult the  original,  the  want  of  wisdom  to  understand  the  translation,  the 
want  of  skill  or  sight  to  read  it,  prevent  our  improving  it  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  keep  some  from  reaping  any  benefit  from  it  at  all.  O 
Lord,  if  because  we  have  this  blessed  picture  of  thee,  we  must  have  no 
discovery  of  the  glorious  original,  have  compassion  on  us,  take  back  thy 
precious  book,  and  impart  thy  more  precious  self  to  us  as  thou  didst  to 
thy  ancient  people." 

5.  St.  Paul  declares,  though  the  Mosaic  dispensation  was  "  glorious," 
that  of  Christ  "  exceeds  it  in  glory."  But  if  Christ  revealed  himself  im- 
mediately to  the  Jews,  and  to  Christians  only  mediately  by  the  letter  of  a 
book,  it  is  plain  the  apostle  was  mistaken ;  for  no  one  can  deny  it  is  far 
more  glorious  to  see  the  light  of  God's  countenance  and  hear  his  voice, 
than  merely  to  read  something  about  them  in  a  book. 

6.  That  particular  manifestations  of  Christ,  far  from  ceasing  with  the 
Jewish,  have  increased  in  brightness  and  spirituality  under  the  Christian 
dispensation,  I  shall  endeavour  to  prove  in  my  next.     I  am,  sir,  &c. 

John  Fletcher. 


LETTER  VI. 

Sir, — According  to  my  promise  I  shall  now  prove  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment abounds,  as  well  as  the  Old,  with  accounts  of  the  particular  reve- 
lations of  the  Son  of  God. 

Before  his  birth  he  manifested  himself  to  the  blessed  virgin,  by  the 
overshadowing  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  She  "  rejoiced  in  God  her 
Saviour,"  and  gloried  more  in  having  him  tevealed  as  God  in  her  soul 
than  in  finding  him  conceived  as  man  in  her  womb.  Soon  after,  Joseph, 
her  husband,  was  assured  in  a  heavenly  dream,  that  the  child  she  bore 
was  "  Emmanuel,  God  with  us."  He  revealed  himself  next  to  Elizabeth. 
When  she  "  heard  the  salutation  of  Mary,  she  was  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  and  made  sensible  that  the  virgin  was  the  mother  of  her  Lord. 
So  powerful  was  this  manifestation  that  her  unborn  son  was  affected  bv 
it.  "  The  babe  leaped  in  her  womb  for  joy,"  and  "  was  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  even  from  his  mother's  womb." 

So  important  is  a  particular  knowledge  of  Jesus,  that  an  angel  directed 
the  shepherds,  and  a  miraculous  star  the  wise  men,  to  the  place  where 
he  was  born  ;  and  there  the  Holy  Ghost  so  revealed  him  to  their  hearts, 
that  they  hesitated  not  to  worship  the  seemingly  despicable  infant  as  the 
majestic  God,  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain. 

Simeon,  "  who  waited  for  the  consolation  of  Israel,  had  it  revealed  to 
him  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  should  not  see  death,  before  he  had  seen 
the  Lord's  Christ."  The  promise  was  fulfilled  ;  and  while  his  bodily 
eyes  discovered  nothing  but  a  poor  infant,  presented  without  pomp  in  the 


302  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

temple,  his  spiritual  eyes  perceived  him  to  be  the  light  of  Israel,  and  the 
salvation  of  God.  Nor  was  this  extraordinary  favour  granted  only  to 
Simeon,  for  it  is  written,  "  All  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God ;"  and 
St.  Luke  informs  us,  that  Anna  partook  of  the  sight  of  the  old  Israelite, 
gave  thanks  to  her  new-born  Lord,  and  "  spake  of  him  to  all  that  waited 
for  redemption  in  Jerusalem." 

When  he  entered  upon  his  ministry,  he  first  manifested  himself  to  his 
forerunner.  "  I  knew  him  not"  personally,  said  John ;  "  but  he  that 
sent  me  to  baptize  with  water,  said  unto  me,  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see 
the  Spirit  descending,  and  remaining  on  him,  the  same  is  he  who  bap- 
tizes with  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  And  I  saw,  and  bear  record,  that  this  is 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

Jesus  had  manifested  himself  spiritually  to  Nathanael,  under  the  fig 
tree ;  and  the  honest  Israelite,  being  reminded  of  that  Divine  favour, 
confessed  the  author  of  it :  "  Rabbi,"  said  he,  "  thou  art  the  Son  of  God, 
thou  art  the  King  of  Israel."  Our  Lord,  pleased  with  this  ready  con- 
fession, promised  that  he  should  see  greater  things,  enjoy  brighter  mani- 
festations than  these ;  that  he  should  even  "  see  heaven  open,  and  the 
angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  upon  the  Son  of  man." 

The  bare  outward  sight  of  our  Saviour's  person  and  miracles  rather 
confounded  than  converted  the  beholders.  What  glorious  beams  of  his 
Godhead  pierced  through  the  veil  of  his  mean  appearances,  when,  with 
supreme  authority,  he  turned  the  buyers  and  sellers  out  of  the  temple : 
when  he  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph,  and  all  the  city  was  moved,  say- 
ing, Who  is  this  ?  And  when  he  said  to  those  who  apprehended  him,  "  I 
am  he,  and  they  went  backward  and  fell  to  the  ground  !"  Nevertheless, 
we  do  not  find  that  one  person  was  blessed  with  the  saving  knowledge  of 
him,  on  any  of  these  solemn  occasions.  The  people  of  Galilee  saw 
most  of  him,  and  yet  believed  least  in  him.  "  What  wisdom  is  this, 
which  is  given  to  this  man,"  said  they,  "  that  such  mighty  works  are 
wrought  by  his  hands  1  Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary  ? 
And  they  were  offended  at  him."  Some  went  even  so  far  as  to  ascribe 
his  miracles  to  a  diabolical  power,  affirming,  that  he  cast  out  devils  by 
Beelzebub  the  prince  of  the  devils.  Hence  it  appears,  that  if  he  had  not, 
in  some  degree,  revealed  himself  to  the  hearts  of  his  disciples,  when  he 
said  to  them,  Follow  me,  they  would  never  have  forsaken  all  immedi- 
ately and  followed  him.  "  He  manifested  forth  his  glory,"  says  St.  John, 
"  and  his  disciples  believed  on  him :"  and  yet,  when  the  manifestation 
was  chiefly  external,  how  weak  was  the  effect  it  produced  even  upon 
them !  How  was  our  Lord  after  all  obliged  to  upbraid  them  with  their 
unbelief,  their  little  faith,  and,  on  a  particular  occasion,  with  their  "  hav- 
ing no  faith  !"  If  we  know,  savingly,  that  Jesus  is  "  God  with  us  ;  flesh 
and  blood"  [i.  e.  mere  man  with  all  his  best  powers,]  "  hath  not  re- 
vealed this  to  us,  but  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven."  "And  as  no  man 
knoweth  the  Father  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  will  reveal 
him ;  so  no  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father,"  and  he  to  whom  the 
Spirit  proceeding  from  the  Father  does  reveal  him.  "  For  no  man  can, 
[savingly]  say,  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost :"  and  "  he 
that  hath  seen  me,"  by  this  Divine  revelation,  says  Jesus,  "hath  seen 
the  Father  also  :  for  I  and  the  Father  are  one." 

Had  not  our  Lord  revealed  himself  in  a  peculiar  mannoi  to  sinners 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE   SON  OF  GOD.  303 

no  one  would  have  suspected  him  to  be  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
Till  he  discovers  himself,  as  "  he  does  not  unto  the  world,  he  hath  no 
form  nor  comeliness,"  says  Isaiah,  "  and  when  v/e  see  him,  there  is  no 
beauty  in  him,  that  we  should  desire  him ;  we  hide  as  it  were  our  faces 
from  him  ;  he  is  despised  and  we  esteem  him  not."  He  was  obliged  to 
say  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  I  that  speak  to  thee  am  He ;"  and  to 
say  it  with  a  power,  that  penetrated  her  heart,  before  she  could  "  believe 
with  her  heart  unto  righteousness."  Then,  indeed,  Divinely  wrought 
upon,  she  ran,  and  invited  her  neighbours  to  draw  living  water  out  of 
the  well  of  salvation  she  had  so  happily  found. 

If  our  Lord  had  not  called  Zaccheus  inwardly  as  well  as  outwardly ; 
if  he  had  not  made  him  come  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  proud  nature, 
as  well  as  from  the  sycamore  tree ;  if  he  had  not  honoured  his  heart 
with  his  spiritual,  as  he  did  his  house  with  his  bodily  presence  ;  the  rich 
publican  would  never  have  received  him  gladly,  nor  would  the  Lord  have 
said,  "  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  thy  house,  forasmuch  as  thou  art  a 
son  of  faithful  Abraham." 

Salvation  did  not  enter  into  the  heart  of  Simon,  who  admitted  our  Lord 
to  his  house  and  table,  as  well  as  Zaccheus.  The  penitent  woman,  whc 
kissed  his  feet  and  washed  them  with  her  tears,  obtained  the  blessing, 
which  the  self-righteous  Pharisee  despised.  It  was  to  her  contrite  spirit, 
and  not  to  his  callous  heart,  that  the  Lord  revealed  himself,  as  the  par- 
doning  God. 

The  blind  man,  restored  to  his  bodily  sight,  knew  not  his  heavenly 
Benefactor,  till  a  second  and  greater  miracle  was  wrought  upon  the 
eyes  of  his  blind  understanding.  When  Jesus  found  him,  some  time  after 
he  was  cured,  he  said  to  him,  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ? 
He  answered,  Who  is  the  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  in  him?"  And 
Jesus,  opening  the  eyes  of  his  mind,  and  manifesting  himself  to  him,  as 
he  does  not  unto  the  world,  said,  "  Thou  hast  both  seen  him,  and  it  is  he 
that  talketh  with  thee."  Then,  and  not  till  then,  he  could  say  from  the 
heart,  "  Lord,  I  believe,  and  he  worshipped  him." 

Both  the  thieves,  who  were  crucified  with  him,  heard  his  prayers  and 
strong  cries ;  both  saw  his  patience  and  meekness,  his  wounds  and  his 
blood.  One  continued  to  make  sport  of  his  sufferings,  as  though  he  had 
been  a  worse  malefactor  than  himself;  while  the  other,  blessed  with  an 
eternal  revelation  of  his  Godhead,  implored  his  mercy,  trusted  him  with 
his  soul,  and  confessed  him  to  be  the  King  of  glory,  at  the  very  moment 
when  he  hung  tortured  and  dying  as  the  basest  of  slaves. 

St.  Peter  speaks  so  highly  of  the  manifestation  with  which  he  and 
the  two  sons  of  Zebedee  were  favoured  on  Mount  Tabor,  that  we  ought 
not  to  pass  over  it  in  silence.  They  saw  the  kingdom  of  God  coming 
with  power ;  they  beheld  the  King  in  his  beauty.  «  His  face  did  shine 
like  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  became  white  as  light ;  a  bright  cloud  over- 
shadowed him,  and  behold  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud,"  which  said,  "  This 
is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  ;  hear  ye  him." 

Nor  did  our  Lord  reveal  himself  less  after  his  resurrection.  Mary 
sought  him  at  the  grave  with  tears.  As  she  "  turned  herself,  she  saw  him 
standing,  but  knew  not  that  it  was  Jesus.  He  said  unto  her,  Why  weepest 
thou  ?  Whom  seekest  thou  ?  She,  supposing  him  to  be  the  gardener,"  in- 
quired after  the  object  of  her  love  ;  until  Jesus,  calling  her  by  her  name, 


304  SPIIUTFAIj  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

manifested  himself  to  her  as  alive  from  the  dead.  Then  she  cried  out, 
"  Master!"  and  in  her  transport,  would  have  taken  her  old  place  at  his  feet. 

With  equal  condescension  he  appeared. to  Simon,  that  he  might  not 
be  swallowed  up  with  overmuch  sorrow.  True  mourners  in  Sion  weep, 
some  for  an  absent  God,  as  Mary,  others  for  their  sins,  as  Peter ;  and 
they  will  not  be  comforted,  no,  not  by  angels,  but  only  by  Him,  who  is 
nigh  to  all  that  call  upon  him,  and  is  health  to  those  that  are  broken  in 
heart.  He  that  appeared  first  to  weeping  Mary,  and  next  to  sorrowing 
Peter,  will  shortly  visit  them  with  his  salvation.  He  is  already  "  with 
them,"  as  he  was  with  Mary,  though  they  know  it  not ;  and  he  will  soon 
be  "  in  them,"  the  sure  and  comfortable  bope  of  glory. 

This  observation  is  farther  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  the  two 
disciples,  who  walked  to  Emmaus,  and  were  sad.  Jesus  drew  near, 
joined,  and  comforted  them.  He  made  their  "  hearts  to  burn  within 
them  while  he  talked  with  them  by  the  way,  and  opened  to  them  the 
Scriptures.  But  still  their  eyes  were  held,  that  they  should  not  know 
him,"  before  they  were  prepared  for  the  overwhelming  favour.  And  it 
was  not  until  he  sat  at  meat  with  them,  "  that  their  eyes  were  opened, 
and  they  knew  him,"  in  the  breaking  of  bread.  By  a  fatal  mistake,  many 
professors  in  our  day  rest  satisfied  with  what  did  not  satisfy  the  two  dis- 
ciples. They  understood  the  Scriptures,  their  hearts  burned  with  love 
and  joy ;  Jesus  was  with  them,  but  they  knew  him  not,  until  the  happy 
moment  when  he  fully  opened  the  eye  of  their  faith,  and  poured  the  light 
of  his  countenance  on  their  ravished  spirits.  Happy  those,  who,  like 
them,  constrain  an  unknown  Jesus  by  mighty  prayers  to  tarry  with  them, 
until  the  veil  is  taken  away  from  their  hearts,  and  they  "  know  in  whom 
they  have  believed." 

Frequent  were  the  manifestations  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples  before  his 
ascension.  An  angel  appeared  to  two  of  the  holy  mourners,  and  said  to 
them,  "  Fear  not ;  for  I  know  that  ye  seek  Jesus,  who  was  crucified. 
He  is  risen  from  the  dead.  As  they  ran  with  fear  and  great  joy  to  tell 
his  disciples,  Jesus  met  them,  saying,  All  hail !  and  they  came,  held  him 
by  the  feet,  and  worshipped  him.  The  same  day  in  the  evening,  when 
the  doors  were  shut  where  the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the 
Jews,  came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst ;"  they  were  terrified,  but  with 
his  wonted  goodness,  "  he  said,  Peace  be  unto  you  !  He  showed  them  his 
hands  and  his  feet ;"  ate  with  them  as  he  had  done  of  old  with  Abraham  ; 
and  to  testify  an  inward  manifestation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  im- 
parted to  them,  breathed  upon  them,  as  his  Spirit  breathed  upon  their 
minds ;  and  thus  "  he  opened  their  understandings,  that  they  might  un- 
derstand the  Scriptures."  Out  of  condescension  to  Thomas,  he  showed 
himself  to  them  a  second  time,  in  the  like  manner ;  and  a  third  time  at 
the  sea  of  Tiberias ;  and  "  afterward  he  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once." 

You  will  perhaps  say,  sir,  that  these  manifestations  ceased  when  Christ 
was  ascended  to  heaven.  This  is  true  with  respect  to  the  manifestation 
of  a  body  of  such  gross  flesh  and  blood,  as  may  be  touched  with  mate- 
rial hands.  In  this  sense  believers  "  know  Christ  after  the  flesh  no 
more."  Our  Lord,  by  his  gentle  reproof  to  Thomas,  discountenanced 
our  looking  for  carnal  manifestations  of  his  person,  and  I  have  declared 
again  and  again  that  they  are  not  what  I  contend  for. 


SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  305 

But,  that  spiritual  manifestations  of  Christ  ceased  at  his  ascension,  is 
what  I  must  deny,  if  I  receive  the  Scripture.  On  the  contrary,  they  be- 
came more  frequent.  "  Three  thousand  were  pricked  to  the  heart"  on 
the  day  of  pentecost,  and  felt  the  need  of  a  visit  from  the  heavenly  Phy- 
sician. He  then  came  revealed  in  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  with  whom 
he  is  one.  They  received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  office  it  is 
to  manifest  the  Son.  For  "  the  promise  was  unto  them  and  their  chil- 
dren, and  to  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."  Witness  the  last 
words  of  Christ  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  the  five  thousand  converted  some  days 
after,  of  Cornelius  and  his  household,  Lydia  and  her  household ;  in  a 
word,  of  all  who  were  truly  brought  to  Christ  in  the  first  age  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  Lord  "  opened  their  hearts.  The  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon 
them,  and  they  walked  in  his  comforts.  Christ  was  evidently  set  forth 
crucified  before  their  spiritual  eyes.  He  dwelt  in  their  hearts  by  faith  ; 
they  lived  not,  but  Christ  lived  in  them."  They  agreed  in  saying  with 
St.  Paul,  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,"  by  whom  he  is 
savingly  known,  "  he  is  none  of  his." 

Stephen's  experience  is  alone  sufficient  to  decide  the  point.  When 
brought  before  the  council,  they  "  all  saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the 
face  of  an  angel."  Being  "  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  he  wrought  no 
miracle,  he  spake  no  new  tongue,  but  "  looked  steadfastly  up  into  heaven 
and  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God." 
This  manifestation  was  calculated  only  for  the  private  encouragement 
and  comfort  of  the  pious  deacon.  It  answered  no  other  end  but  to 
em-age  the  Jews,  and  make  them  account  him  a  greater  blasphemer  and 
a  wilder  enthusiast  than  they  did  before.  Accordingly  they  cried  aloud, 
stopped  their  ears,  ran  upon'  him,  cast  him  out  of  the  city,  and  stoned 
him ;  while  Stephen,  under  the  powerful  influence  of  the  manifestation, 
"  kneeled  down  and  called  upon  God,  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit,  and  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge."  Hence  we  learn,  first,  that 
nothing  appears  so  absurd  and  wicked  to  Pharisees  and  formalists,  as 
the  doctrine  I  maintain.  They  lose  all  patience  when  they  hear  that 
Christ  really  manifests  himself  to  his  servants.  No  blasphemy  is  like 
this  in  the  account  of  those  who  are  wise,  learned,  and  prudent  in  their 
own  eyes.  Secondly,  that  the  most  exalted  saints  need  a  fresh  manifesta- 
tion of  the  glory,  love,  and  presence  of  Christ,  that  they  may  depart  this 
life  in  the  triumph  of  faith. 

If  you  object  that  Stephen  was  thus  favoured,  because  he  was  about 
to  suffer  for  Christ,  and  that  it  would  be  great  presumption  to  expect  the 
like  support,  I  reply  in  five  following  observations.  (1.)  We  are 
called  to  suffer  for  Christ,  as  well  as  Stephen,  though  perhaps  not  in  the 
same  manner  and  degree.  (2.)  We  often  need  as  much  support  from 
Christ,  to  stand  against  the  children  of  men  that  are  "  set  on  flre,  whose 
teeth  are  spears  and  arrows,  and  their  tongues  a  sharp  sword ;"  and 
to  "  quench  the  fiery  darts  of  the  devil,"  as  the  martyr  did  to  stand  a 
shower  of  stones.  (3.)  It  is  perhaps  as  hard  to  be  racked  with  the  gout, 
or  to  burn  several  days  in  a  fever,  on  a  sick  bed,  as  you  or  I  may  be 
forced  to  do,  as  to  be  for  a  few  minutes  with  Shadrach  and  his  compa- 
nions in  a  burning  furnace,  or  to  feel  for  a  fleeting  moment  the  anguish  of 

Vol.  IV.  20 


306  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

bruised  flesh,  and  a  fractured  skull,  with  our  triumphant  martyr.  No 
one  knows  what  pangs  of  body  and  agonies  of  soul  may  accompany  him 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  If  our  Lord  himself  was  not 
above  being  strengthened  by  an  angel  that  appeared  to  him  from  heaven, 
surely  it  is  no  enthusiasm  to  say  that  such  feeble  creatures  as  we  are, 
stand  in  need  of  a  Divine  manifestation,  to  enable  us  to  fight  our  last 
battle  manfully,  and  to  come  off  more  than  conquerors.  (4.)  We  be- 
tray unbelief,  if  we  suppose  that  Christ  cannot  do  for  us  what  he  did  for 
Stephen ;  and  we  betray  our  presumption,  if  we  say  we  want  not  the 
assistance  which  this  bold  champion  stood  in  need  of.  (5.)  The  Ian- 
guage  of  our  Church  is  far  different :  "  Grant,"  says  she,  in  her  collect  for 
that  saint's  day,  "  O  Lord,  that  in  all  our  sufferings  here  on  earth  for 
the  testimony  of  thy  truth,  we  may  steadfastly  look  up  to  heaven,  and, 
by  faith,  behold  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed ;  and,  being  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  may  learn  to  love  and  bless  our  persecutors,  by  the 
example  of  the  first  martyr,  St.  Stephen,  who  prayed  for  his  murderers, 

0  blessed  Jesus,  who  standest  at  the  right  hand  of  God  to  succour  all 
those  who  suffer  for  thee." 

You  see,  sir,  that  I  have  the  suffrage  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and 
yours  too,  if  you  do  not  renounce  our  excellent  liturgy  ;  so  that,  if  I  am 
an  enthusiast  for  expecting  to  be  "  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  by 
faith  to  behold  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,  as  well  as  St.  Stephen, 

1  am  countenanced  by  a  multitude  of  the  best  and  greatest  men  in  the 
world. 

But  suppose  you  reject  the  testimony  of  St.  Stephen,  and  of  all  oui 
clergy  (when  in  the  desk)  touching  the  reality,  and  the  necessity  too,  of 
our  Lord's  manifesting  himself  on  earth,  after  his  ascension  into  heaven, 
receive  at  least  that  of  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul.  They  both  inform  us, 
that  as  Saul  of  Tarsus  went  to  Damascus,  "  the  Lord,  even  Jesus,  ap- 
peared to  him  in  the  way.  Suddenly  there  shone  a  light  from  heaven 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,"  so  that  "  he  fell  upon  the  earth,  and 
heard  a  voice,  saying,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?"  And  he 
said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  "  I  am  Jesus,  whom 
thou  persecutest."  So  powerful  was  the  effect  of  this  manifestation  of 
Christ,  that  the  sinner  was  turned  into  a  saint,  and  the  fierce,  blasphem- 
ing persecutor  into  a  weeping,  prating  apostle. 

Methinks  I  hear  you  say,  true,  into  an  apostle  ;  but  are  we  called  to  be 
apostles  1  No,  sir,  but  we  are  called  to  be  Christians — to  be  converted 
from  sin  to  holiness,  and  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness  to  the  kingdom 
of  "  God's  dear  Son."  St.  Paul's  call  to  the  apostleship  is  nothing  to 
his  being  made  a  child  of  God.  Judas  was  a  Christian  by  profession, 
an  apostle  by  call,  and  a  devil  by  nature.  And  what  is  Judas  in  his  own 
place  to  the  meanest  of  God's  children — to  poor  Lazarus  in  Abraham's 
bosom  ?  All  who  go  to  heaven  are  first  "  turned  from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God."  This  turning  sometimes 
begins  by  a  manifestation  of  Christ :  witness  the  authentic  account  ot 
Colonel  Gardner's  conversion,  published  by  his  judicious  friend,  Dr. 
Doddridge  ;  and  the  more  authentic  one  of  our  apostle's  conversion,  re- 
corded three  times  by  St.  Luke.  And  I  dare  advance,  upon  the  authori- 
ty of  one  greater  than  St.  Luke,  that  no  one's  conversion  ever  was  com- 
pleted without  the  revelation  of  the  Son  of  God  to  his  heart.     "  I  am  the 


SPIRITUAL   MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD.  307 

way  and  the  door,"  says  Jesus ;  no  man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  me. 
"  Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth."  Our  look- 
ing to  him  for  salvation  would  be  to  as  little  purpose,  were  he  not  to 
manifest  himself  to  us,  as  our  looking  toward  the  east  for  light  if  the 
sun  were  not  to  rise  upon  us. 

The  revelation  of  Christ,  productive  of  St.  Paul's  conversion,  was  not 
the  only  one  with  which  the  apostle  was  favoured.  At  Corinth  the  Lord 
encouraged  and  spake  to  him  in  the  night  by  a  vision.  "  Be  not  afraid, 
but  speak  and  hold  not  thy  peace  ;  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall 
hurt  thee."  On  another  occasion,  to  wean  him  more  from  earth,  Christ 
favoured  him  with  the  nearest  views  of  heaven.  "  I  knew  a  man  in 
Christ,"  says  he,  "  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body  I  cannot  tell, 
who  was  caught  up  into  the  third  heaven,  into  paradise,  and  heard  words 
which  it  is  not  possible  for  man  to  utter."  And  he  informs  us  farther, 
that  "  lest  he  should  be  exalted  above  measure  through  the  abundance 
of  the  revelations,  a  messenger  of  Satan  was  suffered  to  buffet  him." 
When  he  had  been  brought  before  the  sanhedrim  for  preaching  the 
Gospel,  St.  Luke  informs  us  that  "  the  night  following  the  Lord  stood 
by  him,  and  said,  Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul ;  for  as  thou  hast  testified  of 
me  in  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  bear  witness  also  at  Rome."  The  ship 
in  which  he  sailed  being  endangered  by  a  storm,  there  stood  by  him 
"  the  Angel  of  God,  whose  he  was,  and  whom  he  served,  saying,  Fear 
not,  Paul,'r  &c. 

St.  Paul  was  not  the  only  one  to  whom  Christ  manifested  himself  in 
this  familiar  manner.  Ananias  of  Damascus  was  neither  an  apostle  nor 
a  deacon ;  nevertheless,  to  him  "  said  the  Lord  in  a  vision,  Ananias. 
And  he  said,  Behold,  I  am  here,  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  said,  Arise,  and  go 
into  the  street,  which  is  called  Straight,  and  inquire  in  the  house  of 
Judas  for  one  called  Saul,  of  Tarsus  ;  for  behold  he  prayeth."  In  like 
manner,  Philip  was  directed  to  go  near  and  join  himself  to  the  eunuch's 
chariot.  And  St.  Peter  being  informed  that  three  men  sought  him,  the 
Lord  said  to  him,  "  Arise  and  go  with  them,  doubting  nothing,  for  I  have 
sent  them." 

Whether  we  place  these  manifestations  in  the  class  of  the  extra- 
ordinary, or  of  the  mixt  ones,  we  equally  learn  from  them :  (1.)  That 
the  Lord  Jesus  revealed  himself  as  much  after  his  ascension  as  he  did 
before.  (2.)  That  if  he  does  it  to  send  his  servants  with  a  Gospel  mes- 
sage to  particular  persons,  he  will  do  it  much  more  to  make  that  message 
effectual,  and  to  bring  salvation  to  those  who  wait  for  him. 

As  for  the  revelations  of  Christ  to  St.  John,  they  were  so  many,  that 
the  last  book  of  the  New  Testament  is  called  the  Revelation,  as  contain, 
ing  chiefly  an  account  of  them.  "  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day,"  says  the  apostle  ;  "  and  I  heard  behind  me  a  great  voice,  as  of  a 
trumpet,  saying,  I  am  the  first  and  the  last.  I  turned  to  see  the  voice 
that  spake  with  me,  and  I  saw  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,  &c. 
When  I  saw  him  I  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead  ;  and  he  laid  his  hands  upon 
me,  saying,  Fear  not,  I  am  the  first  and  the  last."  Write  the  things 
which  are  and  shall  be.  One  of  the  things  which  our  Lord  commanded 
John  to  write,  is  a  most  glorious  promise,  that  "  he  stands  at  the  door" 
of  the  human  heart,  ready  to  manifest  himself  even  to  poor  lukewarm 
Laodiceans ;  and  that  "  if  any  man  hear  his  voice  and  open  the  door," 


308  SPIRITUAL  MANIFESTATION  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD. 

if  they  are  made  conscious  of  their  need  of  him,  so  as  to  open  their 
hearts  by  the  prayer  of  faith,  "  he  will  come  in,"  and  feast  them  with 
his  gracious  presence,  and  the  delicious  fruits  of  his  blessed  Spirit. 
Therefore  the  most  extraordinary  of  all  the  revelations,  that  of  St.  John 
in  Patmos,  not  only  shows  that  the  manifestations  of  Christ  run  parallel 
to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  but  also  gives  a  peculiar  sanction  to  the  ordi- 
nary revelations  of  him,  for  which  I  contend. 

Having  thus  led  you  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  I  conclude  by  two 
inferences,  which  appear  to  me  undeniable.  The  first,  that  it  is  evident 
our  Lord,  before  his  incarnation,  during  his  stay  on  earth,  and  after  his 
ascension  into  heaven,  hath  been  pleased,  in  a  variety  of  manners,  to 
manifest  himself  to  the  children  of  men,  both  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Church  in  general,  and  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  for  the  esta- 
blishment of  saints  in  particular.  Secondly,  that  the  doctrine  I  maintain 
is  as  old  as  Adam,  as  modern  as  St.  John,  the  last  of  the  inspired 
writers,  and  as  Scriptural  as  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  which  is 
what  I  wanted  to  demonstrate.     I  am,  sir,  &c. 

J.  Fletcher. 


PASTORAL  AND  FAMILIAR  LETTERS  :* 

CONTAINING   SEVERAL   ORIGINAL  LETTERS,  WHICH   HAVE  NOT  BEEN  PUB- 
LISHED   IN  ANY   PRECEDING   COLLECTION. 


LETTER  I. — To  the  parishioners  of  Madeley. 

Bristol,  October,  1776. 

To  all  who  fear  and  love  God  in  and  about  Madeley:  grace  and 
peace,  power  and  love,  joy  and  triumph  in  Christ,  be  multiplied  to  you, 
through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  through  the  word  that  testifies  of  the 
blood,  and  through  the  Spirit  who  makes  the  application. 

I  expected  I  should  have  been  with  you  to  see  your  love,  and  be  edi- 
fied by  your  conversation,  but  Providence  has  hindered.  Twice  I  had 
fixed  the  day  of  my  departure  from  this  place ;  and  twice,  the  night 
before  that  day,  I  was  taken  worse  than  usual,  which,  together  with  the 
unanimous  forbiddings  of  my  spiritual,  temporal,  and  medical  friends 
here,  made  me  put  off  my  journey.  The  argument  to  which  I  have 
yielded  is  this :  "  There  is  yet  some  little  probability,  that  if  you  stay 
here  you  might  recover  strength  to  do  a  little  ministerial  work ;  but  if 
you  go  now  you  will  ruin  all."  However,  God  is  my  witness,  that,  if 
I  have  not  ventured  my  life  to  come  and  see  you,  it  was  not  from  a  desire 
to  indulge  myself,  but  to  wait  and  see  if  the  Lord  would  restore  me  a  little 
strength,  and  add  a  few  years  to  my  life,  that  I  might  employ  both  in 
your  service ;  just  as  a  horse  is  sometimes  kept  from  his  owner,  and 
confined  to  the  yard  of  a  farrier,  until  he  recovers  the  ability  of  doing 
his  master  some  service.  I  only  desire  to  know,  do,  and  suffer  the  will 
of  God  concerning  me  ;  and  I  assure  you,  my  dear  brethren,  if  I  saw  it 
to  be  his  will,  that  I  should  give  up  the  means  of  health  I  have  here,  I 
would  not  tarry  another  day,  but  take  my  chance  and  come  to  my  dear 
charge,  were  the  parish  situated  ten  times  more  north  than  it  is. 

I  do  not,  however,  despair  of  praising  Gpd  with  you  in  the  body  ;  but 
let  us  not  stay  for  this  to  praise  him.  Let  us  bless  him  now  ;  and  if  any 
of  you  are  under  a  cloud  of  unbelief,  and  see  no  matter  of  praise  in 
being  out  of  hell,  in  being  redeemed  by  Christ,  crowned  with  thousands 
of  spiritual  and  temporal  mercies,  and  called  to  take  possession  of  a  king- 
dom  of  glory ;  I  beg  you  would  praise  him  on  my  account,  who  raises 
me  so  many  friends  in  time,  who  afflicts  me  with  so  gentle  a  hand,  who 
keeps  me  from  all  impatience,  and  often  fills  me  with  consolation  in  my 
trouble ;  giving  me  a  sweet  hope  that  all  things  work,  and  shall  work, 
together  for  good. 

Love  one  another.  The  love  you  show  to  one  another  will  greatly 
refresh  my  heart.  Keep  united  to  our  common  head,  Jesus.  Pray  for 
your  infirm  minister,  as  he  does  for  you ;    and  let  me  hear  of  your 

*  The  reader  will  observe,  that  those  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  Pastoral  and  Familiar 
Letters,  which  were  inserted  in  the  narrat're  of  his  life,  by  the  late  Rev.  Joseph 
Benson,  are  here  omitted. 


310  PASTORAL  LETTERS. 

growth  in  grace,  which  will  be  health  to  the  withering  bones  of  your 
unprofitable  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 

P.  S.  Medicine  does  not  seem  to  relieve  me  ;  but  I  rejoice  that,  when 
outward  remedies  fail,  there  is  one,  the  blood,  and  word,  and  Spirit  of 
Jesus,  which  never  fails ;  which  removes  all  spiritual  maladies,  and  will 
surely  give  us  eternal  life.  Let  me  recommend  that  remedy  to  you  all : 
vou  all  want  it,  and,  blessed  be  God,  I  can  say,  Probation  est — tried. 

J.  Fletcher. 


II. — To  the  parishioners  of  Madeley. 

Newington,  Jan.  13,  1777. 

My  Dear  Companions  in  Tribulation, — I  find  much  comfort  in 
my  weak  state  of  health,  from  my  relation  to  my  "  covenant  God :" 
and  by  my  relation  to  him  as  my  covenant  God,  I  mean,  1.  My  clear, 
explicit  knowledge  of  the  Father  as  my  Creator  and  Father ;  who  so 
loved  the  world,  you,  and  me,  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  we 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  O  my  dear  friends,  what 
sweet  exclamations,  what  endearing  calling  of  Abba,  Father,  will  ascend 
from  our  grateful  hearts,  if  we  say,  with  St.  Paul,  "  He  that  spared  not 
his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  freely  will  he  give  all 
things"  with  that  capital  gift ! 

2.  I  mean  by  my  covenant  relation,  my  relation  to  the  adorable  Per- 
son, who,  with  the  strength  of  his  Godhead,  and  the  strength  of  his  pure 
manhood,  took  away  my  sin,  and  reconciled  our  fallen  race  to  the  Divine 
nature,  making  us  capable  of  recovering  the  Divine  union  from  which 
Adam  fell.  O  how  does  my  soul  exult  in  that  dear  Mediator !  How  do 
I  hide  my  poor  soul  under  the  shadow  of  his  wings  !  There  let  me  meet 
you  all.  Driven  to  that  true  mercy  seat  by  the  same  danger,  drawn  by 
the  same  persevering  and  redeeming  love  ;  invited  by  the  same  Gospel 
promises,  and  encouraged  by  each  other's  example,  and  by  the  example 
of  that  cloud  of  witnesses,  who  have  passed  into  the  kingdom  of  God  by 
that  precious  door,  let  us  by  Christ  return  to  God  ;  let  us  in  Christ  find 
our  reconciled  God  :  and  may  that  dear  commandment  of  his,  "Abide  in 
me,"  prove  every  day  more  precious  to  our  souls.  If  we  abide  in  him 
by  believing  that  he  is  our  way,  our  truth,  and  our  life  ;  by  apprehend- 
ing him  as  our  Prophet  or  wisdom,  our  Priest  or  righteousness,  our  King 
or  sanctification  and  redemption,  we  shall  bear  fruit,  and  understand  what 
is  meant  by  these  scriptures  :  "  In  him  I  am  well  pleased  :"  "  Accepted 
in  the  Beloved  :"  "  There  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus :"  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,"  &c. 
O  the  comfort  of  thus  cleaving  to  Christ  by  faith ;  of  thus  finding  that 
Christ  is  our  all. 

Love  one  another,  my  dear  brethren,  I  entreat  you  :  by  the  pledges 
of  redeeming  love  which  I  have  so  often  given  you,  while  I  said  in  his 
name,  "  The  body  of  Christ  which  was  given  for  thee ;  the  blood  of 
Christ  which  was  shed  for  thee,"  to  reconcile  thee  to  God,  and  to  cement 
thee  to  the  brethren :  by  these  pledges  of  Divine  love,  I  entreat  you  to 
love  one  another,  and  "  the  Holy  Spirit  is  with  you  :"  but  if  you  plead 
the  promise  of  the  Father,  which,  says  Christ,  you  have  heard  of  me, 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  311 

he  will  be  in  you.     He  will  fill  your  souls  with  his  light,  love,  and  glory, 
according  to  that  verse  which  we  have  so  often  sung  together, 
Refining  fire,  go  through  rny  heart, 

Illuminate  my  soul, 
Scatter  thy  life  through  every  part, 
And  sanctify  the  whole. 

So  shall  we  live  and  die  in  the  faith,  going  on  from  faith  to  faith, 
from  strength  to  strength,  from  comfort  to  comfort,  till  Christ  is  all  in  all 
to  us  all.  J.  Fletcher. 

P.  S.  I  earnestly  recommend  to  you  all  my  dear  brother  Greaves. 
Show  him  all  the  love  you  have  shown  to  me,  and,  if  possible,  show  him 
more,  who  is  so  much  more  deserving. 


III. — To  the  brethren  in  and  about  Madeley. 

Nyon,  Feb.  11,  1779. 

My  Dear  Companions  in  Tribulation, — Peace  and  mercy,  faith, 
hope,  and  love  be  multiplied  to  you  all  in  general,  and  to  each  of  you  in 
particular,  from  the  Father  of  mercies,  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  the  Spirit  of  grace.  I  thank  you  for  your  kind  remembrance  of  me 
in  your  prayers.  I  am  yet  spared  to  pray  for  you.  O  that  I  had  more 
power  with  God !  I  would  bring  down  all  heaven  into  all  your  hearts. 
Strive  together,  in  love,  for  the  living  faith,  the  glorious  hope,  the  sancti- 
fying, perfecting  love,  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Look  to  Jesus. 
Move  on :  run  yourselves  in  the  heavenly  race,  and  let  each  sweetly 
draw  his  brother  along,  till  the  whole  company  appear  before  the  re- 
deeming God  in  Sion,  adorned  as  a  bride  for  the  heavenly  Bridegroom. 

I  hope  God  will,  in  his  mercy,  spare  me  to  see  you  in  the  flesh ;  and 
if  I  cannot  labour  for  you,  I  shall  gladly  sutler  with  you.  If  you  will 
put  health  into  my  flesh,  marrow  into  my  bones,  joy  into  my  heart,  and 
life  into  my  whole  frame,  be  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul.  Count  nothing 
your  own,  but  your  sin  and  shame ;  and  bury  that  dreadful  property  in 
the  grave,  the  bottomless  grave  of  our  Saviour.  Let  all  you  are  and 
have  be  his  that  bought  you,  and  his  members',  for  his  sake.  Dig  hard 
in  the  Gospel  mines' for  hidden  treasure.  Blow  hard  the  furnace  of 
prayer,  with  the  bellows  of  faith,  until  you  are  melted  into  love,  and  the 
dross  of  sin  is  purged  out  of  every  heart.  "  There  is  a  river  that  maketh 
glad  the  city  of  God  ;"  it  is  grace  that  flows  from  his  throne.  Jesus  is 
the  vessel,  the  heavenly  ark :  get  together  into  him,  and  sweetly  sail 
down  into  the  ocean  of  eternity.  So  shall  ye  be  true  miners,  furnace 
men,  and  barge  men.     Farewell  in  Jesus.  J.  Fletcher. 


IV. — To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

London,  Dec.  12,  1758. 
My  Dear  Sir, — If  my  silence  were  owing  to  forgetfulness,  I  should 
blush  at  not  availing  myself  more  frequently  of  your  permission  to 
write ;  but  the  idea  I  entertain,  that  nothing  but  your  great  condescen- 
sion can  make  my  correspondence  supportable,  makes  me  sometimes 
act  in  a  manner  quite  contrary  to  the  sentiments  of  my  heart. 

Before  I  left  Tern,  the  Lord  gave  me  a  medicine  to  prepare  me  to 
suffer  what  awaited  me  here. 


312  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

This  humiliation  prepared  me  so  well,  that  I  was  not  surprised  to  learn 
that  a  person  in  London  had  spread  abroad  many  false  and  scandalous 
things  of  me  during  my  absence  :  and  that  the  minds  of  many  were 
prejudiced  against  me.  In  one  sense  I  took  a  pleasure  in  thinking  that 
I  was  going  to  be  rejected  by  the  children  of  God,  and  that  my  Saviour 
would  become  more  dear,  under  the  idea,  that  as  in  heaven,  so  now  on 
earth,  I  should  have  none  but  him.  The  first  time  I  appeared  in  the 
chapel,  many  were  so  offended  that  it  was  with  difficulty  they  could  for- 
bear interrupting  me  in  my  prayer,  to  tell  me,  "  Physician,  heal  thyself." 
I  was  on  the  point  of  declining  to  officiate,  fearing  I  should  only  give 
fresh  offence;  indeed,  I  should  have  done  so  had  it  not  been  for  my 
friend  Bernon,  who  pressed  me  to  stand  firm,  representing  the  triumph 
my  silence  would  give  my  enemies,  &c.  His  reasons  appeared  to  me 
so  cogent,  that  as  your  brother  did  not  reject  my  assistance,  I  read 
prayers,  and  engaged  to  preach  sometimes  in  a  morning,  which  I  have 
accordingly  continued  to  do. 

The  same  day  I  arrived  in  London  our  poor  friend  Bernon  took  to  his 
bed,  as  if  the  Lord  had  waited  my  presence  to  give  the  blow.  Three 
days  after  the  fever  increased  and  appeared  to  be  dangerous.  The  next 
day,  which  was  Wednesday,  he  settled  his  temporal  concerns.  Friday 
evening  he  was  free  from  fever  and  I  had  some  hopes  of  his  life ;  but 
on  Saturday  it  appeared  that  the  fever  was  the  lightest  part  of  hfe  ma- 
lady, and  the  physician  said  he  would  die  of  an  inflammation  in  his 
bowels,  which  was  the  case  on  Monday,  after  an  illness  of  eight  days. 
I  sat  up  with  him  three  nights  and  saw  him  as  often  as  I  could  by  day ; 
and  blessed  be  God,  I  did  not  see  him  for  a  moment  without  the  full  as- 
surance of  faith.  His  soul  was,  in  general,  divided  between  the  exercise 
of  repentance  and  of  faith  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;  however,  from 
time  to  time,  repentance  gave  place  to  rejoicing ;  and  when  he  appeared 
better,  he  expressed  much  fear  of  returning  to  life.  Nevertheless,  one 
day  when  I  was  not  with  him,  he  had  a  conflict  with  the  enemy  of  his 
faith,  which  continued  an  hour  or  two,  when  he  came  off  conqueror. 
The  violence  of  the  fever  sometimes  threw  him  into  a  delirium,  and  that 
was  the  case  some  hours  before  his  dissolution.  The  last  words  he  ut- 
tered, before  the  strength  of  his  disease  deprived  him  of  speech,  were, 
"  O  what  love,  what  love !"  I  have  in  my  heart  a  clear  testimony  that 
he  died  the  death  of  the  just.  Thus  to  recompense  me  for  the  injury 
Satan  has  done  me  by  a  false  friend,  the  Lord  hath  taken  to  himself  a 
true  one,  whom  he  will  restore  to  me  again  in  the  last  great  day.  Such 
a  loss  is  a  real  gain. 

I  sincerely  rejoice  in  the  health  of  Mrs.  Wesley.  Present  my  com- 
pliments to  her — not  those  of  the  children  of  this  world,  but  those  of  the 
servants  of  Christ ;  and  do  not  forget  to  give  your  little  Charles  a  kiss 
of  peace  and  prayer  for  me.     Adieu.  J.  Fletcher. 


V. — To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

London,  March  22,  1759. 
My  Dear  Sir, — You  left  me  without  permitting  me  to  say  farewell ; 
but  that  shall  not  hinder  me  from  wishing  you  a  good  journey,  and  I 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  313 

flatter  myself  that  you  are  in  the  habit  of  returning  my  prayers.  I  have 
even  shared  the  joy  of  Mrs.  Wesley  in  seeing  you  again.  Happier 
than  the  afflicted  Jesus,  you  leave  your  own  and  they  regret  your  ab- 
sence ;  you  return  to  your  own,  and  they  receive  you  with  joy.  You 
cannot  yet  be  rendered  perfect  by  su  tie  ring ;  your  father  and  mother 
have  never  forsaken  you :  but  no  matter,  you  have  no  doubt  your  afflic- 
tions !  And  probably  the  Lord  puts  you  secretly  in  a  crucible,  that  you 
may  go  forth  as  gold  seven  times  tried  in  the  fire.  May  he  lay  his  hand 
upon  you  and  fill  you  with  his  strength !  He  will  not  forget  Mrs.  Wes- 
ley :  I  have  had  some  assurances  that  he  will  not  when  I  have  been  en- 
abled to  lay  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the  delightful  burden  you  put  upon 
me  by  interesting  me  in  her  present  critical  circumstances.  If  I  were 
more  humble  I  would  beg  you  to  present  her  my  humble  respects ;  and 
if  I  were  strong  in  faith  like  Elizabeth,  I  could  say  like  her,  with  that 
fulness  of  the  Spirit  which  should  go  to  her  heart,  "  Blessed  art  thou 
among  women,  and  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb !"  But  it  becomes 
not  me  to  presume  so  far :  I  shall  be  happy  if  my  good  wishes  may  be 
found  sincere  before  God. 

The  adversary  avails  himself  mightily  of  the  enthusiasm  of  Miss 
A d  to  prevent  the  success  of  my  preaching  in  French  ;  but  I  be- 
lieve that  my  own  unworthiness  does  more  for  the  devil  than  ten  Miss 

A 's.     However,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  endeavour  to  stem 

the  torrent  of  discouragement,  praying  the  Lord  to  provide  for  this  poor 
people  a  pastor  after  his  own  heart,  whom  the  wandering  sheep  may  be 
willing  to  hear,  and  who  may  bring  them  to  himself. 

Give  me  some  account  of  Mrs.  Wesley  and  of  the  god-father  she 
designs  for  your  little  Charles :  and  that  she  may  not  labour  under  a 
deception,  tell  her  how  greatly  I  want  wisdom,  and  add  that  I  have  no 
more  grace  than  wisdom.  If,  after  all,  she  will  not  reject  so  unworthy 
a  sponsor,  remember  that  I  have  taken  you  for  a  father  and  adviser,  and 
that  the  charge  will  in  the  end  devolve  upon  you.  Adieu.  May  the 
plenitude  of  Christ  fill  you,  and  may  some  drops  of  that  precious  oil 
run  from  you  to  me  !  J.  Fletcher. 


VI.— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley. 

Tern,  Oct.  24,  1759. 

My  Dear  Sir, — For  some  days  past,  the  hope  of  hearing  from  you 
has  been  balanced  by  the  fear  that  you  were  not  in  a  condition  to  write. 
This  last  idea  prevails  so  much,  that  I  take  my  pen  to  entreat  you  to 
deliver  me  from  the  inquietude  which  I  suffer  from  your  silence.  If  the 
gout  prevents  you  from  writing,  employ  the  hand  of  a  friend.  If  you 
are  in  the  third  heaven  of  contemplation  and  love,  let  brotherly  love  for 
a  moment  bring  you  down ;  if  you  wander  in  the  desert  of  temptation, 
let  sympathy  unite  you  to  a  miserable  man  who  feels  himself  undone. 

Since  my  last,  I  have  taken  some  steps  toward  the  knowledge  of 
myself.  If  you  inquire  what  I  have  learned  ?  I  answer,  that  I  am 
naked  of  every  thing  but  ■pride  and  unbelief.  Yesterday  I  was  seized 
with  the  desire  of  making  rhymes,  and  I  versified  my  thoughts  on  the 
present  state  of  my  soul  in  a  hymn,  the  first  part  of  which  I  now  send 


314  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

you.  If  the  poetry  does  not  deserve  reading,  the  language  will  recaL 
to  mind  your  French. 

How  does  Mrs.  Wesley  and  your  little  family  do  ?  The  rumour  here 
is,  that  the  French  are  at  Liverpool.  I  am  glad  they  do  not  think  oi 
Bristol.  Salute  the  trembling  half  of  yourself  from  me,  and  tell  hei 
how  much  I  rejoice  that  her  quarters  have  been  in  safety  hitherto ;  and 
that  my  hope  is  they  will  continue  so  to  the  end  of  the  war. 

May  the  care  you  take  of  your  health  have  the  success  I  wish  :  and 
while  I  wait  the  event,  may  He  who  enabled  St.  Paul  to  say,  "  When  I 
am  weak,  then  am  I  strong,"  sustain  you  in  all  your  infirmities,  and  fill 
your  inward  man  with  his  mighty  power !  At  the  moment  I  was  going 
to  seal  mine,  I  received  your  dear  letter.  You  will  see  by  the  hymn, 
in  which  I  have  attempted  to  paint  my  heart,  that  I  have  at  present  far 
other  things  to  do  than  to  think  of  going  on  to  perfection,  even  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  spiritual  house ;  much  less,  then,  can  I  help  for- 
ward those  who  seek  it.     I  am,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


VII.— To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

London,  Nov.  15,  1759. 

My  Dear  Sir, — Your  letter  was  not  put  into  my  hand  till  eight  days 
after  my  arrival  in  London.  I  carried  the  enclosed  agreeably  to  its 
address,  and  passed  three  hours  with  a  modern  prodigy — an  humble  and 
pious  countess.  I  went  with  trembling,  and  in  obedience  to  your  orders  ; 
but  I  soon  perceived  a  little  of  what  the  disciples  felt,  when  Christ  said 
to  them,  "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid."  She  proposed  to  me  something  of 
what  you  hinted  to  me  in  your  garden,  namely,  to  celebrate  the  com- 
munion sometimes  at  her  house  in  a  morning,  and  to  preach  when  occa- 
sion offered  ;  in  such  a  manner,  however,  as  not  to  restrain  my  liberty, 
nor  prevent  my  assisting  you,  or  preaching  to  the  French  refugees ; 
and  that  only  till  Providence  should  clearly  point  out  the  path  in  which 
I  should  go. 

You  ask,  "  Whether  I  can,  with  confidence,  give  you  up  to  the  mercy 
of  God  ?"  Yes,  I  can ;  and  I  feel  that  for  you,  which  I  do  not  for 
myself;  I  am  so  assured  of  your  salvation,  that  I  ask  no  other  place  in 
heaven,  than  that  I  may  have  at  your  feet.  I  doubt  even  if  paradise 
would  be  a  paradise  to  me,  unless  it  were  shared  with  you  ;  and  the 
single  idea  which  your  question  excited,  that  we  might  one  day  bo 
separated,  pierced  my  heart,  and  bathed  my  eyes  with  tears.  They 
were  sweet  tears,  which  seemed  to  water  and  confirm  my  hope,  or 
rather  the  certainty  I  have  that  He  who  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  us, 
will  also  finish  it,  and  unite  me  to  you  in  Christ,  by  the  bonds  of  an 
everlasting  love !  And  not  only  to  you,  but  to  your  children  and  your 
wife,  whom  I  salute  in  Christ.     Adieu.     I  am,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


VIII.— To  the  Hon.  Mrs. 


My  Dear  Friend, — To  a  believer,  Jesus  is  alone  the  desirable,  the 
everlasting  distinction  and  honour  of  men.  All  other  advantages,  though 
now  so  proudly  extolled,  so  vehemently  coveted,  are,  like  the  down  on  the 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  315 

thistle,  blown  away  in  a  moment,  and  never  secure  to  the  possessor. 
Riches  are  incapable  of  satisfying,  friends  are  changeable  and  preca- 
rious, the  dear  relations,  who  are  the  delight  of  our  hearts,  are  taken 
away  at  a  stroke ;  pain  and  sickness  follow  ease  and  health  in  quick 
succession  ;  but,  amidst  all  the  possible  changes  of  life,  Christ  is  a  rock. 
To  see  him  by  faith,  to  lay  hold,  to  rely  upon  him,  this  is  the  refuge 
from  the  storm,  the  shadow  from  the  heat.  May  it  be  given  to  you 
abundantly !  And  in  order  to  obtain  it,  nothing  more  or  less  is  required 
of  you,  than  a  full  and  frequent  confession  of  your  own  abominable 
nature  and  heart,  then  kneeling  as  a  true  beggar  at  the  door  of  mercy, 
declaring  you  came  there  expecting  notice  and  relief  only  because 
Christ  our  Saviour  came  to  redeem  incarnate  devils,  and,  for  the  glory 
of  his  grace,  to  convert  them  into  saints  and  servants  of  the  living  God, 
into  the  children  of  God,  and  heirs  of  glory. 

I  think  you  take  a  sure  method  to  perplex  yourself,  if  you  want  to 
see  your  own  faith,  or  look  for  one  moment  at  yourself  for  the  proof  of 
your  faith  ;  others  must  see  it  in  your  works,  but  you  must  feel  it  in 
your  heart.  The  glory  of  Jesus  is  now,  by  faith,  realized  to  the  mind, 
in  some  such  manner  as  an  infinitely  grand  and  beautiful  object  which 
appears  in  the  firmament  of  heaven :  it  arrests  and  fixes  the  attention 
of  the  spectators  on  itself;  it  captivates  them,  and  by  the  pleasure  it 
imparts,  they  are  led  on  to  view  it :  so,  when  Jesus  is  our  peace,  strength, 
righteousness,  food,  salvation,  and  our  all,  we  are  penetrated  with  a 
consciousness  of  it.  We  should  never  rest  short  of  this  feeling,  nor 
ever  think  we  have  it  strong  enough.  This  is  to  keep  the  faith  ;  and  our 
chief  conflict  and  most  constant  labour  must  be  against  our  own  hearts, 
the  things  of  the  world,  and  the  suggestions  of  our  great  enemy,  which 
are  all  intent  to  divert  us  from  this  one  object,  which  Mary  placed  herself 
before ;  or  to  make  us  doubt  whether  in  the  life  and  death  of  Emmanuel 
there  were  such  unsearchable  riches  and  efficacy,  such  a  complete  sal- 
vation for  all  his  people,  or  whether  we  are  in  that  number.  For  my 
own  part,  I  am  often  tempted  to  suspect  whether  I  am  not  speaking 
great  swelling  words  of  Chx-ist,  and  yet  am  not  more  than  "  sounding 
brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal :"  and  I  find  the  only  successful  way  of 
answering  this  doubt,  is  immediately  to  address  to  Jesus  a  prayer  to  this 
effect :  "  Whosoever  cometh  to  thee  thou  wilt  in  no  wise  cast  out :" 
Lord,  have  not  I  come  to  thee  1  Am  not  I,  as  a  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  fire,  depending  upon  thee  for  life  ?  "  See  if  there  be  any  way  of 
wickedness  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

My  eye  looks  to  the  blessed  Jesus,  my  heart  longs  to  be  more  in  his 
service,  my  love — O  that  it  were  greater  toward  him  !  I  mourn  deeply 
for  my  corruptions,  which  are  many  and  great.  When  I  look  at  him, 
and  contemplate  his  great  salvation,  I  admire,  I  adore,  and  in  some 
measure  I  love  :  but  when  I  look  at  myself,  my  heart  rises  at  the  sight : 
black  and  devilish,  selfish  and  proud,  carnal  and  covetous,  and  most 
abominably  unclean,  I  want  all  things  which  are  good.  But  I  have  a 
blessed,  blessed  Lord,  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  all  fulness  dwells  for  me, 
and  for  the  dear  friend  to  whom  I  am  writing !  A  fulness  of  pardon, 
wisdom,  holiness,  strength,  peace,  righteousness,  and  salvation  ;  a  lulness 
of  love,  mercy,  goodness,  truth  :  all  this,  and  a  thousand  times  more 
than  all  this,  without  any  worthiness  of  merit,  only  for  receiving.     0 


316  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

blessed  free  grace  of  God  !  0  blessed  be  his  name  for  Jesus  Christ ! 
What  a  gift !  And  for  whom  ?  For  you,  my  dear  friend,  if  you  are 
without  strength,  if  you  are  in  your  nature  an  enemy,  all  this  is  for  you. 
What  says  the  everlasting  God  ?  Believe  that  he  gave  his  Son  for  sin- 
ners  ;  and,  as  a  sinner,  believe  in  Jesus.  He  came  to  save  the  lost : 
then,  as  a  lost  soul,  believe  in  him.  He  came  to  cleanse  the  filthy :  then, 
as  a  filthy  soul,  believe  in  him.  And  why  should  we  not  thus  believe  1 
Can  God  lie  ?  Impossible  !  Can  we  have  a  better  foundation  to  build 
on  than  the  promise  and  oath  of  God  ? 

My  dear  friend,  I  know  you  wUl  not  be  angry  at  my  preachment ;  I  aim 
it  all  at  my  own  heart ;  I  stand  more  in  need  of  it  than  you.  I  always  feel 
my  heart  refreshed  when  I  am  talking  or  thinking  of  Jesus.  It  is  a  feast 
to  my  sinful  soul,  when  I  am  meditating  on  the  glories  which  compose 
his  blessed  name.  But  O  how  dark  and  ignorant,  how  little,  how  exceed- 
ing little,  do  I  know  of  him !  O,  thou  light  of  the  world,  enlighten  my 
soul !  Teach  me  how  to  know  more  of  thy  infinite  and  unsearchable 
riches,  thou  great  God-man,  that  I  may  love  thee  with  an  increasing 
love,  and  serve  thee  with  an  increasing  zeal,  till  thou  bringest  me  to 
glorv !  J.  Fletcher. 


IX. — To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  April  27,  1761. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  just  received  your  letter,  which  at  once  fills 
me  with  pleasure,  and  covers  me  with  shame.  You  kindly  cast  a  veil 
over  my  faults,  instead  of  exposing  them  as  they  deserve.  This  gene- 
rous conduct  will,  if  I  am  not  incorrigible,  help  to  cure  me  of  what  you 
style  my  imprudent  simplicity,  but  what  I  call  by  its  proper  title  of  stupid 
ingratitude :  but  what  do  I  say  1  Nothing  can  cure  me  but  a  lively  faith 
in  that  Jesus,  who  is  made  to  us,  of  the  Father,  wisdom.  O  that  he 
were  my  wisdom ! 

A  young  person,  the  daughter  of  one  of  my  rich  parishioners,  has 
been  thrown  into  despair ;  so  that  every  body  thought  her  insane,  and 
indeed  I  thought  so  too.  Judge  how  our  adversaries  rejoiced ;  and  for 
my  part,  I  was  tempted  to  forsake  my  ministry  and  take  to  my  heels ; 
I  never  suffered  such  affliction.  Last  Saturday  I  humbled  myself  before 
the  Lord,  on  her  account,  by  fasting  and  prayer ;  and  I  hope  that  the 
Lord  has  heard  my  prayer.  She  found  herself  well  enough  to  come  to 
church  yesterday.  You  will  do  well  to  engage  your  colliers  at  Kings- 
wood  to  pray  for  their  poor  brethren  at  Madeley.  May  those  of  Made- 
ley  one  day  equal  them  in  faith,  as  they  now  do  in  that  wickedness  for 
which  they  were  famous  before  you  went  among  them. 

Mr.  Hill  has  written  me  a  very  obliging  letter,  to  engage  me  to  ac 
company  the  eldest  of  my  pupils  to  Switzerland  ;  and  if  I  had  been  in 
any  other  country  than  the  place  where  I  am,  I  should  perhaps  have 
been  tempted  to  go.  At  present,  however,  I  have  no  temptation  thai 
way,  and  I  have  declined  «he  offer,  as  politely  as  I  could.     I  am,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  317 

X. — To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Sept.  20,  1762. 

My  Dear  Sir, — It  is  well  for  me  I  have  not  an  implicit  faith  in  your 
half  promises  to  come  to  see  me.  I  am  sorry  that  my  delay  has  fur- 
nished you  with  an  apology  ;  but  comfort  myself  still  with  the  idea  that 
you  will  not  wholly  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  of  embracing  you ;  and 
that  your  visit  is  only  postponed  for  a  little  season. 

The  "  Crede  quod  habes,  et  habes,"  (Believe  that  you  have  it  and  you 
have  it,)  is  not  very  different  from  those  words  of  Christ,  "  What  things 
soever  ye  desire  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  receive  them  and  ye  shall 
have  them,"  Mark  xi,  24.  The  humble  reason  of  the  believer  and  the 
irrational  presumption  of  the  enthusiast,  draw  this  doctrine  to  the  right 
hand  or  to  the  left.  But  to  split  the  hair — here  lies  the  difficulty.  I  have 
told  you  that  I  am  no  party  man  ;  I  am  neither  for  nor  against  the  wit- 
ness for  Christian  perfection  without  examination.  I  complain  of  those 
who  deceive  themselves ;  I  honour  those  who  do  honour  to  their  profes- 
sion ;  and  I  wish  we  could  find  out  the  right  way  of  reconciling  the  most 
profound  humility  with  the  most  lively  hopes  of  grace.  I  think  you 
insist  on  the  one  and  Maxfield  on  the  other ;  and  I  believe  you  both  sin- 
cere in  your  views.  God  bless  you  both,  and  if  either  of  you  go  too 
far,  may  the  Lord  bring  him  back.     Adieu,  dec,  J.  Fletcher. 

XI. — To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Nov.  22,  1762. 

My  Dear  Sir, — The  debates  about  the  illegality  of  exhorting  in 
houses  (although  only  in  my  parish,)  grew  some  time  ago  to  such  a 
height  that  I  was  obliged  to  lay  my  reasons  before  the  bishop ;  but  his 
lordship  very  prudently  sends  me  no  answer.  I  think  he  knows  not 
how  to  disapprove,  and  yet  dares  not  approve  this  Methodistical  way  of 
procedure. 

Brother  Ley  arrived  safe  here  yesterday,  and  confirms  the  melan- 
choly news  of  many  of  our  brethren  overshooting  sober  and  steady 
Christianity  in  London.  I  feel  a  great  deal  for  you  and  the  Church,  in 
these  critical  circumstances.  O  that  I  could  stand  in  the  gap !  O  that 
I  could,  by  sacrificing  myself,  shut  this  immense  abyss  of  enthusiasm, 
which  opens  its  mouth  among  us ! 

The  corruption  of  the  best  things  is  always  the  worst  of  corruptions. 
Going  into  an  extreme  of  this  nature,  or  only  winking  at  it,  will  give  an 
eternal  sanction  to  the  vile  aspersions  cast,  on  all  sides,  on  the  purest 
doctrines  of  Christianity  :  and  we  shall  sadly  overthrow — overthrow  in 
the  worst  manner,  what  we  have  endeavoured  to  build  for  many  years. 

The  nearer  the  parts  that  mortify  are  to  the  heart,  the  more  speedily 
is  an  amputation  to  be  resolved  upon.  You  will  say,  perhaps,  "  But 
what  if  the  heart  itself  is  attacked  ?"  Then  let  the  heart  be  plucked  out 
as  well  as  the  right  eye.  Was  not  Abraham's  heart  bound  up  in  the 
life  of  Isaac  ?  Yet  he  believed,  that  if  he  offered  him  up,  God  was  able 
to  restore  him,  even  from  the  dead  :  and  was  not  God  better  to  him  than 
his  hopes? 

I  have  a  particular  regard  for  M and  B :  both  of  them  are 


318  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

my  correspondents  :  I  am  strongly  prejudiced  in  favour  of  the  witnesses, 
and  do  not  willingly  receive  what  is  said  against  them ;  but  allowing 
that  what  is  reported  is  one  half  mere  exaggeration,  the  tenth  part  of 
the  rest  shows  that  spiritual  pride,  presumption,  arrogance,  stubbornness, 
party  spirit,  uncharitableness,  prophetic  mistakes ;  in  short,  that  every 
sinew  of  enthusiasm  is  now  at  work  in  many  of  that  body.     I  do  not 

credit  any  one's  bare  word,  but  I  ground  my  sentiments  on  B 's 

own  letters. 

May  I  presume,  unasked,  to  lay  before  you  my  mite  of  observation  ? 
If  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  overlook  the  matter,  as  you  have,  would  it 
be  wrong  in  me  calmly  to  sit  down  with  some  unprejudiced  friends,  and 
lovers  of  both  parties,  and  fix  with  them  the  marks  and  symptoms  of 
enthusiasm ;  then  insist,  at  first,  in  love,  and  afterward,  if  necessary, 
with  all  the  weight  of  my  authority,  upon  those  who  have  them,  or  plead 
for  them,  either  to  stand  to  the  sober  rule  of  Christianity,  or  openly  to 
depart  from  us  ? 

Fear  not,  dear  sir;  the  Lord  will  take  care  of  the  ark ;  and  though  hun- 
dreds of  Uzzahs  should  fall  off,  most  of  them  would  return  with  Noah's 
dove.  Have  faith  in  the  word,  and  leave  the  rest  to  Providence.  "  The 
Lord  will  provide,"  is  a  most  comfortable  motto  for  a  believer.  I  am, 
with  most  hearty  prayers  that  God  would  fill  you  more  than  ever  with 
wisdom,  steadiness,  meekness,  and  fortitude,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XII.— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Jan.  5,  1763. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  congratulate  you  on  the  strength  the  Lord  gave  you 
last  year,  and  I  beseech  him  to  supply  the  lamp  of  your  days  with  new 
oil,  during  the  course  of  that  upon  which  we  are  now  entering.  Above 
all,  may  he  fill  the  vessel  of  your  heart  with  the  oil  of  gladness,  and  pre- 
pare you  for  all  events  which  time  may  bring  forth.  May  he  enable 
you  to  carry  the  light  of  his  glorious  Gospel  into  the  hearts  of  thousands 
by  your  writings,  and  sermons,  and  wisdom ;  and  grace  into  mine  by 
your  letters  and  conversation. 

My  soul  does  not  experience  a  new  life  in  this  renovation  of  the  year. 
O,  may  the  Almighty  enable  me  to  conclude  it  in  a  better  spirit  than  I 
have  begun  it !  What  I  want  is  the  light  and  mighty  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  my  God.  Happy  should  I  be,  if,  in  the  midst  of  all  my  pressing 
wants,  I  had  the  power  and  the  will  constantly  to  cast  my  burdens  at  the 
feet  of  the  Lord.  As  to  my  parish,  we  are  just  where  we  were  :  we  look 
for  our  pentecost,  but  we  do  not  pray  sufficiently  to  obtain  it.  We  are 
left  in  tolerable  quiet  by  all  but  the  sergeant,  who  sent  a  constable  to 
make  inquiry  concerning  the  life  of  his  majesty's  subjects,  upon  informa- 
tion that  the  cry  of  murder  had  been  heard  in  my  house  on  Christmas 
day.  This  report  originated  in  the  cries  of  a  young  woman,  who  is  of 
our  society,  and  whom  Satan  has  bound  for  some  months. 

It  seems  to  me  as  if  that  old  murderer  proposed  to  ruin  the  success  ot 
my  ministry  at  Madeley  as  he  did  at  London,  in  the  French  church,  by 

means  of  Miss  A d.     She  emaciates  her  body  by  fasting,  falls 

into  convulsions,  sometimes  in  the  church  and  sometimes  in  our  private 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  319 

assemblies,  and  is  perpetually  tempted  to  suicide :  her  constitution  is 
considerably  weakened  as  well  as  her  understanding.  What  to  do  in 
this  case  I  do  not  know ;  for  those  who  are  tempted  in  this  manner  pay 
as  little  regard  to  reason  as  the  miserable  people  in  Bedlam.  Prayer 
and  fasting  are  our  only  resources  :  we  propose  to  represent  her  case  to 
the  Lord  on  Tuesday  next,  and  on  all  the  following  Tuesdays.  Aid  the 
weakness  of  our  prayers  with  all  the  power  of  yours.  Adieu.  That  the 
Lord  may  strengthen  you  and  yours  in  bod)r  and  soul,  is  the  earnest 
prayer  of  yours,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


XIII. — To  Mr.  Samuel  Hatton. 

Madeley,  April  22,  1763. 

Dear  Sir, — I  am  glad  to  find  by  your  welcome  letter  that  Jesus  is 
still  precious  to  you.  O  may  he  be  so  a  hundred  fold  more  both  to  me 
and  you !  May  we  live  only  to  show  forth  his  praise,  and  grow  up  into 
him  in  all  things  ! 

As  for  me  I  have  reason  to  praise  God  that  he  gives  me  patience  to 
throw  in  my  weak  line  till  he  gives  the  word,  and  enables  me  to  cast 
the  net  on  the  right  side,  and  enclose  a  multitude  of  sinners.  The  hope 
of  this  bears  me  up  above  the  toils  of  a  night  of  ignorance,  perplexity, 
and  trials  of  every  sort.  I  find,  blessed  be  God,  that  all  things  work 
together  for  my  good,  whether  it  be  success  or  want  of  success,  joy 
or  grief,  sickness  or  ease,  bad  or  good  report — all  encourages  or  hum- 
bles me ! 

With  respect  to  Miss  Hattons,  I  hope  they  will  call  no  man  upon 
earth  master,  and  that  they  will  steer  clear  of  the  rocks  of  prejudice  and 
bigotry,  against  which  so  many  professors  split  daily,  even  when  they 
think  they  are  at  the  greatest  distance  from  them. 

I  am  quite  of  your  opinion  about  the  mischief  that  some  professors 
(puffed  up  in  their  own  fleshly  minds)  do  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  under 
the  mask  of  sanctity ;  but  my  Master  bids  me  bear  with  the  tares  until 
the  harvest,  lest  in  rooting  them  up  I  should  promiscuously  pull  up  the 
wheat  also.  As  to  Mr.  Wesley's  system  of  perfection,  it  tends  rather  to 
promote  humility  than  pride,  if  I  may  credit  his  description  of  it  in  the 
lines  following,: — 

Now  let  me  gain  perfection's  height, 
Now  let  me  into  nothing  fall, 
Be  less  than  nothing  in'  my  sight, 
And  feel  that  Christ  is  all  in  all. 

More  than  this  I  do  not  desire,  and  I  hope  that  short  of  this  nothing  will 
satisfy  either  my  dear  friend  or  me. 

With  respect  to  "  one  Mr.  B n,  having  been  so  bold  as  to  assert 

in  your  room  that  our  salvation  is  conditional,"  he  may  be  orthodox 
enough,  in  my  poor  judgment,  although  he  said  so.  Indeed,  the  merito- 
rious part  of  our  salvation  is  unconditional  on  our  side,  and  if  Mr. 

B n  talks  of  meritorious  conditions,  he  is  a  stranger  to  the  Gospel : 

but,  that  the  application  of  this  salvation  is  conditional,  I  gather  from 
every  doctrinal  chapter  in  the  Bible,  especially  from  Luke  xiii,  3,  and 
Mark  xvi,  16. 


320  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

Have  you  drunk  in  the  doctrine  of  particular  redemption,  contrary  to 
the  thoughts  of  your  esteemed  friend,  Count  Zinzendorf  ?  But  be  that  as 
it  will,  let  us  still  make  the  best  of  our  way  to  the  dear  Saviour,  and  drop 
all  our  particular  opinions  in  his  universal,  unbounded  love  ;  and  where- 
insoever any  of  us  is  wrong,  the  Lord  will  reveal  it  unto  us.  Pray  for 
my  flock ;  and  pray  for,  dear  sir,  your  sincere  friend  and  affectionate 
brother  in  Christ,  J.  Fletcher. 


XIV.— To  the  Rev.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  July  26,  1763. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  have  for  two  months  waited  impatiently  for  some 
news  of  you,  but  in  vain.  Are  you  alive,  paralytic,  gouty,  slothful,  or 
too  busy  to  write  a  letter  to  your  friends  at  Madeley?  If  you  have  not 
leisure  to  write  a  line,  write  a  word,  I  am  well,  or  I  am  ill — God  grant 
it  may  be  the  former  ! 

Every  thing  is  pretty  quiet  here  now.  Many  of  our  offences  die 
away;  though  not  long  ago  I  had  trials  in  abundance,  but,  blessed  be 
the  Lord,  he  gave  me  his  peace.  It  is  not,  however,  without  fighting 
that  I  keep  it.  One  of  my  late  trials  might  have  had  consequences  to 
make  me  quit  Madeley,  and  I  praise  God  I  am  ready  to  do  it  without 
looking  behind  me,  even  this  day.  The  young  person  I  mentioned  as 
being  sorely  tempted  of  the  devil,  is  happily  delivered  ;  and  we  have  had 
the  testimonies  of  Mr.  Mould,  who  preached  here  three  weeks  ago,  and 

of  Mr.  R ,  who  spent  four  days  here,  and  preached  last  Sunday. 

He  is  an  excellent  young  man,  and  only  wants  a  little  of  the  Methodist 
zeal  to  temper  the  reserve  of  Mr.  W . 

When  will  you  come  to  Madeley  ?  What  do  you  do  at  London  ?  Have 
you  repaired  the  breach,  and  healed  the  plague  ?  May  the  Lord  give  you 
all  the  wisdom,  the  patience,  the  zeal,  the  gentleness,  and  the  health  you 
stand  in  need  of!  Ask  them  for  your  poor  brother, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XV. — To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Aug.  19,  1763. 
Madam, — Mrs.  Hatton  gave  me  this  morning  your  serious  letter. 
You  wisely  observe  therein  the  continual  need  professing  Christians  have 
to  guard  against  religious  chit  chat,  and  conclude  by  requesting  a  few 
lines,  when  I  should  have  an  opportunity  of  writing ;  but,  as  there  is 
nothing  in  your  letter  which  requires  an  answer,  I  was  thinking  whether 
I  could  answer  it  without  being  guilty  of  religious  chit  chat ;  for  as  there 
is  such  a  thing  in  speaking,  no  doubt  in  writing  also.  I  believe  I  should 
have  sacrificed  to  conscience  what  the  world  calls  good  manners,  had  I 
not  just  after  accidentally  opened  Lopez's  Life  upon  the  following  pas- 
sage, which  I  shall  transcribe,  hoping  it  will  be  blessed  both  to  the  reader 
and  copier  : — "  He  was  as  sparing  of  words  in  writing  as  in  speaking  : 
he  never  wrote  first  to  any  one,  nor  did  he  answer  others,  but  when 
necessity  or  charity  obliged  him  to  it :  and  then  so  precisely,  and  in 
so  few  words,  that  nothing  could  be  retrenched.  I  have  several  of  his 
letters  in  my  hands  of  five  or  six  lines  each.     In  answer  to  those  he  had 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  321 

received  from  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  he  sent  him  one  containing  only 
these  words,  '  I  will  do  what  you  command  me.'  And  although  this 
manner  of  writing  might  seem  disrespectful  to  persons  of  so  high  quality 
yet  it  gave  no  offence  from  one  who  was  so  far  from  all  compliments 
and  who  never  spoke  any  thing  superfluous." 

Now,  madam,  for  fear  of  writing  any  thing  superfluous,  I  shall  conclude 
by  wishing  both  you  and  I  may  follow  Lopez,  as  he  followed  Christ ;  and 
subscribing  myself,  madam,  the  ready  servant  of  you  and  yours  in  the 
Gospel,  J.  Fletcher. 


XVI.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley, 


My  Dear  Friend  in  the  Lord, — I  thought  last  Sunday,  that  you 
were  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God  :  had  your  wisdom  stooped  a  little 
more  to  "  the  foolishness  of  the  cross,"  you  would  have  been  the  little 
child  to  whom  God  reveals  what  he  justly  hides  from  the  wise  and  pru- 
dent. I  longed  to  have  followed  you,  and  given  you  no  rest  till  you  had 
drunk  "  the  cup  of  blessing,"  which  your  Lord  had  mixed  for  you  with 
his  bitter  tears,  and  most  precious  blood.  And  how  glad  was  I  to  find 
last  night  that  you  had  no  aversion  to  Jesus  and  his  love,  nor  to  the 
simple,  foolish  way  of  entertaining  him  in  your  heart,  as  you  can  by 
mere  faith.  How  often  since  has  my  heart  danced  for  joy,  in  hope  that 
the  time  is  come,  when  the  Lord  will  fully  open. your  heart  like  that 
of  Lydia,  to  attend,  without  cavilling  or  objecting,  to  his  still,  small  voice, 
"  I  am  thine,  and  thou  art  mine."  "  Fear  not,  for  I  have  redeemed  thee, 
thou  worm  Jacob.  I  have  graven  thy  name  (that  is,  sinner)  upon  the 
palms  of  my  hands.  I  shall  see  in  thee  the  travail  of  my  soul,  and  shall 
be  satisfied.  Let  me  not  upbraid  thee  longer  for  wilful  unbelief  and 
hardness  of  heart ;  but  believe  upon  the  testimony  of  my  word  and  ser- 
vants that  I  am  risen  for  thy  justification.  Say  not,  I  must  ascend  into 
heaven,  or  descend  into  the  deep :  I  must  feel  first  such  a  height  of  joy 
or  depth  of  sorrow  :  no  ;  believe  simply  that  '  the  word  is  nigh  thee,  in 
thy  mouth,  and  in  thy  heart,  namely,  the  word  of  faith  preached  unto 
thee.'  I  am  '  the  Lamb  of  God ;'  I  have  carried  away  thy  sins,  and 
'  I  do  not  condemn  thee,'  though  thou  condemnest  thyself.  '  I  am  he 
that  [for  mine  own  sake]  blotteth  out  thy  sins  as  a  cloud,  and  thy  iniqui- 
ties as  a  thick  cloud :  because  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have 
mercy,  namely,  on  him  who  will  be  saved  in  my  way,  by  that  faith  which 
stumbles  the  Jew,  and  is  foolishness  to  the  Greek,  but  which  will  prove 
to  thee  both  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God.  Fear  not,  then,  O  thou  of 
little  faith ;  wherefore  shouldst  thou  doubt  any  longer?  Do  I  despise  the 
day  of  small  things  ?  Do  I  break  the  bruised  reed,  or  quench  the  smok- 
ing flax  V  Am  not  I  the  '  good  Shepherd,  who  carrieth  the  lambs  in  his 
bosom  ?'  Does  a  mother  forsake  her  sucking  child  because  it  is  weak, 
sickly,  unable  to  walk,  or  even  to  stand  ?  Yea,  though  a  mother  should 
so  forsake  her  child,  '  yet  will  I  never  leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.' 
Only  lean  on  thy  beloved,  and  I  will  bring  thee  up  out  of  the  wilderness. 
Abandon  thyself  wholly  to  my  care,  and  1,  the  keeper  of  Israel,  will  care 
for  thee ;  and  thy  business  shall  be  henceforth  to  repose  on  my  bosom, 
and  wash  thee  in  my  bleeding  heart ;  and  my  business  shall  be  to  carry 

Vol.  IV.  21 


322  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

thee  safe  through,  or  above  all  thy  enemies.  Only  remember,  thy  busi- 
ness is  to  believe  and  love  :  and  trust  me  for  a  faithful  discharge  of  mine 
to  save  thee  with  a  high  hand." 

Thus,  my  friend,  will  your  dear  Saviour  speak  to  your  heart,  if  you 
do  not  drown  his  voice  by  the  objections  of  your  false  wisdom.  O  down 
with  it ;  it  is  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  death.  Away  to  the  tree  of  life ; 
take  freely,  eat  and  live.  I  know  you  are  willing  through  grace ;  and 
Christ,  who  hath  made  you  willing,  is  ten  thousand  times  more  willing 
than  you :  how,  then,  can  he  cast  you  out  ?  What  hinders,  but  that  you 
should,  as  a  spiritual  Rebekah,  say,  "  Now  and  ever  I  will  have  that 
man  ?"  You  go  upon  a  sure  bottom,  you  need  not  fear  being  slighted ; 
for  in  the  letter  he  hath  wrote  you  from  heaven,  to  invite  you  to  the 
marriage,  he  says,  "  I  have  betrothed  thee  to  me  with  everlasting,  yea, 
with  bleeding  kindness."  Indeed,  indeed  he  sends  me  to  you,  to  assure 
you  he  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever ;  and  were  you  the 
sister  of  Magdalene  in  outward  wickedness,  he  sends  you  word  that  you 
may  kiss  his  feet,  and  rejoice  that  much  is  forgiven  you,  even  though 
you  should  not  have  one  tear  to  wash  them  with  :  his  blood,  his  precious 
blood  hath  washed  his  feet,  and  does  wash  your  heart,  and  will  wash  it 
white  as  snow.  O  let  it  be  your  business  to  consider  it  with  a  believing 
thought.     That  is  the  way  to  apply  it  to  your  heart. 

I  would  have  called  on  you  this  morning,  had  not  my  intended  journey 
prevented  it :  till  I  have  an  opportunity  of  calling,  I  beg,  as  upon  my 
knees,  you  would  make  use  of  the  directions  which  I  herewith  send  you, 
&c,  (See  Mr.  Fletcher's  Life,)  which  I  think  as  truly  applicable  to  your 
state,  as  they  are  truly  evangelical :  and  pray  for  him  who  earnestly  prays 
for  you  ;  I  mean,  for  your  unworthy  servant,  J ,  Fletcher. 


XVII.— To  Mrs.  Glynne. 

Madeley,  Sept.  2,  1763. 

Dear  Madam, — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  remembrance  and  good 
wishes,  that  I  might  eat  the  everlasting  bread  of  our  Father's  house, 
expressed  by  a  present  of  the  most  incorruptible  bread  our  earth  affords. 
I  should  be  glad  to  take  the  opportunity  of  Mr.  Wesley's  stay  at  Salop, 
to  thank  you  in  person  and  eat  with  you  the  bread,  the  unleavened  bread 
of  sincerity  and  truth,  handed  out  by  him ;  but  I  am  obliged  to  set  out 
to-day  for  Lady  Huntingdon's  college,  and  shall  not,  I  fear,  be  in  Shrop- 
shire when  Mr.  Wesley  comes. 

If  the  Father  of  lights  have  drawn  your  soul  in  any  warmer  desires 
after  the  glorious  sense  of  his  love,  and  enabled  you  to  sit  down  and 
count  the  cost,  and  give  up  fully  whatever  may  have  a  tendency  to  keep 
you  out  of  the  delightful  enjoyment  of  the  pearl  of  great  price,  I  shall 
rejoice  greatly ;  for  it  is  my  hearty  desire  that  all  my  Christian  friends 
and  I  might  grow  up  daily  toward  the  measure  of  the  full  stature  of 
Chnst. 

I  return  you  my  most  affectionate  thanks,  madam,  for  your  book,  and 
for  the  franks  you  added  to  it.  May  you  use  all  the  promises  of  the 
Gospel,  as  franks  from  Jesus,  to  send  momentary  petitions  to  heaven, 
and  may  an  unwearied  faith  be  the  diligent  messenger ! 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  323 

What  proved  a  disappointment  to  you  was  none  to  me,  having  been 
forced  by  many  such  disappointments  to  look  for  comfort  in  nothing  but 
these  comprehensive  words,  "  Thy  will  be  done !"  A  few  more  trials 
will  convince  you  experimentally  of  the  heavenly  balm  they  contain  to 
sweeten  the  pains  and  heal  the  wounds  that  crosses  and  afflictions  may 
cause.  We  often  improve  more  by  one  hour's  resignation  than  by  a 
month's  reading ;  and  when  we  can  exercise  neither  gifts  nor  graces, 
one  of  the  last  is  always  excepted — patience ;  which  is  then  worth  all 
the  rest.  O  let  us  make  the  best  of  our  day,  madam ; — a  day  of  grace 
— a  Gospel  day — a  day  of  health — a  precarious  day  of  life  !  Let  us 
believe,  hope,  love,  obey,  repent,  spend  and  be  spent  for  Him  who  hath 
loved  us  unto  death. 

Mr.  M.  said  your  portmanteau  would  go  to-day  ;  but  whether  it  goes 
or  stays,  let  neither  wind  nor  tide  keep  us  back  from  Jesus  Christ. 
That  his  love  may  fill  our  hearts  is  the  repeated  wish  of,  dear  madam, 
your  unworthy  friend  and  servant  in  Christ,  J.  Fletcher. 


XVIII.— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  diaries  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Sept.  9,  1763. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I  see  that  we  ought  to  learn  continually  to  cast  our 
burdens  on  the  Lord,  who  alone  can  bear  them  without  fatigue  and  pain. 

If  M return,  the  Lord  may  correct  his  errors,  and  give  him  so  to 

insist  on  the  fruits  of  faith  as  to  prevent  Antinomianism.  I  believe  him 
sincere ;  and  though  obstinate  and  suspicious,  I  am  persuaded  he  has  a 
true  desire  to  know  the  will  and  live  the  life  of  God.  I  reply  in  the 
same  words  you  quoted  to  me  in  one  of  your  letters,  "  Do  not  be  afraid 
of  a  wreck,  for  Jesus  is  in  the  ship."  After  the  most  violent  storm,  the 
Lord  will  perhaps  all  at  once  bring  our  ship  into  the  desired  haven. 

You  ask  me  a  very  singular  question  with  respect  to  women ;  I  shall 
however  answer  it  with  a  smile,  as  I  suppose  you  asked  it.  You  might 
have  remarked  that  for  some  days  before  I  set  oft*  for  Madeley,  I  consi- 
dered matrimony  with  a  different  eye  to  what  I  had  done  :  and  the  per- 
son who  then  presented  herself  to  my  imagination,  was  Miss  Bosanquet. 
Her  image  pursued  me  for  some  hours  the  last  day,  and  that  so  warmly, 
that  I  should  perhaps  have  lost  my  peace,  if  a  suspicion  of  the  truth  of 
Juvenal's  proverb,  Veniunt  a  dote  sagitke,  had  not  made  me  blush,  fight, 
and  flee  to  Jesus,  who  delivered  me  at  the  same  moment  from  her  image 
and  the  idea  of  marriage.  Since  that  time  I  have  been  more  than  ever 
on  my  guard  \gainst  admitting  the  idea  of  matrimony,  sometimes  by 
the  consideration  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  which  ought  to  be  my  whole  feli- 
city, and  at  others  by  the  following  reflections  : — 

It  is  true  that  t'ie  Scripture  says,  that  a  good  wife  is  a  gift  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  it  is  also  true  that  there  may  be  one  in  a  thousand  ;  but  who 
would  put  in  a  lottery  where  are  999  blanks  to  one  prize  ?  and  suppose 
I  could  discover  this  phoenix,  this  woman  of  a  thousand,  what  should  I 
gain  by  it  ?  A  distressing  refusal.  How  could  she  choose  such  a  man 
as  me  ?  If,  notwithstanding  all  my  self  love,  I  am  compelled  cordially 
to  despise  myself,  could  I  be  so  wanting  in  generosity  as  to  expect 


324 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 


another  to  do  that  for  me  which  I  cannot  do  for  myself — to  engage  to  love, 
to  esteem,  and  honour  me  ? 

I  will  throw  on  my  paper  some  reflections,  which  the  last  paragraph 
of  your  letter  gave  rise  to,  and  I  beg  you  will  weigh  them  with  me  in 
the  balances  of  the  sanctuary. 

REASONS   FOR  AND  AGAINST  MATRIMONY. 

1.  A  tender  friendship  is,  after  the  1.  Death  will  shortly  end  all  parti- 
love  of  Christ,  the  greatest  feli-  cular  friendships.  The  happier 
city  of  life ;  and  a  happy  mar-  the  state  of  marriage,  the  more 
riage  is  nothing  but  such  a  friend-  afflicting  is  widowhood  ;  beside, 
ship  between  two  persons  of  dif-  we  may  try  a  friend  and  reject 
ferent  sexes.  him   after   trial ;    but   we   can't 

know  a  wife  till  it  is  too  late  to 
part  with  her. 

2.  A  wife  might  deliver  me  from  the    2.  Marriage  brings  after  it  a  hun- 
difficulties  of  housekeeping,  &c.         dred  cares  and  expenses ;  chil- 
dren, a  family,  &c. 

3.  Some    objections    and   scandals    3.  If  matrimony  be  not  happy,  it  is 
may  be  avoided  by  marriage.  the  most  fertile  source  of  scan- 
dals. 

4.  A  pious  and  zealous  wife  might  4. 1  have  1000  to  1  to  fear  that  a 
be  as  useful  as  myself;  nay,  she  wife,  instead  of  being  a  help, 
might  be  much  more  so  among  may  be  indolent,  and  consequent- 
my  female  parishioners,  who  ly  useless ;  or  humoursome, 
greatly  want  an  inspectress.  haughty,  capricious,  and  conse- 
quently a  heavy  curse. 

Farewell.     Yours,  J.  Fletcher. 


XIX. — To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Sept.  3,  1764. 

Madam, — I  think  the  estate  your  soul  is  in,  is  not  uncommon.  The 
only  advice  I  can  at  present  give  you,  is  not  to  look  to  self,  except  it  be 
to  believe  it  away.  Be  generously  determined  not  to  live  easy  without 
the  thoughts  of  Jesus  on  your  mind,  and  his  love,  or  at  least  endeavours 
after  it  in  your  heart.  Then  get  that  love  or  the  increase  of  it,  by  ob- 
stinately believing  the  love  of  Christ  to  you,  till  you  are  ashamed  into 
some  return  of  it.  A  passage  I  have  found  much  relief  from,  when  my 
soul  has  been  in  the  state  you  describe,  is,  "Likewise  reckon  ye  also 
yourselves  to  be  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,"  Rom.  vi,  11.  This  reckoning  by  faith  I  find  is  not 
reckoning  without  one's  host :  but  Christ  is  always  ready  to  set  his  hand 
to  the  bill  which  faith  draws. 

As  to  your  correspondent's  letter,  I  approve  its  contents,  but  would 
have  no  one  depend  on  my  judgment,  especially  on  the  points  it  treats 
of;  as  I  have  been  thought  sometimes  to  consider  them  with  a  mind  pre- 
possessed in  their  behalf.  This  I  know,  that  all  cannot,  ought  not  to 
receive  some  of  the  sayings  that  letter  contains ;  and  yet,  happier  far, 
m  my  opinion,  are  those  that  can  and  do  receive  them.  Let  every  one 
follow  grace  and  Providence,  and  we  shall  be  guided  aright.     I  am,  &c, 

John  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  32b 

XX.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Dec.  1764. 

Madam, — I  am  sensible  how  much  I  want  advice  in  a  thousand  par- 
ticulars, and  how  incapable  I  am  safely  to  direct  any  one  ;  I  shall,  never- 
theless, venture  to  throw  upon  this  sheet  the  following  observations,  as 
they  came  to  my  mind  on  the  reading  your  letter. 

You  cannot  expect,  on  the  Gospel  plan,  to  attain  to  such  a  carriage  as 
will  please  all  you  converse  with.  The  Son  of  God,  the  original  of  all 
human  perfection,  was  blamed,  sometimes  for  his  silence,  and  sometimes 
for  his  speaking,  &c ;  and  shall  the  handmaid  be  above  her  Master  ? 

There  is  no  sin  in  wearing  such  things  as  you  have  by  you,  if  they  are 
not  out  of  character  ;  I  mean  if  they  are  necessary  for  your  station,  and 
characterize  your  rank. 

There  is  no  sin  in  allowing  yourself  a  little  more  latitude  of  speech, 
provided  you  listen  to  Christ,  by  inward  attention  to  his  teaching,  and  the 
end  of  what  you  say  may  be  to  introduce  what  is  useful  and  edifying ; 
for  God  judgeth  of  words  according  to  the  intention  of  the  speaker.  I 
may  speak  idly  even  in  the  pulpit ;  and  I  may  speak  to  edification  in  the 
market,  if  what  I  say  is  either  necessary  or  proper  to  introduce,  or  drive 
the  nail  of  a  profitable  truth.  Some  parables  of  our  Lord  would  have 
been  deemed  idle  talk,  had  it  not  been  for  the  end  he  pursued,  and, 
upon  the  whole,  accomplished  by  them.  No  particular  rule  can  be  given 
here  ;  a  thousand  circumstances  of  persons,  tempers,  places,  times,  states, 
&c,  will  necessarily  vary  a  Christian's  plan. 

There  is  no  sin  in  looking  cheerful.  No,  it  is  our  duty  to  be  cheer- 
ful. Rejoice  evermore ;  and  if  it  is  our  duty  always  to  be  filled  with 
joy,  it  is  our  duty  to  appear  what  we  are  in  reality.  I  hope,  however, 
your  friends  know  how  to  distinguish  between  cheerfulness  and  levity. 

If  you  want  to  recommend  religion  to  those  you  converse  with,  and, 
in  many  instances,  to  pluck  up  offence  by  the  root,  let  your  heart  lie 
where  Mary's  body  did.  Keep  close  to  Jesus,  be  attentive  to  his  still, 
small  voice,  and  he  will  fill  you  with  humhje  love,  and  such  love  will 
teach  you,  without  any  rule,  as  by  the  instinct  of  your  new  nature,  "  to 
become  all  things  to  all  men." 

You  ask  what  the  apostle  meant  by  that  expression.  It  is  certain  he 
did  nol  mean  to  overset  his  own  precept,  "  Be  not  conformed  to  the 
world."  I  apprehend,  that  in  every  case,  wherein  we  might  promote  the 
spiritual  or  temporal  good  of  any  one,  by  doing  or  suffering  things  of  an 
indifferent  nature,  or  even  painful  and  disagreeable  to  us,  we  ought  to 
be  ready  to  become  all  things  to  all ;  provided  the  good  we  propose  is 
superior  to  the  inconveniences  to  which  we  submit.  Here  also  we  stand 
in  need  of  humble  love,  and  meek  wisdom,  that  we  may  so  weigh  cir- 
cumstances, as  to  form  a  right  judgment  in  all  things. 

1  am  glad  the  Lord  strips  you ;  I  wish  self  may  never  clothe  you 
again.  Beware  of  stiff*  singularity  in  things  barely  indifferent — it  is  self 
in  disguise ;  ai,d  it  is  so  much  the  more  dangerous,  as  it  comes  recom- 
mended by  a  serious,  self-denying,  religious  appearance. 

I  hope  the  short  comings  of  some  about  you  will  not  prevent  your 
eyeing  the  prize  of  a  glorious  conformity  to  our  blessed  Head.  It  is  to 
be  feared,  that  not  a  few  of  those,  who  talk  of  having  attained  it,  have 


320  FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 

mistaken  the  way ;  they  are  still  something,  and  I  apprehend  an  import- 
ant step  toward  that  conformity,  is  to  become  nothing !  Or  rather,  with 
St.  Paul,  to  become  in  our  own  eyes  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  and  the 
"  least  of  saints." 

Mr.  Harris  seems  to  me  one  among  ten  thousand ;  he  has  left  a  par- 
ticular blessing  behind  him  in  this  place.  The  God  of  peace  give  us  the 
blessings  that  the  Messenger  and  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant 
brought  with  him,  at  this  time,  into  the  world !  May  we  so  receive  him, 
that,  by  a  blessed  exchange,  as  he  was  clad  with  our  flesh,  so  we  may 
put  him  on,  and  be  covered  with  his  righteousness,  and  filled  with  his 
Spirit !  Salute  the  Church  in  your  house.  From  your  servant  in  the 
Gospel,  J.  Fletcher 


XXI. — To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Jan.  31,  17G5. 

Madam, — "You  strive,  pray,  resist,  but  are  little  the  better;"  yet 
pray,  strive,  and  resist  on.  It  is  good  to  be  tried,  and  to  get  a  blessing 
in  the  very  fire  ;  we  shall  then  know  how  to  value  it  properly.  But  let 
me  be  free  with  you,  madam  :  do  you  pray,  resist,  and  strive  against 
wanderings  with  any  steadiness,  and  do  you  do  it  in  cheerful  hope  to 
overcome  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb?  When  you  have  been  un- 
hinged from  Christ,  in  mind  or  heart,  do  you  with  stronger  indignation 
against  wanderings,  a  calmer  expectation  of  the  assistance  of  the  Spirit, 
and  a  deeper  agony  of  faith,  seek  to  be  avenged  of  your  adversary  1  Do 
you  imitate  the  importunate  widow  ?  If  this  be  the  case,  you  will  not 
complain  long ;  for  whatsoever  we  thus  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ,  we 
shall  surely  receive  :  and  should  the  Lord,  for  reasons  best  known  to 
himself,  try  your  faith  and  hope ;  yet  that  longer  trial  will  be  found  to 
praise  and  honour  in  the  end.  Only  faint  not ;  and  when  you  find  your- 
self inclined  to  do  so,  in  all  haste  fly  to  the  cordial  of  the  promises,  and 
determine  to  take  nothing  else,  till  your  heart  is  revived  and  made  strong 
again. 

The  same  power  of  God,  through  praying  faith,  is  necessary  to  keep 
you  from  reasoning  unprofitably.  Whenever  this  arises  to  any  height, 
there  is  one  thing  wanting,  a  steadily  exerted  will,  never  thus  to  reason. 
We  cannot  be  so  easily  betrayed,  or  slide  away  into  this  snare  of  the 
devil  so  easily,  as  into  the  other.  I  apprehend  that  whosoever  abides 
steadily  purposed  not  to  reason,  shall  not  do  it.  The  will  starts  aside 
first,  the  resolution  of  course  followeth,  and  the  tempter  easily  takes  their 
place.  Get  willing,  truly  willing  under  the  cross,  and  keep  there,  to 
keep  your  will  in  continual  subjection  to  the  will  of  God. 

Last  Sunday  I  preached  two  sermons  upon  Hebrews  xi,  1.  I  see  so 
much  in  that  faith  of  the  apostles,  that  I  can  hardly  pray  for  any  thing 
beside  "  that  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  that  substance  of  things  hoped 
for."  To  how  many  mistakes  and  fatal  errors  have  we  opened  the  door, 
by  varying  from  the  apostle,  and  pretending  to  be  wiser  than  the  Holy 
Ghost !     The  Lord  fill  you  and  yours  with  that  faith.     Farewell. 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 


XXII. — To  Miss  Hatton. 


327 


Madeley,  June  2,  1765. 

Madam, — I  thank  you  for  the  letter  of  your  correspondent.  What 
he  says  about  luminous  joy  may  sometimes  be  the  case  in  some  of  God's 
dear  children;  but  I  apprehend  that  God's  design  in  withholding  from 
them  those  gracious  influences,  which  work  upon  and  melt  the  sensitive, 
affectionate  part  in  the  soul,  is  to  put  us  more  upon  using  the  nobler 
powers,  the  understanding  and  the  will.  These  are  always  more  in  the 
reach  of  a  child  of  God,  while  the  other  greatly  depend  upon  the  texture 
of  the  animal  frame ;  and  if  they  are  not  stirred  in  a  natural  way,  the 
Spirit  of  God  can  alone,  without  any  concurrence  in  general,  excite 
them.     Do  you  believe,  love,  take  up  your  cross,  and  run  after  Jesus  1 

You  must  let  friends  and  foes  talk  about  your  dress,  while  you  mind 
only  Jesus,  his  word,  and  your  own  conscience.  You  talk  of  hearing 
me  soon.  I  dare  never  invite  any  one  to  hear  me,  though  I  am  glad  to 
see  my  friends :  but  now  I  can  invite  you  with  pleasure  to  come  and 
hear  a  preacher,  who,  under  God,  will  make  you  amends  for  the  trouble 

of  a  journey  to  Madeley.    His  name  is  M ;  he  may  possibly  stay 

a  Sunday  or  two  more  with  me ;  but  Jesus  has  promised  to  be  always 
with  his  poor  followers  :  to  his  merciful  hands  I  commend  both  you  and 
your  unworthy  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 


XXIII.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Aug.  8,  1765. 
Madam, — Mr.  Mather  and  I  have  considered  your  objections  to  our 
little   confession    of  faith ;    be    pleased   to   take   the    following   short 
answers : — 

I.  We  do  not  forget  that  God  works  all  good  in  all  men  :  this  is  clearly 
implied  in  our  first  article ;  but  we  do  not  believe  that  his  working  is 
generally  irresistibly,  or  that  it  supersedes  our  being  workers  together 
with  him. 

II.  Can  any  one  work  out  his  salvation  by  a  faith  productive  of  sancti- 
fication,  and  yet  neglect  good  works  1     Impossible  ! 

III.  Obdurate  sinners,  if  their  day  of  grace  is  not  over,  have  always 
power  to  believe  some  legal  truths  at  least,  and  to  renounce  some  abomi- 
nations in  consequence  of  that  belief:  if  they  resist  the  Spirit  here,  what 
wonder  that  he  does  not  proceed  any  farther  !  Convictions  of  sin  as  well 
as  of  righteousness  are  not  always  so  strong  as  to  carry  all  before  them. 
As  the  dew  falls  more  frequently  on  the  earth  than  hard  showers,  so 
more  gentle,  less  observable,  and  more  gradual  droppings  of  grace 
descend  upon  earthly  hearts  more  frequently  than  driving  storms  of  fear 
or  strong  transports  of  love  :  their  effects  may  be  as  gracious  though  less 
forcible,  and  God  hath  all  the  glory  of  the  one,  as  well  as  of  the  other. 

IV.  "  Can  convinced  sinners,  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel,  believe 
with  the  heart  ?"  &c.  Through  the  power  of  God,  always  more  or 
less  present,  they  can  believe  with  the  heart  those  truths  which  are 
"  suited  to  their  wants,  and  properly  proposed  to  them."  If  they  cannot, 
why  does  God  call  upon  them  to  believe,  and  send  them  word  they  shall 


328  FAMILIAR  LETTERS 

be  damned  if  they  do  not?  As  to  your  query:  "Does  not  God  some- 
times delay  to  confer  the  power  to  believe,  for  a  trial  of  the  grace  of  con- 
viction ?"  We  answer,  that  we  see  no  such  thing  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  that  the  assertion  seems  to  be  a  piece  of  human  wisdom.  Why 
were  not  the  convictions  of  the  harlot,  of  the  three  thousand,  the  five 
thousand,  the  jailer  and  others,  tried  by  a  refusal  of  the  gift  of  faith  ?  If, 
therefore,  persons  truly  convinced  of  sin  do  not  believe  to  the  comfort  of 
their  souls,  we  apprehend  the  reason  to  be  their  being  kept  in  the  dark 
as  to  the  Gospel  way  of  salvation,  their  confounding  faith  and  its  fruits, 
their  disregarding  the  one  talent,  and  despising  the  little  leaven,  and  the 
faith  which  is  small  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  ;  in  short,  their  rejecting 
an  inward  Christ,  because  he  does  not  make  his  appearance,  at  first,  as 
a  mighty,  glorious  conqueror,  but  as  a  weak,  naked,  crying  babe,  who 
wants  both  milk  and  swaddling  clothes  for  his  present  sustenance. 

"  It  is  granted  that  convinced  people  should  be  pressed  to  make  an  effort 
to  believe,  not  doubting  of  the  Lord's  concurrence  with  their  attempt." 
Here,  we  apprehend,  you  grant  us  what  we  contend  for  ;  it  being  absurd 
.o  make  any  attempt  toward  what  is  totally  impossible.  If  such  people 
ought  to  attempt  to  believe  now,  and  not  to  doubt  of  the  Lord's  concur- 
rence with  their  attempt,  it  follows  that  either  you  press  them  not  to 
doubt  of  a  lie,  or  that  the  Lord  now  helps  them  to  believe,  if  they  will 
accept  his  help  in  the  manner  and  way  it  is  offered. 

We  cannot  conceive  what  ingredient  more  you  would  require  to  make 
faith,  than,  on  the  one  side,  the  promise  of  God,  and  the  gracious  help  of 
his  Spirit ;  and,  on  the  other,  genuine  conviction,  and  an  humble  attempt 
to  cast  ourselves  on  the  fidelity,  mercy,  and  power  of  the  Lord. 

Indeed,  you  insinuate  that  God's  concurrence  perhaps  may  not  be 
granted  now.  "  Perhaps,  not  now,"  are  your  words  ;  but  not  those  of 
Ananias,  who  said  to  convinced  Saul,  "  Arise,  why  tarriest  thou  ?  Wash 
away  thy  sins,  calling,  or  believing  on  the  name  of  the  Lord."  If  God 
does  not  concur  now  to  help  convinced  sinners  to  believe,  we  still  affirm, 
that  they  cannot,  without  cruelty,  be  called  upon  now  to  attempt  an  utter 
impossibility,  or,  if  we  may  use  your  expression,  "  to  touch  heaven  with 
their  hands."  This  proviso  of  yours,  this  "  perhaps,  not  now,"  seems 
the  common  way  of  clogging  and  mangling  the  Gospel.  We  see  nothing 
of  it  in  Holy  Writ ;  there  we  read,  "  Believe  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  ;  fear 
not,  only  believe,"  &c.  We  never  read,  "  believe, — but  perhaps  not 
now  Only  believe, — but  first  wait  God's  time,  he  does  not,  perhaps, 
choose  thou  shouldst  believe  now."  There  is  the  quintessence  of  the 
poison  of  the  old  serpent,  in  the  supposition  that  God  commands  now, 
but  is  not,  perhaps,  willing  that  we  should  obey  him  now.  Believe, — 
perhaps,  not  now ;  repent,  be  chaste,  be  honest,  be  sober,  be  charitable, — 
perhaps,  not  now.  Good  God  !  What  room  will  this  not  now — leave 
for  present  infidelity,  uncleanness,  drunkenness,  injustice,  &c,  and  every 
imaginable  abomination  ! 

Upon  second  thoughts,  we  would  hope,  that  your  perhaps,  not  now, 
does  not  regard  our  believing,  but  God's  bringing  forth  the  top  stone, 
while  we  shout  grace  unto  it :  and  in  this  sense  we  find  faith  and  hope 
are  often  tried,  yea,  to  the  uttermost.  Isaac  was  not  born  immediately 
on  God's  making  the  pi'omise,  or  Abraham's  believing  it.  A  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory  does  not  always  immediately  accompany  the 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  329 

belief  of  the  promise  of  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  of  deliverance  from  its 
dominion  :  "  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed  ?  After 
that  ye  believed  ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise.  Now 
the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  in  believing,"  &c.  This 
was  the  language  of  St.  Paul ;  and  we  dare  not  confound  what  he  dis- 
tinguishes,  namely,  "  believing  and  tasting  all  the  rich  fruits  of  faith." 
Concerning  some  of  these,  which  faith  does  not,  in  general,  immediately 
produce,  we  allow  you  to  say,  perhaps,  not  now;  but  though  they  tarry, 
yet  wait  for  them,  for  they  will  surely  come. 

Restless,  resign'd,  for  these  I  wait, 
For  these  my  vehement  soul  stands  still. 

But  observe,  (1.)  That  this  earnest  is  one  of  the  blessed  fruits  of  faith, 
and  not  something  previous  to  it,  as  you  seem  to  imagine.  (2.)  That 
we  do  not  suppose  it  necessary  for  those,  who  are  truly  convinced  of 
sin,  and  desire  to  be  justified  freely  by  the  grace  of  God,  through  the 
redemption  that  is  in  Christ,  to  wait  at  all  before  they  believe,  that  "  he 
is  made  unto  them  of  God  righteousness,  for  the  present  pardon  of  their 
sins :  nor  for  those  who  are  truly  weary  of  their  carnal  mind  to  wait 
before  they  believe,  that  "  he  is  made  unto  them  of  God  sanctification," 
for  the  present  destruction  of  it :  for  the  promise  is  even  now  "  to  us, 
and  to  our  children,"  (those  that  are  afar  off"  not  excepted)  if  they  lay 
hold  on  it  by  faith.  But  greater  discoveries,  riper  fruits,  richer  tastes, 
fuller  enjoyments  of  these  blessings,  together  with  a  being  more  strength- 
ened,  established,  and  settled  in  them,  is  what  we  esteem  our  privilege 
to  expect,  and  wait  for,  in  the  manner  you  describe. 

V.  You  seem  to  suspect  that  this  faith,  on  the  one  hand,  leads  to 
Antinomianism,  and  on  the  other,  takes  from  God  the  glory  of  our 
salvation. 

As  to  the  first  suspicion,  I  hope  it  is  obviated  in  our  second  and  fourth 
answers,  it  being  impossible  that  a  faith,  consequent  upon  real  convic- 
tion  and  weariness  of  sin,  and  begotten  by  the  pure  Gospel  word,  through 
the  Spirit ;  a  faith  which  leads  us  to  sanctification  and  the  destruction 
of  the  carnal  mind ;  a  faith  which  is  productive  of  all  the  ripest  fruits 
of  the  Spirit,  can  be  merely  notional,  or  have  the  least  tendency  to  Anti- 
nomianism. 

And  as  to  the  second,  we  detest  the  thought  of  having  the  least  share 
in  the  glory  of  Christ,  as  our  only  Redeemer,  or  of  the  Spirit,  as  our 
only  Sanctifier.  We  abhor  it  as  much  as  the  proud  and  mad  conceit 
of  sharing  with  God  the  glory  of  our  Creator  and  Preserver.  We  con- 
stantly ascribe  to  free  grace  all  the  honour  of  man's  salvation,  and  are 
persuaded  that  from  the  first  half-formed  desire  raised  in  the  heart,  and 
the  least  degree  of  power  given  for  the  improvement  of  it,  to  the  final 
victory  over  our  last  enemy,  all  is  of  grace — of  mere  grace.  But  as  we 
may  give  God  all  the  glory  of  our  creation  and  preservation,  without 
supposing  that  he  must  breathe,  eat,  drink,  rest,  dress,  plough,  and  reap 
for  us ;  so,  we  apprehend,  we  may  give  Christ  all  the  glory  of  our  re- 
demption and  salvation,  without  excusing  ourselves  from  the  performance 
of  what  he  enjoins,  and,  of  his  own  free,  undeserved  grace,  gives  us 
both  will  and  power  to  do. 

I  rejoice  that  your  soul  prospers :  you  need  not  look  back  any  more. 


330  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

When  you  are  tempted  to  hurry  or  inward  impatience,  remember  you 
are  not  obliged  to  give  way  to  it.  Take  up  these  little  crosses  patiently, 
by  believing,  looking  inward,  and  finding  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  business. 
"  He  is  here,  he  is  here,  as  my  all,"  will  break  many,  yea,  ten  thousand 
snares.     May  the  peace  of  God  be  with  you  and  yours  !  Farewell. 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXIV. — To  Mr.  Alexander  Mather. 

My  Dear  Brother, — I  thank  you  for  your  last  favour.  If  I  answered 
not  your  former  letter,  it  was  because  I  was  in  expectation  of  seeing  you, 
and  not  from  the  least  disregard.  I  am  glad  you  enjoy  peace  at  Wel- 
lington, and  I  hope  you  will  do  so  at  the  Trench  when  you  go  there. 
My  reasons  for  stepping  there  myself  were  not  to  seize  upon  the  spot 
first,  (as  the  accuser  of  the  brethren  may  have  insinuated,)  but  to  fulfil 
a  promise  I  made  to  the  people  of  visiting  them,  if  they  would  not  coun- 
tenance a  lying  wretch  who  went  to  them  from  the  Bank :  all  this  was 
previous  to  my  knowledge  of  the  invitation  they  gave  you.  I  desire  you 
will  call  there  as  often  as  you  have  opportunity.  An  occasional  exhorta- 
tion from  you,  or  your  companion,  at  the  Bank,  Dale,  Ate,  will  be 
esteemed  a  favour ;  and  I  hope  that  my  stepping,  as  Providence  directs, 
to  any  of  your  places  (leaving  to  you  the  management  of  the  societies) 
will  be  deemed  no  encroachment.  In  short,  we  need  not  make  two  par- 
ties ;  I  know  but  one  heaven  below,  and  that  is  Jesus'  love  ;  let  us  both 
go  and  abide  in  it,  and  when  we  have  gathered  as  many  as  we  can  to 
go  with  us,  too  many  will  still  stay  behind. 

I  find  there  are  in  the  ministry,  as  in  the  common  experience  of  Chris- 
tians, times  which  may  be  compared  to  winter :  no  great  stir  is  made  in 
the  world  of  grace  beside  that  of  storms  and  offences,  and  the  growth  of 
the  trees  of  the  Lord  is  not  showy ;  but  when  the  tender  buds  of  brotherly 
and  redeeming  love  begin  to  fill,  spring  is  at  hand.  The  Lord  give  us 
a  harvest  after  seed  time.  Let  us  wait  for  fruit  as  the  husbandman,  and 
remember  that  he  who  believes  does  not  make  haste.  The  love  of  Christ 
be  with  us  all.     Pray  for  J.  Fletcher. 


XXV.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  May,  1776. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  am  sorry,  after  the  manner  of  men,  that  you 
are  ill,  but  glad  in  the  spirit  that  the  will  of  God  takes  place  in  you,  and 
that  he  purges  you,  that  you  may  bring  forth  more  fruit.  Now  is  the 
time  for  you  to  begin  to  be  a  Christian  in  good  earnest ;  I  mean,  to 
follow  the  Man  of  sorrows ;"  and  to  do  it  as  a  lamb  who  goes  to  the 
slaughter,  and  opens  not  his  mouth  by  way  of  complaint ;  though  as  a 
Christian,  I  apprehend  you  may  and  ought  to  open  it  by  way  of  praise. 

One  advice  I  will  venture  to  give  you,  or  rather  to  transcribe  for  you, 
out  of  Isaiah  :  "  The  believer  does  not  make  haste,"  to  doubt,  to  hurry, 
to  forecast,  to  reason  after  the  manner  of  men  :  "  If  I  am  a  child  of  God, 
why  am  not  I  thus  and  thus  ?"  Let  Christ,  either  suffering  for  you,  or 
ordering  your  sufferings,  be  so  eyed  that  you  may  in  a  manner  forget 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  331 

and  lose  yourself  in  him  ;  or  if  a  weak  and  painec  body  makes  you  think 
of  wretched  self,  let  it  be  to  lay  it  down  with  composure  at  Jesus'  feet, 
or  to  take  up  the  burden  of  the  cross  with  cheerful  resignation.  I  hope 
to  hear  soon  of  your  being  recovered  in  body,  and  strengthened  in  soul 
by  this  affliction. 

"  Is  any  prayer  acceptable  to  God,  which  is  not  the  dictates  of  his 
own  Spirit?"  If  you  mean  by  the  dictates  of  the  Spirit,  his  influence  on 
the  mind  to  show  us  our  wants,  and  upon  the  heart  to  make  us  desire  a 
supply  of  them  :  I  answer,  no  ;  for  a  prayer  which  hath  not,  at  least,  the 
above  mentioned  qualities,  is  only  a  vain  babbling. 

"  Does  a  believer  always  pray  with  the  Spirit'r:  assistance  ?"  Yes, 
when  he  prays  as  a  believer  and  not  as  a  parrot ;  fo<"  at  his  lowest  times 
he  has,  more  or  less,  a  sight  of  his  wants,  and  a  desire  to  have  them 
supplied ;  and  this  he  could  not  have,  did  not  the  Spirit  work  upon  his 
mind  and  heart. 

I  hope  you  sink  inwardly  into  nothing,  and  through  nothing  into  the 
immensity  of  God.  I  see  a  little,  through  mercy,  into  the  beauty  of 
humiliation ;  I  find  the  ministry  of  condemnation  glorious ;  and  I  love 
to  take,  every  moment,  the  curse  out  of  Moses'  hand,  as  well  as  the 
blessing  out  of  Christ's.  The  Lord  grant  that  you  and  I,  and  all  our 
friends,  may  do  it  more  feelingly  and  constantly  every  hour  ! 

May  the  Physician  of  soul  and  body  refresh,  strengthen,  establish,  and 
thoroughly  heal  you,  by  the  virtue  of  his  blood  and  the  word  of  his 
power  !     Bear  well,  and  farewell.     Your  unworthy  servant, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXVI.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  May  27,  1766. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  God  of  all  mercies 
and  grace  has  raised  you  from  the  bed  of  sickness,  where  his  love  had 
confined  you.  It  is  good  to  see  his  works  in  the  deep,  and  then  to  come 
and  sing  his  praises  in  the  land  of  the  living.  A  touch  of  pain  or  sick- 
ness I  find  always  profitable  to  me,  as  it  rivets  on  my  soul  the  thoughts 
of  my  nothingness,  helplessness,  and  mortality  ;  and  shows  me,  in  a 
clearer  light,  the  vanity  of  all  the  transitory  scenes  of  life.  May  your 
afflictions  have  the  same  effect  upon  you,  as  long  as  you  live !  May 
you  be  more  steadfast  than  I  am,  to  retain  the  deep  impressions  which 
God's  gracious  rod  may  have  left  upon  your  soul !  And  may  you  learn 
to  lay  yourself  out  more  for  the  Lord,  and  to  do  whatsoever  your  hand 
findeth  to  do,  with  all  your  might,  knowing  that  there  is  no  wisdom,  nor 
device  in  the  grave,  whither  we  are  going. 

If  a  sparrow  falleth  not  to  the  ground,  nor  a  hair  from  our  heads, 
without  our  heavenly  Father's  leave,  it  is  certain  that  the  higher  circum- 
stances of  our  life  are  planned  by  the  wise  and  gracious  Governor  of  all 
things.  This  kind  of  faith  in  Providence  I  find  of  indispensable  neces- 
sity, to  go  calmly  through  life,  and,  I  think  too,  through  death  also. 

How  far  it  might  have  been  expedient  to  have  postponed  preaching 

regularly  in  my  parish,  till  the  minister  of had  been  reconciled  to 

the  invasion  of  his ;  and  how  far  this  might  have  made  my  way  smoother, 


332  FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  determine  :  time  will  show  it,  and  in  the  meanwhile 
I  find  it  good  to  have  faith  in  Providence. 

I  fear  I  have  left  as  great  a  stink  at  Bath,  as  Mr.  Brown  has  a  sweet 
savour  here.  Every  thing  is  good  to  me  that  shows  me  my  unprofita- 
bleness more  and  more ;  but  I  desire  to  grieve  that  the  good  of  my  private 
humiliation  is  so  much  overbalanced  by  the  loss  of  many  about  me.  The 
Lord  fill  you  with  all  peace  and  joy  in  your  soul,  and  with  all  strength 
and  health  in  your  body.  My  respects  wait  upon  your  mother  and 
sister,  and  all  friends.     Farewell.  John  Fletcher. 


XXVII.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  June  21,   1766. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  am  much  concerned  to  hear,  by  Mrs.  Power, 
that  you  are  so  weak ;  but  my  concern  has  greatly  increased,  since  I 
was  told  that  the  foundation  of  your  illness  was  laid  at  Madeley,  and,  I 
am  afraid,  by  my  imprudence  in  taking  you  to  the  woman  with  whom  we 
received  the  sacrament.  I  ask  God's  pardon  and  yours  for  it,  and  I 
hope  it  will  be  a  mean  of  humbling  me,  and  making  me  more  tender  of 
my  friends. 

The  advice  you  give  me  about  my  health  is  seasonable :  I  hope  to 
follow  it ;  nor  am  I  conscious  that  I  have  neglected  it  at  all ;  however, 
I  will  endeavour  that  there  be  not  so  much  as  a  shadow  of  a  call  for 
repeating  it. 

If  the  air  of  Wem  does  not  agree  with  you,  could  you  not  come  so 
far  as  Madeley  1  The  remedy  is  often  most  successfully  applied  where 
the  wound  was  given  ;  and  though  I  am  no  nurse,  though  I  have  been 
the  contrary  of  one  to  you,  I  hope  we  should  wait  upon  you  with  more 
tenderness  than  when  you  were  here  last.  Mrs.  Power  would  nurse 
you,  and  I  would  talk  to  you  of  the  love  of  Jesus  as  well  as  I  could. 

You  know  that  I  perceived  your  bodily  weakness  when  you  were  here, 
and  charged  you  with  what  you  charge  me  with,  "  a  neglect  of  your 
body."  If  I  was  right,  I  hope  you  will  follow  yourself  the  advice  you 
give  me  :  I  am  sure  you  will.  The  burnt  child  will  dread  the  fire  for 
the  time  to  come. 

With  regard  to  kneeling,  you  must  consider  what  your  body  can  bear, 
without  inconvenience  to  your  health.  To  recover  that  is  your  outward 
calling  now  ;  therefore,  so  split  the  hair  between  the  indolence  of  nature 
and  the  weakness  of  your  body,  that  neither  of  the  two  may  be  increased. 

Offer  yourself  to  God  for  life  or  death,  for  ease  or  pain,  for  strength 
or  weakness.  Let  him  choose  and  refuse  for  you  ;  only  do  you  choose 
him  for  your  present  and  eternal  portion.  I  want  you  to  be  a  little  bolder 
in  venturing  upon  the  bosom  of  our  Lord.  We  lose,  (I  for  one,)  much 
sweetness  and  many  degrees  of  holiness  in  being  shy  of  the  Friend,  the 
loving  Friend  of  sinners.  Pray,  for  God's  sake,  don't  forget  that  your 
physician  is  your  husband.  The  joy  of  the  Lord,  as  well  as  his  peace, 
is  to  be  youi  strength.  Love  is  the  passion  that  wants  to  be  stirred  ;  do 
it  in  all  calmness.  "  I  will  love  him,  I  do  love  him  a  little,  I  shall  love  him 
much,  because  he  has  first  loved  me,"  &c.  Ply,  I  pray  you,  this  sweet 
Gospel  task.  Accustom  yourself  to  look  upon  your  body  as  the  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  meet  him  in  your  heart  by  simple  recollection, 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  333 

and  a  steacfy  belief  of  these  Gospel  truths,  "  He  is  here,  he  is  in  me," 
&c :  nor  do  you  let  them  go  for  any  thing  you  do  feel,  or  you  do  not 
feel.     May  God  bless,  comfort,  establish,  and  raise  you  !     Farewell. 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXVIII.— To  Miss  Ireland. 

Madeley,  July  — ,  1766. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — The  poor  account  your  father  has  brought 
us  of  your  health,  and  his  apprehensions  of  not  seeing  you  any  more 
before  that  solemn  day  when  all  people,  nations,  and  tongues  shall  stand 
together  at  the  bar  of  God,  make  me  venture  (together  with  my  love  to 
you,)  to  send  you  a  few  lines ;  and  my  earnest  prayer  to  God  is,  that 
they  may  be  blessed  to  your  soul. 

First,  then,  my  dear  friend,  let  me  beseech  you  not  to  flatter  yourself 
with  the  hopes  of  living  long  here  on  earth.  These  hopes  fill  us  with 
worldly  thoughts  and  make  us  backward  to  prepare  for  our  change.  I 
would  not  for  the  world  entertain  such  thoughts  about  myself.  I  have 
now  in  my  parish  a  young  man  who  has  been  these  two  years  under  the 
surgeons'  hand.  Since  they  have  given  him  up,  which  is  about  two 
months  ago,  he  has  fled  to  the  Lord,  and  found  in  him  that  saving  health 
which  surpasses  a  thousand  times  that  which  the  surgeons  flattered  him 
with ;  and  he  now  longs  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  bet- 
ter. To  see  the  bridge  of  life  cut  off  behind  us,  and  to  have  done  with 
all  the  thoughts  of  repairing  it  to  go  back  into  the  world,  has  a  natural 
tendency  to  make  us  venture  forward  to  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

2dly.  Consider,,  my  dear,  how  good  the  Lord  is  to  call  you  to  be 
transplanted  into  a  better  world  before  you  have  taken  deeper  root  in 
this  sinful  world  :  and  if  it  is  too  hard  for  nature  to  die  now,  how  much 
harder  do  you  think  it  would  be  if  you  lived  to  be  the  mother  of  a  fa- 
mily, and  to  cleave  to  earth  by  the  ties  of  many  new  relations,  schemes 
of  gain,  or  prospects  of  happiness  ? 

3dly.  Reflect,  by  your  illness  the  Lord,  who  forecasts  for  us,  intimates 
long  life  would  not  be  for  his  glory  nor  your  happiness.  I  believe  he 
takes  many  young  people  from  the  evil  to  come,  and  out  of  the  way  of 
those  temptations  or  misfortunes  which  would  have  made  them  miserable 
in  time  and  in  eternity. 

4thly.  Your  earthly  father  loves  you  much ; — witness  the  hundreds 
of  miles  he  has  gone  for  the  bare  prospect  of  your  health  :  but,  my  dear, 
your  heavenly  Father  loves  you  a  thousand  times  better ;  and  he  is  all 
wisdom  as  well  as  all  goodness.  Allow,  then,  such  a  loving,  gracious 
Father  to  choose  for  you ;  and  if  he  chooses  death,  acquiesce  and  say, 
as  you  can,  "  Good  is  the  will  of  the  Lord ;"  his  choice  must  be  best ! 

5thly.  Weigh  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  both  original  and  actual,  and 
firmly  believe  the  wages  of  sin  is  death.  This  will  make  you  patiently 
accept  the  punishment ;  especially  if  you  consider  that  Jesus  Christ  by 
dying  for  us,  has  taken  away  the  sting  of  death,  and  turned  the  grave 
into  a  passage  to  a  blessed  eternity. 

6thly.  Try,  my  dear,  to  get  nearer  to  the  dear  Redeemer.  "He  hatb 
delivered  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a  curse  for  us,"  Gal. 
iii   9.     He  hath  ouenched  the  wrath  of  God  in  his  atoning  blood.     By 


334  FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 

his  atoning  blood,  by  his  harmless  life,  and  painful  death,  he  has  satis- 
fied all  the  demands  of  the  law  and  justice  of  God  ;  by  his  resurrection 
he  asserted  the  full  discharge  of  all  our  spiritual  debts  ;  by  his  ascension 
into  heaven,  where  he  has  gone  to  prepare  us  a  place,  he  has  opened  a 
way  to  endless  glory.  By  his  powerful  intercession,  and  the  merits  of 
his  blood  which  plead  continually  for  us,  he  keeps  that  way  open ;  and 
to  encourage  us  he  assures  us,  "  He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life, 
and  that  him  who  comes  to  him  he  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  He  mildly 
offers  rest  to  the  heavy  laden,  pardon  to  the  guilty,  strength  to  the  feeble, 
and  life  to  the  dead.  You  know  his  words,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life ;  he  that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  were  lead,  yet  shall  he 
live ;  and  he  that  hveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die." 

7thly.  When  you  have  considered  your  lost  estate  as  a  sinner  by  na- 
ture, together  with  the  greatness,  .the  fulness,  the  freeness,  and  suitable- 
ness of  Christ's  salvation  ;  and  when  you  have  diligently  viewed  the 
glories  and  charms  of  his  person,  believe  in  him.  Without  any  cere- 
mony choose  him  for  your  physician,  your  husband,  and  your  king.  Be 
not  afraid  to  venture  upon  and  trust  in  him ;  cast  yourself  on  him  in  fre- 
quent acts  of  reliance,  and  stay  your  soul  on  him  by  means  of  his  pro- 
mises, Pray  much  for  faith,  and  be  not  afraid  of  accepting,  using,  and 
thanking  God  for  a  little.  The  smoking  flax  he  will  not  quench  !  Or.K 
pray  hard  that  he  would  blow  it  up  into  a  blaze  of  light  and  love. 

8thly.  Beware  of  impatience,  repining,  and  peevishness,  which  are 
the  sins  of  sick  people.  Be  gentle,  easy  to  he  pleased,  and  resigned  as 
the  bleeding  Lamb  of  God.  Wrong  tempers  indulged,  grieve,  if  the; 
do  not  quench  the  Spirit. 

9thly.  Do  not  repine  at  being  in  a  strange  country,  far  from  your 
friends ;  and  if  your  going  to  France  does  not  answer  the  end  proposed 
to  your  body,  it  will  answer  a  spiritual  end  to  your  soul.  God  suffers 
the  broken  reeds  of  your  acquaintance  to  be  out  of  your  reach,  that  yc 
may  not  catch  at  them,  and  that  you  may  at  once  cast  your  lonesome 
soul  on  the  bosom  of  Him  who  fills  heaven  and  earth. 

lOthly.  In  praying,  reading,  hearing  any  person  read,  and  meditating, 
do  not  consult  feeble,  fainting,  weary  flesh  and  blood !  For  at  this  rate, 
death  may  find  you  idle  and  supine,  instead  of  striving  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate,  and  when  your  spirits  and  vigour  fail,  remember  that  the 
Lord  is  the  strength  of  your  life  and  your  portion  for  ever.  "  O  death, 
where  is  thy  sting?  Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  !" 

Many  pray  hard  for  you  that  you  may  acquit  yourself,  living  or  dying, 
in  ease  or  in  pain,  as  a  wise  virgin,  and  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  above  all,  Jesus,  the  Captain  of  your  salvation,  and  the  High  Priest 
of  your  profession,  intercedes  mightily  for  you.  Look  to  him  and  be 
saved,  even  from  the  ends  of  France.  To  his  pity,  love,  and  power,  I 
recommend  you.  May  he  bless  you,  my  dear  friend — lift  up  the  light 
of  his  countenance  upon  you,  and  give  you  peace  and  courage,  repent- 
ance, faith,  hope,  and  patient  love,  both  now  and  evermore !  I  am  your 
affectionate,  sincere  friend  and  servant  in  Jesus, 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  335 

XXIX.— To  Miss  Ration. 

Madelev,  July  17,  1766. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  want  to  hear  of  you,  if  I  cannot  hear 
from  you  by  a  line.  The  last  account  I  had  of  your  state  of  healtl 
was  a  very  poor  one.     What  hath  the  Lord  done  for  your  body  since  1 

My  dear  friend,  we  are  all  going  the  way  of  all  flesh ;  and  though 
you  are  more  sensible  of  the  journey  in  your  body  than  I  am  at  present, 
yet  I  follow  you,  or  perhaps  you  follow  me.  I  often  feel  a  desire  to  beai 
your  load  for  you ;  but  the  impossibility  of  this  makes  me  rejoice  thai 
Jesus  who  does  not  faint  as  I  might  do,  will  and  does  carry  both  you  and 
your  burden.  By  a  firm  unshaken  faith,  you  know,  we  cast  our  souls 
upon  Jesus,  and  by  that  power,  whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things 
to  himself,  he  receives  and  bears  that  which  we  commit  to  him. 

That  this  faith  may  be  the  firmer  on  our  part,  let  it  be  rational  as  well 
as  affectionate ;  affectionate  as  well  as  rational.  God  is  good  :  he  does 
not  want  us  to  take  his  word  without  proof.  What  expectations  of  the 
dear  Messias  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  !  What  amazing  chains 
of  miracles  and  wonders  were  wrought  in  favour  of  that  people  and 
family  from  which  he  was  to  come !  What  prophecies  fulfilled  that  we 
might  rationally  believe !  What  displays  of  the  Godhead  in  that  hea- 
venly man  Christ  Jesus  !  "  In  him  dwelt,  of  a  truth,  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily."  You  see  the  power  of  God  in  his  miracles;  the 
goodness  of  God  in  his  character ;  the  justice  and  mercy  of  God  in  his 
death ;  the  truth  and  faithfulness,  the  glory  of  God  in  his  resurrection, 
in  the  coming  of  his  Spirit,  and  the  preaching  of  his  everlasting  Gospel. 
O  my  friend,  we  may  believe  rationally  :  we  may  with  calm  attention 
view  the  emptiness  of  all  other  religions,  and  the  fulness  of  assurance 
that  ours  affords.  And  shall  we  not  believe  affectionately  also  ?  Let 
us  stir  up  ourselves  to  love  this  Jesus  who  hath  given  himself  to  us  with 
all  his  blood,  all  his  grace,  and  all  his  glory.  Come,  give  him  your  whole 
soul,  my  dear  friend,  and  take  him  with  all  his  pardons,  all  his  love,  all 
his  strength.  If  he  wants  you  to  embrace  him  in  his  faint,  bloody  sweat, 
or  in  his  racking  tortures  on  the  cross,  draw  not  back ;  love  him,  love 
him,  and  let  not  the  grave  frighten  you.  It  is  good  to  drop  our  clay  in 
his  quiet  sepulchre,  and  to  follow  him  on  the  wings  of  faith  and  love, 
without  a  clog  of  sickly  flesh  to  heaven.  "  He  died  for  us  and  rose 
again,  that  whether  we  live  or  die,  we  might  be  together  with  him.  To 
us  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  gain.     He  hath  blotted  out" — 

I  am  happily  interrupted  by  your  kind  letter.  Blessed  be  God  for  the 
prospect  of  recovery  you  mention  !  All  is  well  that  Jesus  does  :  sick  or 
well,  living  or  dying,  we  will  be  Jesus'. 

With  regard  to  your  complaint  of  slothfulness,  your  body  cannot  bear 
the  strong  exertions  of  a  wrestling  faith ;  therefore  you  are  called,  I 
apprehend,  with  a  calm  consent  to  accept  of  the  Gospel  tidings,  and,  with 
the  quietness  of  a  child  at  the  breast,  to  suck  the  milk  of  Divine  conso- 
lation. Inward,  loving,  believing  recollection  and  resignation  is  the  palh 
into  which  our  dear  heavenly  Friend  wants  now  to  lead  you.  Be  faith- 
ful, be  bold,  to  follow  where  he  leads ;  make  no  words,  no  unbelieving 
vvords,  and  all  will  be  well.     Farewell  in  body  and  soul. 

J.  Fletcher. 


336  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

XXX.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  July  28,  1766. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  hear  still  a  very  indifferent  account  of  your 
health.  I  stand  in  doubt  as  to  your  bodily  life  ;  but  it  is  in  the  hand  of 
Jesus,  and  Jesus  is  wise,  Jesus  is  good,  Jesus  is  almighty ;  he  will,  there- 
fore, dispose  of  you  for  the  best.  While  you  see  the  scales  hovering, 
and  it  may  be  that  of  life  slowly  descending  toward  a  quiet  grave,  calmly 
look  at  Jesus ;  and  when  the  feebleness  of  your  spirits  prevents  you 
from  crying  out,  in  ecstatic  love,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God !"  let  your 
devoted,  resigned,  patient  heart  still  whisper,  "  Thy  will  be  done  !" 

Your  last  letter  raised  my  hopes  of  your  recovery ;  Mr.  Perry,  who 
saw  you  since,  damps  them  again  :  but  "  whether  we  live,  we  live  to  the 
Lord,  or  whether  we  die,  we  die  to  the  Lord.  Not  for  works  of  right- 
eousness that  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saveth  us. 
Glory  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift !"  Jesus  remembers  you  in 
his  all-prevailing  intercession,  and,  I  might  add,  I  do  in  my  prayers,  if 
the  weight  of  a  dancing  mote  deserved  to  be  mentioned,  after  that  of  an 
immense  mountain.  I  am,  with  Christian  respects  to  our  kind,  loving 
friends  at  Wem,  your  poor  Madeley  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 


XXXI.— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  July  30,  1766. 

My  Dear  Friend, — So  you  are  likely  to  be  at  rest  first !  Well,  the 
Lord's  will  be  done  ;  I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  stay  to  help  us  to  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  but  if  God  wants  to  take  you  there,  and  house  you 
before  a  storm,  I  shall  only  cry,  "  One  of  the  chariots  of  Israel,  and  the 
horsemen  thereof!"  and  try  to  make  the  best  of  my  way  after  you. 

A  calm  receiving  of  the  Gospel  tidings,  upon  a  conviction  of  your  lost 
estate,  with  suitable  tempers,  is  a  sign  that  you  are  in  a  safe  state ;  but 
I  want  you  to  be  altogether  in  a  comfortable  one.  Your  business,  I  ap- 
prehend, is  not  to  turn  the  dung  hill  of  nature,  but  to  suck  the  Gospel 
milk  :  dwell  much,  if  not  altogether,  upon  "  free  justification  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  View  the  sufficiency,  fulness, 
suitableness,  freeness  of  his  atonement  and  righteousness  ;  and  hide  youi 
self  without  delay  under  both.  Look  at  death  only  as  a  door  to  let  you 
out  of  manifold  infirmities  and  pains,  into  the  arms  of  Jesus,  your  hea- 
venly Bridegroom.  Stir  up  faith,  hope,  and  love ;  that  is  trimming 
your  lamp.  Since  last  Monday,  I  find  the  burden  of  your  soul  upon 
mine  in  a  very  particular  manner,  and  I  hope  that  I  shall  not  cease  to 
pray  for  you,  that  you  may  go  not  only  calmly,  but  joyfully,  the  way  of 
all  flesh.  I  have  got  some  praying  souls  to  share  with  me  in  that  profit- 
able work,  and  I  hope  you  will  meet  our  spirits  at  the  throne  of  grace  as 
we  do  yours. 

Let  me  have  the  comfort  of  thinking  that  you  are  with  your  Physi- 
cian, Husband,  and  all ;  who  will  order  all  things  for  the  best.  Pray 
hard,  believe  harder,  and  love  hardest.  Let  the  cry  of  your  soul  be, 
"  None  but  Jesus  living,  none  but  Jesus  dying."  Let  Christ  be  your 
life,  and  then  death,  whether  it  comes  sooner  or  later,  will  be  your  gain. 

Mr.  Glazebrook  waits  for  these  lines,  and  I  conclude  by  again  entreat- 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  337 

ing  you  to  believe.  "  Only  believe"  said  Jesus  to  the  ruler — and  faith 
will  work  by  love,  and  love  by  a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ. 
God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  bless,  uphold,  and  comfort  you ! 
Farewell,  and  forget  not  to  pray  for  your  helpless  friend, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXXIL— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Sept.  1766. 
My  Very  Dear  Friend, — God  wonderfully  supports  your  tottering 
clay,  that  he  may  fill  up  what  is  lacking  in  your  faith.  Concur  with  the 
merciful  design ;  arise  in  spirit,  shake  off  the  dust  of  earthly  thoughts, 
put  on  your  glorious  apparel — put  on,  every  moment,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Dare  to  believe ;  on  Christ  lay  hold :  wrestle  with  Christ  in 
mighty,  or  even  in  feeble  prayer.  He  breaks  not  the  bruised  reed ;  let 
the  reed  be  grafted,  by  simple  faith,  in  the  true  vine — in  the  tree  of  life, 
and  it  will  bring  forth  glorious  fruit ;  not  only  resignation,  but  power  to 
welcome  the  king  disarmed  of  his  terrors,  and  turned  into  a  messenger 
of  joy,  and  a  guide  under  Christ,  to  heavenly  happiness.  Let  not  one 
feeble  breath  pass,  without  carrying  an  act  of  desire,  or  of  faith,  toward 
Christ.  Bestir  yourself  to  lay  hold  on  God,  and  when  you  find  an  ab- 
solute want  of  power,  be  you  the  more  careful  to  lie  at  the  feet  of  Him 
who  hath  all  power  given  him  in  earth  and  heaven  for  you.  Farewell, 
my  dear  friend ;  that  is,  be  found  in  Christ,  for  there  only  can  we  fare 
well  whether  we  live  or  die.  J.  Fletcher. 


XXXIIL— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Jan.  9,  1767. 

My  Dear  Friend, — The  alteration  for  the  worse  I  discovered  in 
your  health,  the  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  makes  me 
sit  down  to  take  a  survey  of  our  approaching  dissolution.  The  dream 
of  live  will  soon  be  over ;  the  morning  of  eternity  will  soon  succeed. 
Away  then  with  all  the  shadows  of  time.  Away  from  them  to  the  eter- 
nal substance — to  Jesus,  the  first  and  the  last,  by  whom,  and  for  whom 
all  things  consist. 

We  stand  on  the  shore  of  a  boundless  ocean :  death,  like  a  lion, 
comes  to  break  our  bones :  let  us  quietly  strip  ourselves  of  our  mortal 
robes,  that  he  may  do  with  us  as  the  Lord  shall  permit.  In  the  mean- 
while, let  us  step  into  the  ark ;  Christ  is  the  ark.  My  dear  friend, 
believe  in  Jesus  ;  believe  that  your  sins,  red  as  crimson,  are  made  white 
as  snow,  by  the  superior  tincture  of  his  blood.  Believe  yourself  into 
Christ.  By  simple  faith  believe  he  is  your  everlasting  head  ;  nor  can 
you  believe  a  lie,  for  God  hath  given  that  dear  Saviour  to  the  worst  of 
sinners,  to  be  received  by  a  lively  faith  ;  and  hath  declared  that  it  shall 
be  done  unto  us  "  according  to  our  faith."  If  you  simply  take  Jesus  to 
be  your  head,  by  the  mystery  of  faith,  you  will  be  united  to  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life.  The  bitterness  of  death  is  passed,  my  dear  friend. 
Only  look  to  Jesus :  he  died  for  you — died  in  your  place — died  under 
the  frowns  of  Heaven,  that  we  might  be  spared.  Stand,  then,  in  him  ; 
be  found  in  him  ;  plead  that  he  hath  wrought  a  sinless  righteousness 

Vol.  IV.  22 


338  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

for  you,  and  hath  more  than  sufficiently  atoned  for  you  by  his  cruel 
sufferings  and  ignominious  death.  Regard  neither  unbelief  nor  doubt ; 
fear  neither  sin  nor  hell ;  choose  neither  life  nor  death ;  all  these  are 
swallowed  up  in  the  immensity  of  Christ,  and  triumphed  over  in  his 
cross.  Believe  that  he  hath  made  an  end  of  sin,  that  you  are  comely 
in  him,  that  you  are  pardoned,  accepted,  and  beloved  of  God,  in  the  one 
mediator  Jesus  Christ.  Reason  not' with  the  law,  but  only  with  him  who 
says,  "  Come,  and  let  us  reason  together ;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 
they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow."  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.  Hold 
fast  your  confidence  in  the  atoning,  sanctifying  blood  of  the  Lamb  of 
God  ;  through  his  blood  the  accuser  of  the  brethren  is  cast  out.  Confer 
no  more  with  flesh  and  blood.  Hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness ; 
eat  the  flesh,  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Redeemer  ;  and  live  in  Christ, 
that  you  may  die  in  him.  Up,  and  be,  doing  the  work  of  God.  Believe 
in  him  whom  he  hath  sent :  kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry ;  grasp  him, 
as  one  who  hath  fallen  into  deep  waters  grasps  the  branch  that  hangs 
over  him. 

0  slumber  no  more  !  Go  meet  the  Bridegroom.  Behold  he  cometh ! 
Trim  your  lamp ;  hold  up  the  vessel  of  your  heart  to  the  streaming 
wounds  of  Jesus,  and  it  shall  be  filled  with  the  oil  of  peace  and  gladness. 
Quit  yourself  like  a  soldier  of  Jesus.  Look  back  to  the  world,  the 
things  and  friends  about  you,  no  more.  I  entreat  you  as  a  companion 
in  tribulation  ;  I  charge  you,  as  a  minister,  go  at  every  breath  you  draw, 
according  to  the  grace  and  power  given  you,  to  the  Physician  who  gives 
nobody  over — that  says,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out;"  and,  "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live." 

Ere  long  there  will  be  time  no  more.  O  my  friend  !  stir  up  yourself 
to  lay  hold  on  him  by  faith  and  prayer  ;  and  let  not  those  few  sands  that 
remain  in  your  glass,  flow  without  the  blood  of  Jesus.  They  are  too 
precious  to  be  offered  up  to  slothful  flesh,  which  is  going  to  turn  out  its 
immortal  inhabitant.  Gladly  resign  your  dust  to  the  dust  whence  it  was 
taken,  and  your  spirit  to  him  who  gave  and  redeemed  it.  Look  to  him 
in  spite  of  flesh  and  blood,  of  Satan  and  unbelief;  and  joyfully  sing  the 
believer's  song,  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory?  Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory,  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ !"  Let  your  surviving  friends  rejoice  over  you,  as 
one  faithful  unto  death — as  one  triumphing  in  death  itself. 

1  am  just  informed  of  dear  Miss  Fragena's  death.  She  caught  a  fever 
in  visiting  the  poor,  sick  of  that  distemper,  and  lived  a  week  to  stand 
and  rejoice  in  dying  pains.  As  she  lived,  she  died — a  burning  and  a 
shining  light.  Ere  long  you  will  meet  her  in  Abraham's  bosom,  whence 
she  beckons  you  to  follow  her,  as  she  followed  Christ.  Be  of  good  cheer, 
be  not  afraid ;  the  same  God  who  helped  her,  will  carry  you  through. 
Your  business  is  to  commend  yourself  to  him,  and  to  keep  safe  that 
which  you  commit  to  him  unto  that  day.  To  his  faithfulness  and  love 
I  commend  you  ;  and  am,  my  dear  friend,  yours  in  him, 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  339 


XXXIV.— To  Mrs.  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Jan.  30,  1767. 

Dear  Madam, — I  heard  last  night  the  news  of  Miss  Hatton's  death. 
As  the  stroke  had  long  threatened  you,  and  as  she  had,  through  mercy, 
long  ago  resigned  herself  to  it,  I  hope  it  hath  not  found  you  without  the 
shield  of  resignation,  patience,  and  confidence  in  God.  A  sparrow,  you 
know,  falls  not  to  the  ground  without  his  permission,  much  less  can  a 
member  of  his  Son  fall  into  the  grave  without  his  direction.  Surely  his 
wisdom  is  infallible :  he  hath  chosen  the  better  part  both  for  you  and 
your  daughter ;  he  hath  chosen  to  take  her  out  of  her  misery,  to  trans- 
late  her  to  the  place  where  the  weary  are  at  rest,  and  to  give  you,  by 
removing  her,  an  opportunity  of  caring  for  your  soul  as  you  cared  for 
her  body. 

Now,  what  have  you  to  do,  madam,  but  to  put  your  hand  upon  your 
mouth  and  say,  "  It  is  the  Lord  ;  he  gave,  and  he  hath  taken  away, 
blessed  be  his  holy  name  !"  If  you  sorrow,  let  it  be  in  hope  of  meeting 
her  soon,  all  glorious  within  and  without,  whom  you  lately  saw  such  a 
spectacle  of  mortality.  David  observed  (in  the  lesson  for  this  morning) 
that  the  love  of  Jonathan  had  been  better  to  him  than  the  love  of  women. 
O  dwell  much  upon  the  consideration  of  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  you  will 
find  that  it  far  surpasses  that  of  the  most  dutiful  children  ;  and  comfort 
yourself  by  the  believing  thought,  that  Jesus  lives,  lives  for  you,  and  that 
your  daughter  fives  in  him  ;  where  you  will  soon  have  the  joy  to  meet 
her  as  an  incarnate  angel. 

I  am,  with  prayers  for  you  and  Miss  Fanny,  to  whom  I  wish  much 
consolation  in  her  elder,  never-dying  Brother,  dear  madam,  your  unwor- 
thy obliged  servant  in  Christ,  J.  Fletcher. 


XXXV. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Feb.  1767. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — The  Lord  will  spare  your  daughter  as 
long  as  she  can  get  good,  and  do  you  and  others  good  by  the  sight  of  her 
sufferings.  When  that  cup  is  drunk  up,  she  will  be  willing  to  go,  and 
you  to  let  her  go.  Remember,  she  is  the  Lord's,  much  more  than 
yours :  and  that  what  we  call  dying,  is  only  breaking  the  shell  of  a 
troublesome  body,  that  Christ  may  fully  come  at  the  kernel  of  the  soul, 
which  he  hath  bought. 

Poor  Miss  Hatton  died  last  Sunday  fortnight,  full  of  serenity,  faith, 
and  love.  The  four  last  hours  of  her  life  were  better  than  all  her  sick- 
ness. When  the  pangs  of  death  were  upon  her,  the  comforts  of  the 
Almighty  bore  her  triumphantly  through ;  and  some  of  her  last  words 
were,  "  Grieve  not  at  my  happiness :  this  world  is  no  more  to  me  than 
a  bit  of  burnt  paper.  Grace  !  grace  !  A  sinner  saved  !  I  wish  I  could 
tell  you  half  of  what  I  feel  and  see.  I  am  going  to  keep  an  everlasting 
Sabbath.  « O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory? Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  me  the  victory,  through  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ !' "  It  is  very  remarkable  that  she  had  hardly  any  joy  in 
her  illness,  but  God  made  her  ample  amends  in  her  extremity.    He  kept 


340  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

the  strongest  cordial  for  the  time  of  need ;  he  does  all  things  well. 
Blessed,  for  ever  blessed,  be  his  holy  name ! 

Worcestershire  also  lately  lost  a  wise  virgin  of  a  truth,  dear  Miss 
Fragena,  Mr.  Biddulph's  sister.  The  morning  before  she  expired,  she 
said,  "  I  have  had  a  stronger  conflict  last  night  than  I  ever  had  in  all 
my  life ;  it  was  sharp  and  terrible ;  but  Jesus  hath  overcome,  and  he 
will  also  overcome  for  you  and  me  :  be  of  good  courage  ;  believe,  hope, 
love,  and  obey." 

I  wish  you  had  often  such  meetings  as  that  you  mention ;  every  one 
should  have  as  many  thrusts  at  that  crooked  serpent,  that  holy  devil, 
bigotry,  as  he  can.  If  I  can  leave  my  parish,  I  believe  it  will  be  to 
accompany  Lady  Huntingdon  to  the  Goshen  of  our  land — Yorkshire,  to 
learn  the  love  of  Christ  at  the  feet  of  my  brethren  and  fathers  there.  I 
am  obliged  to  you  for  the  present  you  mention ;  I  have  taken  again  to 
the  drink  of  my  country,  water,  which  agrees  well  with  me,  and  I  shall 
not  want  it  for  myself:  if  it  is  not  sent,  diminish  or  stop  it  according  to 
this  notice.     Farewell  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXXVI.— To  Ms*  Bryan. 

Madeley,  Feb.  1767. 
I  hope  my  friend  Mr.  Ireland  will  not  grudge  me  the  room  I  take  in 
this  letter  to  thank  you  for  your  last.  It  is  travelling  about,  seeking  its 
fortune,  as  well  as  the  first ;  who  knows  but,  before  it  comes  home,  it 
will,  like  a  baited  hook,  bring  a  fish  along  with  it.  I  hope  you  go  on 
and  prosper,  and  do  valiantly.  I  am  glad  to  see  the  Lord  leads  you  in 
the  exalted  way  of  exulting  faith,  triumphant  hope,  and  rapturous  love  : 
mount  higher  and  higher  :  there  is  no  fear  of  your  losing  yourself,  except 
it  be  in  the  boundless  tracks  of  Divine  mercy,  and  on  the  eternal  hills  of 
redeeming  love :  and  to  be  lost  there  is  to  be  happily  found.  I  rejoice 
that  you  do  not  lose  sight  of  the  depths  of  human  misery  and  depravity, 
— out  of  Jesus.  With  this  ballast,  the  strongest  blasts  of  spiritual  rapture 
will  never  overset  you.  I  also  thank  God  that  your  faith  works  by  love, 
and  that  you  love  not  in  pen  and  word  only,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth  ;  see 
that  you  abound  herein  more  and  more.  As  I  trust  you  love  to  do  well 
to  your  neighbours'  bodies,  see  that  you  use  well  that  of  a  neighbour  of 
mine,  whose  name  is  Bryan,  and  put  her  in  remembrance  to  pray  for 
her  affectionate  brother  and  unworthy  servant, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXXVII. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  March  30,  1767. 
My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  am  glad  you  keep  up  your  catholic 
meeting :  a  dozen  of  your  way  of  thinking  and  acting  would  break  the 
legs  of  that  thief,  bigotry,  who  reviles  the  crucified  members  of  the  cru- 
cified Jesus.  God,  who  vouchsafed  tc  meet  even  Balaam,  when  he  went 
to  curse  Israel,  will  not  fail  to  bless  you  when  you  go  to  bless  the  scat- 
tered Israel  of  our  Christ. 

To  return  to  your  present ;  I  return  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  it  as 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  341 

well  as  for  all  your  former  favours,  and  for  your  kind  offers  of  new 
ones.  I  have  one  to  ask  now,  which  is,  that  you  would  stay  your  hand, 
and  allow  me  to  consume  and  wear  out  the  old  presents,  without  over- 
charging me  with  new  ones.  I  do  not  say  stay  your  heart ;  no,  let  the 
oil  of  prayer  flow  from  the  cruise  of  your  soul  for  me  and  mine,  till  our 
poor  vessels  are  filled  with  the  oil  of  humble  love. 

What  you  say  about  Miss  Ireland's  filling,  puts  me  in  mind  of  that 
worse  disease  of  my  heart,  the  dropsy  of  self.  God  gives  me  good 
physic  and  good  food,  but,  instead  of  digesting  both  properly,  self  retains 
what  it  should  not.  I  fill,  instead  of  remaining  empty  for  fresh  food  ;  I 
lose  my  appetite,  I  swell,  and  am  good  for  nothing  but  another  operation. 
May  the  Lord  so  tap  us  that  all  our  swellings  may  go  down,  and  return 
no  more  !  The  good  Samaritan,  who  is  also  a  good  physician,  wants  to 
tap  you  spiritually,  by  the  bodily  tapping  of  your  daughter.  To  be  cut 
in  the  fruit  of  our  body  is,  sometimes,  more  painful  than  to  be  cut  in  our 
own  body ;  may  both  she  and  you  reap  the  fruit  of  the  successful  opera- 
tion whenever  it  takes  place  !  I  am,  with  cordial  affection,  my  dear  sir, 
your  very  much  obliged,  though  very  unworthy  servant, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXXVIII. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  April  27,  1767. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  have  just  received  your  letter,  upon  my 
arrival  from  Wales,  with  dear  Lady  Huntingdon,  who  is,  of  a  truth,  a 
tried  stone  built  upon  the  corner  stone ;  and  such  as  you  have  seen  her, 
such  I  am  persuaded  you  will  find  her  to  the  last ;  a  soul  devoted  to 
Jesus,  living  by  faith  ;  going  to  Christ  himself  by  the  Scriptures,  instead 
of  resting  in  the  letter  of  the  Gospel  promises,  as  too  many  professors  do. 

I  have  just  time  to  tell  you,  with  regard  to  the  Bristol  journey,  that 
I  must  come  first  from  the  north,  before  I  dream  of  going  to  the  south. 
God  help  us  to  steer  incessantly  to  the  grand  point  of  our  salvation, 
"Jesus  the  crucified."  To  him  I  recommend  myself  and  you,  and  my 
noble  guests.  Love  him,  praise  him,  serve  him  who  hath  lo'ved  you, 
bought  you,  and  died  for  you.     I  remain,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XXXIX. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Oct.  14,  1768. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  think  I  told  you  at  Trevecka  that  we  had 
no  farmers  at  Madeley  who  feared  God  and  loved  Jesus.  This  genera- 
tion among  us  are  buried  in  the  furrows  of  their  ploughs,  or  under  the 
heaps  of  corn  which  fill  their  granaries.  Now  that  I  am  on  the  spot,  I 
do  not  see  any  one  who  makes  it  necessary  for  me  to  change  my  opinion  :* 
your  bailiff  cannot  come  from  this  Nazareth. 

Present  my  respects  to  your  son,  and  tell  him  that  last  week  I  buried 
three  young  persons  of  a  malignant  fever   who,  on  the  second  day  of 

*  Thank  God,  this  is  not  now  tne  character  of  all  the  farmers  of  Madeley  ! — 
Editor. 


842  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

their  illness,  were  deprived  of  their  speech  and  senses,  and  on  the  fifth, 
of  their  lives.  Of  what  avail  are  youth  and  vigour  when  the  Lord  lifts 
his  finger  ?  And  shall  we  sin  against  the  eternal  power,  the  infinite  love, 
the  inexorable  justice,  and  the  immense  goodness  of  this  God,  who  gives 
us,  from  moment  to  moment,  the  breath  which  is  in  our  nostrils  ?  No  : 
we  will  employ  the  precious  gift  in  praising  and  blessing  this  good  God, 
who  is  our  Father  in  Jesus  Christ. 

I  hope  that  you  learn,  as  well  as  I,  and  better  than  I,  to  know  Jesus 
in  the  Spirit.  I  have  known  him  after  the  flesh,  and  after  the  letter ;  I 
strive  to  know  him  in  the  power  of  his  Spirit.  Under  the  Divine  cha- 
racter of  a  quickening  Spirit  he  is  every  where.  All  that  live,  live  in 
him ;  and  they  who  are  spiritually  alive  have  a  double  life.  The  Lord 
give  us  this  second  life  more  abundantly !  Yours,  J.  Fletcher. 


XL.— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sellon. 

Madeley,  Oct.  7,  1769. 

My  Dear  Brother, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter  and  books ;  they 
came  safe  to  hand,  and  I  shall  give  you  the  amount  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. I  have  inquired  what  the  Calvinists  think  of  them,  but  I  do  not 
hear  much  about  it.  They  choose  rather  to  be  silent ;  a  sign  that  they 
have  not  any  great  thing  to  object.  Mr.  R.  looked  at  one  here  in  my 
house,  and  objected  to  EXsrjrrw  ov  av  sXsu,  Rom.  ix,  15.  He  says  e\eu 
is,  "  I  have  mercy,"  not,  "  I  should  have  mercy."  I  observed  to  Mr. 
Glascott,  it  is  the  subjunctive  mood,  and  may  take  the  sign,  should,  would, 
or  could,  according  to  the  analogy  of  faith. 

I  long  to  see  Cole  answered :  my  request  to  you  is,  that  you  would 
answer  him  in  the  cool  manner  you  have  the  synod ;  and  my  prayer  to 
God  is,  that  you  may  be  assisted  for  that  important  work. 

I  know  two  strong  Calvinist  believers,  who  lately  took  their  leave  of 
this  world  with  "  I  shall  be  damned !"  O  what  did  all  their  professions 
of  perseverance  do  for  them  ?  They  left  them  in  the  lurch.  May  we 
have  the  power  of  God  in  our  souls,  and  we  shall  readily  leave  unknown 
decrees  to  others ! 

The  Lord  give  you  patience  with  your  brethren.  The  best  way  to 
confound  them  is,  to  preach  that  kingdom  of  God,  which  they  cast  away, 
with  real  righteousness  and  present  peace  and  joy  in  believing :  that  is 
poison  to  the  synodical  kingdom. 

I  despair  of  seeing  you  before  I  have  seen  Switzerland,  which  I 
design  to  visit  next  winter.  Mr.  Ireland  takes  me  as  far  as  Lyons  in 
my  way. 

There  are  some  disputes  in  L.  H.'s  college ;  but  when  the  power  of 
God  comes  they  drop  them.  The  Calvinists  are  three  to  one.  Your 
book  I  have  sent  them  as  a  hard  nut  for  them  to  crack. 

May  the  Lord  spare  you,  and  make  you  a  free,  joyful  soldier  of  '.he 
Lord  Jesus ;  as  tough  against  sin  and  unbelief  as  you  are  against 
Calvin  and  the  synod.  The  Lord  hath  overruled  your  leaving  S. 
for  good.     Let  us  trust  him,  and  all  will  be  well.     Farewell. 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  343 


XLL— To  Mr. 


Mv  Dear  Friend, — My  delay  has,  I  hope,  driven  you  to  the  Lord, 
who  is  our  Urim  and  Thummim,  whose  answers  are  infallibly  true  and 
just.  Not  so  those  of  men  ;  nevertheless,  the  Lord  generally  helps  us 
by  each  other  :  may  he  therefore  help  you  by  these  lines. 

You  got  safe  out  of  Egypt  with  gladness,  and  now  you  seem  en- 
tangled  in  the  wilderness ;  but  it  may  be  needful  for  the  trial  of  your 
faith,  patience,  self  denial,  &c,  that  you  should  be  left,  for  awhile,  to 
feel  your  own  barrenness.  Therefore,  hold  fast  what  you  have  till  the 
Lord  comes  with  more ;  equally  avoiding  discouraging  thoughts,  and 
slight  indifference.  Retire  more  inwardly,  and  quietly  listen  to  what  the 
Lord  will  say  concerning  you  :  refusing  creature  comforts,  and  acting 
faith  in  God  your  Creator,*  Christ  your  Redeemer,  and  the  Spirit  your 
Comforter. 

You  have  always  a  feeling  which,  properly  attended  to,  would  make 
you  shout,  "I  am,  I  am  out  of  hell !"  I  beg  that  this  wonderful  mercy 
may  not  appear  cheap  to  you :  if  it  does,  you  have  got  up,  and  must 
come  down;  for  it  is  proper  that  the  Lord  should  bring  down  your 
spirit,  and  keep  you  upon  crumbs,  till  you  have  learned  to  be  thankful 
for  them. 

At  the  first  reading  your  letter,  three  things  struck  me,  (1.)  You  are 
wanting  in  the  venture  "of  faith  :  you  do  not  give  enough  to  that  kind  of 
implicit  confidence  in  Christ,  which  says,  "  I  will  trust  in  thee,  though 
thou  slay  me."  Now  this  is  a  lesson  which  you  must  learn.  Sink  or 
swim,  a  believer  must  learn  to  cast  himself  headlong  into  the  boundless 
sea  of  Divine  truth  and  love.  (2.)  You  have  not  learned  to  hold  fast 
what  you  have,  and  to  be  thankful  for  it,  till  the  Lord  comes  with  more  ; 
till  he' baptizes  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.  (3.)  You  do 
not  make  a  proper  use  of  the  joy  of  hope,  which,  nevertheless,  is  to  be 
your  strength  till  the  Lord  comes  to  his  temple  to  make  his  abode  there 
Adieu.  J-  Fletcher. 

XLII.— To  Mr.  Henry  Brook. 

Madeley,  Sept.  6,  1772. 
Dear  Sir, — If  to  do  was  as  present  with  me  as  to  wish,  you  would 
have  been  half  ruined  in  the  postage  of  letters.  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
often  I  have  thought  of  thanking  you  for  your  kind  letter.  My  contro- 
versy made  me  put  it  off  some  time,  and  when  I  was  going  one  day  to 
answer  you,  a  clergyman  called  upon  me,  read  your  letter,  said  you  were 
a  sensible  author,  and  if  I  would  let  him  have  it  he  would  let  me  have 
the  "  Fool  of  Quality,"  of  which  I  had  never  heard.  I  forgot  to  take 
your  direction,  and  my  backwardness  to  writing  had  a  very  good  ex- 
cuse  to  indulge  itself.  However,  it  ceases  now :  after  some  months  my 
friend  has  sent  me  back  your  unexpected  but  welcome  favour,  for  which 
I  give  you  my  sincere  thanks.  xVccept  them  warm  from  my  heart  to 
yours  ;  and  thence  may  they  return  like  a  thousand  drops  into  that  im- 
mense ocean  of  goodness,  truth,  love,  and  delight,  whence  come  all  tho 
streams  which  gladden  the  universe,  and  ravish  the  city  of  God. 


844 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 


I  thankfully  accept  the  pleasure,  profit,  and  honour  of  your  corres- 
pondence. But  I  must  not  deceive  you.  I  have  not  yet  learned  the 
blessed  precept  of  our  Lord  in  respect  of  writing  and  receiving  letters : 
I  still  find  it  more  blessed  to  receive  than  to  give ;  and  till  I  have  got 
out  of  that  selfishness,  never  depend  on  a  letter  from  me  till  you  see  it, 
and  be  persuaded,  nevertheless,  that  one  from  you  will  always  be  wel- 
come. 

I  see  by  your  works  that  you  have  truth,  and  that  you  will  force  your 
way  through  all  the  barriers  of  prejudice,  to  embrace  it  in  its  meanest 
dress.  That  makes  me  love  you.  I  hope  to  improve  by  your  example 
and  your  lessons.  One  thing  I  want  truly  to  learn,  that  is,  that  creatures 
and  visible  things  are  but  shadows,  and  that  God  is  God,  Jehovah,  the 
true  eternal  substance.  To  live  practically  in  this  truth  is  to  live  in  the 
suburbs  of  heaven.  Really,  to  believe  that  in  God  we  live,  move,  and 
have  our  being,  is  to  find  and  enjoy  the  root  of  our  existence  :  it  is  to 
slide  from  self  into  our  original  principle,  from  the  carnal  into  the  spi- 
ritual, from  the  visible  into  the  invisible,  from  time  into  eternity.  Give 
me,  at  your  leisure,  some  directions  how  to  cease  from  busying  myself 
about  the  husks  of  things,  and  how  I  shall  break  through  the  shell  till  I 
come  to  the  kernel  of  the  resurrection,  life  and  power,  that  lies  hid  from 
the  unbeliever's  sight.  You  mention,  "  A  short  sketch  of  your  path 
already  passed  and  of  your  present  feelings."  I  believe  it  will  be  pro- 
fitable to  me  for  instruction  and  reproof;  therefore,  I  shall  gladly  ac- 
cept it. 

Pray,  my  dear  sir,  about  feelings.  Are  you  possessed  of  all  the  feel- 
ings of  your  Clinton,  Clement,  and  Harry  ?  Are  they  natural  to  you, 
I  mean,  previous  to  what  we  generally  call  conversion  ?  I  have  often 
thought  that  some  of  the  feelings  you  describe  depend  a  good  deal  upon 
the  fineness  of  the  nerves  and  bodily  organs :  and  as  I  am  rather  of  a 
Stoic  turn,  I  have  sometimes  comforted  myself  in  thinking  that  my  want 
of  feeling  might,  in  a  degree,  proceed  from  the  dulness  of  my  Swis3 
nerves.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  Providence  directs  me  to  you  to  have 
this  important  question  solved, — May  not  some  persons  have  as  much 
true  faith,  love,  humanity,  and  pity,  as  others  who  are  ten  times  more 
affected,  at  least  for  a  season  ?  And  what  directions  would  you  give  to 
a  Christian  Stoic,  if  these  two  ideas  are  not  absolutely  incompatible? 
My  stoicism  helps  me,  I  think,  to  weather  out  a  storm  of  displeasure 
which  my  little  pamphlets  have  raised  against  me.  You  see,  I  at  once 
consult  you  as  an  old  friend  and  spiritual  casuist,  nor  know  I  how  to 
testify  better  to  you,  how  unreservedly  I  begin  to  be,  my  very  dear 
friend,  yours  in  the  Lord,*  J.  Fletcher. 


XLIIL— To  Mr.  Vaughan. 

Madeley,  Feb.  11,  1773. 
My  Very  Dear  Friend, — You  complain  you  are  not  on  the  Rock 
of  ages,  where  you  might  defy  the  rage  of  the  tempest ;  but  billows  of 

*  Mr.  Fletcher,  when  he  wrote  the  above,  mistook  Mr.  Henry  Brook,  Jun.  for 
Mr.  Henry  Brook,  Sen.,  the  author  of  the  Fool  of  Quality,  and  when  he  wrote 
this  letter,  had  only  seen  a  small  extract  from  that  work. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  345 

temptation  drive  you  from  the  haven,  where  you  would  be,  and  you  cry 
but  still,  "  O  wretched  man  !  who  shall  deliver  me  ?" 

Here  I  would  ask,  Are  you  willing,  really  willing  to  be  delivered  ?  Is 
your  sin,  is  the  prevalence  of  temptation,  a  burden  too  heavy  for  you  to 
bear  1  If  it  is,  if  your  complaint  be  not  a  kind  of  religious  compliment, 
be  of  good  cheer,  only  believe.  Look  up,  for  your  redemption  draws 
near.  He  is  near  that  delivers,  that  justifies,  that  sanctifies  you.  Cast 
your  soul  upon  him  ;  an  act  of  faith  will  help  you  to  a  lift,  but  one  act  of 
faith  will  not  do  ; — faith  must  be  our  life,  I  mean,  in  connection  with  its 
grand  object.  You  cannot  live  by  one  breath ;  you  must  breathe  on 
and  draw  the  electric  vital  fire  into  your  lungs,  together  with  the  air. 
So  you  must  believe  and  draw  the  Divine  power  and  the  fire  of  Jesus' 
love,  together  with  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  which  is  the  blessed  element 
in  which  believers  live. 

My  kind  Christian  love  to  Mrs.  Vaughan.  Tell  her  I  am  filled  with 
joy  in  thinking,  that  though  we  no  more  serve  the  same  earthly  master, 
yet  we  still  serve  the  same  heavenly  one ;  who  will,  ere  long,  admit  us 
to  sit  with  Abraham  himself,  if  we  hold  fast  our  confidence  to  the  end. 

Beware  of  the  world.  If  you  have  losses,  be  not  cast  down,  nor  root 
in  the  earth  with  more  might  and  main  to  repair  them.  If  prosperity 
smile  upon  you,  you  are  in  double  danger.  Think,  my  friend,  that 
earthly  prosperity  is  like  a  coloured  cloud,  which  passes  away,  and  is 
soon  lost  in  the  shades  of  night  and  death.  Beware  of  hurry.  "  Mar- 
tha,  Martha,  one  thing  is  needful."  Choose  it,  stand  to  your  choice, 
and  the  good  part  shall  not  be  taken  from  you  by  sickness  or  death. 
God  bless  you  and  yours  with  all  that  makes  for  his  glory  and  your 
peace  !     I  am,  my  dear  friend,  yours,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 

XLIV. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Sept.  21,  1773. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  do  not  hear  from  my  brother  :  my  views 
of  a  journey  abroad  continue  the  same.  I  have  considered  what  you 
say  about  the  translation  of  my  Appeal ;  and,  I  think,  I  might  from  it 
take  the  hint  and  do  it  some  day.  Nay,  I  tried  to  turn  a  paragraph  or 
two  the  day  after  I  received  your  letter,  but  found  it  would  be  a  difficult, 
if  not  an  impossible  work  for  me.  I  am  sure  I  could  not  do  it  abroad. 
On  a  journey  I  am  just  like  a  cask  of  wine — I  am  good  for  nothing  till 
I  have  some  time  to  settle. 

What  you  say  about  Mr.  Wesley  adds  weight  to  your  kind  arguments ; 
but  supposing  he,  or  the  people,  did  not  alter  his  mind,  this  would  not 
sufficiently  turn  the  scale  in  point  of  conscience,  though  it  is  already 
turned  in  point  of  affection.  My  spiritual  circumstances  are  what  I 
must  look  at.  I  am  brought  to  a  point ;  like  a  woman  with  child,  I  must 
have  a  deliverance  into  the  liberty  of  a  higher  dispensation,  and  I  trem- 
ble lest  outward  things  should  hurt  me.  The  multiplicity  of  objects,  cir- 
cumstances, and  avocations,  which  attend  travelling,  is  as  little  suited  to 
my  case,  as  to  that  of  a  woman  with  child.  I  think  that  all  things  con- 
sidered, I  should  sin  against  my  conscience  in  going,  unless  I  had  a  call 
from  necessity,  or  from  clearer  providences.  Should  Mr.  Wesley  find  a 
desire  of  accompanying  you,  I  think  you  might  set  out  with  a  single  eye 


346  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

according  to  your  light  and  faith ;  and  I  trust  the  journey  would  be  of 
service  to  both,  and  in  that  case  my  heart  shall  go  along  with  you.  If 
you  go,  pray  find  out,  and  converse  with  the  Convulsionaries.  My  re- 
quest is,  that  you  may  see  your  way  plain,  be  fully  persuaded  in  your 
own  mind,  and  be  led  and  covered  by  the  cloud  of  Divine  protection. 

I  thank  you  for  having  dared  to  speak  a  word  for  me  at  Worcester, 
but  the  stream  of  prejudice  ran  too  high  for  you  to  stop  it.  It  was 
drowning  yourself  without  saving  your  friend.  It  is  good  to  know  when 
to  yield. 

My  last  Check  will  be  as, much  in  behalf  of  free  grace  as  of  holiness. 
So  I  hope,  upon  that  plan,  all  the  candid  and  moderate  will  be  able  to 
shake  hands.  It  will  be  of  a  reconciling  nature  ;  and  I  call  it  an  Equal 
Check  to  Pharisaism  and  Antinomianism.     Adieu. 

J.  Fletcher. 


XLV. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Feb.  6,  1774. 

My  Dear  Friend, — Though  my  mind  has  travelled  fast  to  Bath  on 
reading  your  letter,  yet  an  embargo  is  laid  upon  my  body.  "  I  must  not 
go  yet."  I  am  the  more  inclined  to  take  the  hint  for  two  reasons.  I  will 
tell  you  my  heart  about  it.  The  more  I  see  her  ladyship's  generosity, 
and  admire  the  faithfulness  or  the  friendship  that  she  has  for  many  years 
honoured  me  with,  the  more  I  ought  to  take  care  not  to  bring  burdens 
upon  her.  It  might  lessen  her  influence  with  those  she  is  connected 
with ;  and  might  grieve  some  of  her  friends,  who  would  possibly  look 
upon  her  condescension  as  an  affront  to  them :  this  is  the  first  reason. 
The  second  respects  myself.  I  must  follow  my  light.  A  necessity  is 
laid  upon  me  to  clear  my  conscience  with  respect  to  the  Antinomian 
world,  and  to  point  out  the  stumbling  block  that  keeps  many  serious 
people  from  embracing  the  real  doctrines  of  free  grace.  I  cannot  do 
this  without  advancing  some  truths,  which  I  know  her  ladyship  receives 
as  well  as  myself,  but  which,  by  my  manner  of  unfolding  them,  will,  at 
first  sight,  appear  dreadful  touches  to  the  Gospel  of  the  day.  I  am  just 
sending  to  the  press  "  A  Scriptural  Essay  upon  the  astonishing  Reward- 
ableness  of  the  Works  of  Faith."  Though  it  consists  only  of  plain  scrip- 
tures, and  plain  arguments,  without  any  thing  personal,  I  think  it  will 
raise  more  dust  of  prejudice  against  me,  than  my  preceding  publications. 
With  respect  to  myself,  I  do  not  mind  it,  but  I  am  bound  in  love  to  mind 
it  with  respect  to  her  ladyship.  My  respect  to  her  ladyship,  therefore, 
together  with  the  preceding  reason,  determines  me  to  defer  paying  my 
respects  personally  to  her,  till  after  the  publication  of  my  Essay,  and 
Scripture  Scales  :  and  if  she  do  not  then  revoke  the  kind  leave  she  gives 
me,  I  shall  most  gladly  make  the  best  of  my  way  to  assure  her  in  per- 
son, as  I  do  now  by  this  indirect  means,  that  I  am,  and  shall  for  ever  be, 
her  dutiful  servant  in  what  appears  to  me  the  plain  Gospel  of  our  com- 
mon Lord. 

The  smartness  of  the  letter  writer,  in  the  Westminster  Journal,  and 
his  bringing  college  charges  against  me,  made  me  think  he  was  proba- 
bly the  author  of  "  The  Whip  for  Pelagian  Methodists."  Well !  after 
all,  St.  John's  love  will  carry  the  day.     If  I  have  all  faith,  and  have  not 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  347 

that,  I  am  nothing  :  but  when  you  plead  for  love,  you  plead  for  the  chief 
work  I  contend  for ;  so  you  are  almost  as  deep  in  the  mud,  as  I  am  in 
the  mire.  With  love  to  yourself,  and  dutiful  love  to  our  noble  friend,  I 
am,  &c,  J-  Fletcher. 


XLVI. — To  Miss  Mary  CartwigU. 

Madeley, ,  17T5. 

My  Dear  Friend, — As  it  may  be  long  before  you  have  an  opportu- 
nity to  hear  a  sermon,  I  find  myself  drawn  by  friendship  and  pastoral 
care,  to  send  you  a  few  lines  to  meditate  upon  to-morrow. 

As  I  was  longing  for  an  opportunity  to  offer  life,  friends,  and  liberty  to 
Him  who  is  worth  a  thousand  such  alls,  I  thought  I  must  wait  for  no 
other  opportunity,  and  found  another  blessing  in  using  the  present  mo- 
ment. I  did  not  forget  to  offer  you  among  my  friends,  and  I  found  it  on 
my  mind  to  pray  and  praise  with  you  ;  and  to  beseech  you  to  fulfil  my 
joy,  by  giving  me  to  see  you  all  glorious  within,  and  full  of  eager  desire 
to  be  with  our  everlasting  Friend.  O  let  us  take  a  thousand  times  more 
notice  of  him,  till  the  thought  of  him  engrosses  all  other  thoughts,  the 
desire  of  him  all  other  desires. 

Nothing  can  reconcile  me  to  let  my  friends  go  but  the  fullest  evidence 
that  they  are  going  to  Jesus.  If  you  go  before  me,  let  me  not  want  that 
comfort.  Let  me  never  see  you,  but  full  of  an  earnest  desire  to  do  and 
suffer  the  will  of  our  God.  I  wanted  to  see  heavenly  joy  and  glory 
beaming  from  your  eyes  last  night,  and,  I  feared,  I  saw  them  not.  Par- 
don my  fears,  if  they  have  no  foundation.  Charity  thinks  no  evil,  hopes 
all,  and  yet  is  jealous  with  a  godly  jealousy  :  and,  the  warmer  the  cha- 
rity, the  stronger  and  keener  the  jealousy.  A  doubt  passed  through  my 
mind,  whether  you  had  not  caught  our  dulness,  whether  your  soul  is  as 
near  to  God  as  it  was  some  weeks  ago.  O  !  if  the  multiplied  mercies 
of  God  toward  us  do  not  rouse  us  to  the  third  heaven  of  gratitude,  what 
will? 

My  prayer,  my  ardent  prayer  to  God,  and  I  make  it  now  afresh,  with 
tears  of  desire,  is  that  you  may  live  as  one  who  does  not  depend  on 
another  breath.  Come,  my  dear  friend,  up  with  your  heart,  and  spread 
the  arms  of  your  faith.  Welcome  Jesus.  Believe  till  you  are  drawn 
above  yourself  and  earth ;  till  your  flaming  soul  mounts  and  loses  itself 
in  the  Sun  of  righteousness.  I  want  you  to  be  a  burning,  shining  light, 
setting  fire  to  all  the  thatch  of  the  devil,  and  kindling  every  smoking  flax 
around  you.  Disappoint  not  the  Saviour's  hope,  and  mine.  I  expect 
to  see  you  not  only  a  risen  Lazarus,  and  a  spared  Hezekiah,  but  a  Mary 
at  Jesus'  feet,  a  Deborah  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  There  is  what  St. 
Paul  calls  a  being  beside  ourselves,  which  becomes  you  so  much  the 
better,  as  you  are  restored  to  us  against  hope  ;  and  for  how  long  we 
know  not. 

Fulfil  my  joy,  I  say,  which  must  droop  till  I  can  rejoice  over  you  liv- 
ing, dying,  or  dead,  "  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  Give 
yourself  much  to  believing,  thankful,  solemn  prayer.  I  was  condemned 
for  not  making  more  of  the  solemn  opportunity  I  had  with  you  last 
Thursday.  O  !  if  we  are  spared  to  meet  again,  let  us  pray  until  we 
wind  our  hearts  into  ardent  praise,  and  then  let  us  praise  till  we  are 


348  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

caught  up  into  heaven.  Hold  up  your  hands  to-morrow,  and  if  we  meet 
on  Monday,  be  it  in  the  name  of  Christ,  to  pour  the  oil  of  joy  into  each 
other's  hearts,  by  confessing  him  more  heartily  our  God,  our  life,  our 
present  and  never-dying  Friend.  Farewell  in  him  every  way.  Yours,  &c 

J.  Fletcher. 


XL VI I. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Aug.  24,  1776. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  have  received  the  news  of  your  loss,  and  of  the 
gain  of  your  younger  daughter.  She  has  entered  into  port,  and  has  left 
you  on  a  tempestuous  sea  with  Fanny.  The  account  of  her  death  did 
not  surprise  me :  when  you  received  that  of  her  illness,  this  passage 
came  strongly  to  my  mind  :  "  Two  shall  be  in  one  house  :  one  shall  be 
taken  and  the  other  left."  I  recommend  to  Mrs.  Ireland  the  resignation 
of  David  when  he  lost  his  son,  and  do  you  give  her  the  example.  The 
day  of  death  is  preferable  to  that  of  our  birth  :  with  respect  to  infants, 
the  maxim  of  Solomon  is  indubitable.  O  what  an  honour  is  it  to  be  the 
father  and  mother  of  a  little  cherub,  who  hovers  round  the  throne  of  God 
in  heavenly  glory !  Comfort  yourselves,  and  rejoice  that  the  Lord  has 
taken  one  and  left  the  other. 

R — q — t  dead  and  buried  !  The  jolly  man  who  last  summer  shook  his 
head  at  me  as  at  a  dying  man  !  How  frail  are  we  !  God  help  us  to  live 
to-day !  to-morrow  is  the  fool's  day.  I  am  glad  you  encourage  my  hopes 
of  finding  some  in  Bristol,  who  will  tarry,  with  one  accord,  for  a  pente- 
costal  day  of  the  Son  of  man.  I  meet  with  some,  I  hope,  that  feel  a 
want  of  it ;  but  my  constant  removals  prevent  my  enjoying  the  benefit 
of  waiting  together  in  one  place.  When  God  shall  be  about  to  take 
away  the  reproach  of  his  people,  he  will  work  a  double  miracle, — his 
grace  will  prepare  their  hearts,  and  his  providence  their  outward  circum- 
stances.    I  am  altogether  yours  in  Jesus  Christ, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XLVIII. — To  Messrs.  Hare,  Terry,  Fox,  and  Good,  at  Hull ;  and 
Messrs.  Preston,  Simpson,  and  Ramsden,  at  York. 

London,  Nov.  12, 1776. 

My  Dear  Brethren, — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  letters  and  invita- 
tions to  visit  you  and  the  brethren  about  you,  should  the  Lord  raise  me 
to  any  degree  of  my  former  strength.  I  have  often  found  an  attraction 
to  my  companions  in  tribulation  in  Yorkshire.  My  desire  was  indeed  a 
little  selfish ;  I  wanted  to  improve  by  the  conversation  of  my  unknown 
brethren.  If  God  bids  me  be  strong  again  out  of  weakness,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  try  if  he  will  be  pleased  to  comfort  us  by  the  mutual  faith  both 
of  you  and  me.  My  desire  is  that  Christ  may  be  glorified  both  in  my 
life  and  death.  I  am  glad  you  wish  that  the  power  of  godliness  may 
flourish  among  the  professors  of  the  faith.  If  I  have  any  desire  to  live 
at  any  time,  God  is  my  witness,  that  it  is  principally  to  be  a  witness  in 
word  and  deed  of  the  dispensation  of  power  from  on  high  ;  and  to  point 
out  that  kingdom  which  does  not  consist  in  word,  but  in  power,  even  in 
righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of  power. 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  349 

am  writing  an  essay  upon  that  important  part  of  the  Christian  doctrine, 
and  hope  that  it  will  be  a  *mite  in  the  treasury  of  truth,  which  the  Lord 
has  opened  for  the  use  of  his  people. 

Should  I  be  spared  to  visit  you,  the  keep  of  a  horse,  and  the  poor  rider, 
will  be  all  the  burden  that  I  should  lay  on  you ;  and  that  will  be  more 
than  my  heavenly  Master  indulged  himself  in.  I  am  just  setting  out  for 
Norwich  with  Mr.  Wesley,  whose  renewed  strength  and  immense  labours 
astonish  me.  What  a  pattern  for  preachers !  His  redeeming  the  time 
is,  if  I  mistake  not,  matchless. 

Should  I  never  have  the  pleasure  of  thanking  you  in  person  for  your 
brotherly  regard,  I  beg  you  will  all  endeavour  to  meet  me  in  the  king- 
dom of  our  Father,  where  distance  of  time  and  place  is  lost  in  the  fulness 
of  Him  that  is  all  in  all.  "  The  way  ye  know," — the  penitential  way  of 
a  heart-felt  faith  working  by  obedientJove.  In  that  good,  though  narrow 
way,  I  trust  you  will  help  by  your  prayers  and  example,  my  dear 
brethren,  your  affectionate  brother,  and  willing  servant  in  Christ, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XLIX.— To  Mr.  William  Wase. 

Newington,  Jan.  13,  1777. 

My  Dear  Brother, — I  am  two  kind  letters  in  your  debt.  I  would 
have  answered  them  before,  but  venturing  to  ride  out  in  the  frost,  the 
air  was  too  sharp  for  my  weak  lungs,  and  opened  my  wound,  which  has 
thrown  me  back  again. 

I  am  glad  to  see,  by  your  last,  that  you  take  up  your  shield  again. 
You  will  never  prove  a  gainer  by  vilely  casting  it  away.  Voluntary 
humility,  despondency,  or  even  a  defeat  should  not  make  you  give  up 
your  confidence ;  but  rather  make  you  hug  your  shield  and  embrace 
your  Saviour  with  redoubled  ardour  and  courage.  To  whom  should 
you  go  but  to  Him  "  who  hath  the  words  of  everlasting  life  ;"  and  if  you 
give  up  your  faith,  do  you  not  block  up  the  way  by  which  you  should 
return  to  him  ?  Let  it  be  the  last  time  you  compliment  the  enemy  with 
what  you  should  fight  for  to  the  last  drop  of  your  blood. 

You  must  not  be  above  being  employed  in  a  little  way.  The  great 
Mr.  Grimshaw  was  not  above  walking  some  miles  to  preach  to  seven  or 
eight  people  ;  and  what  are  we  compared  to  him  ?  Our  neighbourhood 
will  want  you  more  when  Mr.  Greaves  and  I  are  gone  :  in  the  meantime 
grow  in  meek,  humble,  patient,  resigned  love  ;  and  your  temper,  person, 
and  labours  will  be  more  acceptable  to  all  around  you.  I  have  many 
things  to  say  to  you  about  your  soul ;  but  you  will  find  the  substance  of 
them  in  two  of  Mr.  Wesley's  sermons,  the  one  entitled  "  The  Devices 
of  Satan,"  and  the  other  "  The  Repentance  of  Believers."  I  wish  you 
would  read  one  of  them  every  day  till  you  have  reaped  all  the  benefit 
that  can  be  got  from  them ;  nor  eat  your  morsel  alone,  but  let  all  be 
benefited  by  the  contents.     I  am,  &c. 

February  18.     You  talk  of  my  "last  trials;"  I  can  hardly  guess 

what  you  mean,  unless  Mr. should  have  mistaken  tears  of  holy 

shame  before  God,  and  of  humble  love  to  my  opponents,  for  great  trials  ; 
but  they  only  indicated  such  a  trial,  as  I  pray  God  to  make  me  live  and 


350  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

die  in, — I  mean  a  deep  sense  of  my  unworthiness,  and  of  what  I  have  so 
often  prayed  for  in  these  words, — 

I  would  be  by  myself  abhorr'd, 
All  glory  be  to  Christ  my  Lord. 

I  thank  you,  however,  for  the  comfort  you  administer  to  me  upon,  I 
suppose,  Mr. 's  mistake. 

With  respect  to  our  intended  room,  I  beg  Mr.  Palmer,  Mr.  Lloyd,  and 
yourself  to  consult  about  it,  and  that  Mr.  Palmer  would  contract  for  the 
whole.  For  my  own  part  I  shall  contribute  100/.  including  10Z.  I  have 
had  for  it  from  Mr.  Ireland,  and  10Z.  from  Mr.  Thornton.  Give  my 
kindest  love  to  all  friends  and  neighbours.  I  would  mention  all  their 
dear  names,  but  am  strictly  forbidden  a  longer  epistle.  Farewell  in 
Jesus.     Yours,  #  J.  Fletcher. 

P.  S.  If  the  room  cannot  be  completed  for  what  I  have  mentioned, 
and  201.  more  be  wanting,  ask  Mr.  Lloyd  how  much  the  royalty  might 
come  to,  and  tell  him  I  would  appropriate  it  to  the  building. 


L. — To  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet. 

Newington,  Jan.  19,  1777. 
Dear  Father  in  Christ, — I  beg  you  would  accept  my  multiplied 
thanks  for  your  repeated  favours.  You  have  twice  entertained  me,  a  worth- 
less  stranger  ;  and  not  yet  tired  of  the  burden,  you  kindly  invite  me,  weak 
and  troublesome  as  I  am,  to  share  in  the  comforts  of  your  house  and  family. 
Kind  Providence  leaves  no  room,  at  present,  to  hang  a  third  burden  upon 
you.  The  good  air  and  accommodations  here,  and  the  nearness  to  a  variety 
of  helps,  joined  to  the  kindness  of  my  friends  and  the  weakness  of  my  body, 
forbid  me  to  remove  at  present.  God  reward  your  labour  of  love  and 
fatherly  offers  !  Should  the  Lord  raise  me,  I  shall  be  better  able  to  reap 
the  benefit  of  your  instructions — a  pleasure  which  I  promise  myself 
sometime,  if  the  Lord  pleases.  J.  Fletcher 


LI. — To  Miss  Perronet. 

Newington,  Jan.  19,  1777. 
Dear  Madam, — I  thank  you  for  your  care  and  kind  nursing  of  me 
when  at  Shoreham  ;  and  especially  for  the  few  lines  you  have  favoured 
me  with.  They  are  so  much  the  more  agreeable  to  me,  as  they  treat 
of  the  one  thing  needful  for  the  recovery  of  our  souls, — the  spirit  of 
power,  of  love,  and  of  a  sound  mind ;  together  with  our  need  of  it, 
and  the  grand  promise  that  this  need  shall  be  abundantly  supplied, — 
supplied  by  a  baptismal  outpouring  of  that  "  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus,  which  makes  us  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death."  May 
we  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  in  the  Holy  Ghost*  and  we  shall 
be  filled  !  May  we  so  come  to  our  first  Paraclete,  Advocate,  and  Com- 
forter, as  to  receive  the  second  as  an  indwelling  and  overflowing  fount- 
ain of  light,  life,  and  love.  My  view  of  this  mystery  is,  I  trust,  Scriptural. 
The  Father  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  us  the  first  Advocate,  Para- 
clete, and  Comforter,  whom  we  love  and  receive  as  our  Redeemer. 
The  first  Advocate  has  told  us  it  was  expedient  that  he  should  leave  us, 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  351 

because  in  that  case  he  would  send  another  Advocate,  Paraclete,  or 
Comforter,  to  abide  with  us,  and  be  in  us  for  ever,  as  our  Sanctifier, 
our  Urim  and  Thummim,  "our  lights  and  perfections,"  our  oracle  and 
guide.  This  is  the  grand  promise  to  Christians ;  called  "  the  promise 
of  the  Father,"  and  bought  by  the  Son.  O  may  it  be  sealed  on  our 
hearts  "  by  the  Spirit  of  promise  !"     May  we  ever  cry, 

Seal  thou  our  breasts,  and  let  us  wear 
That  pledge  of  love  for  ever  there  ! 

Then  we  shall  be  filled  with  pure,  perfect  love  ;  for  the  love  of  the  Spirit 
perfects  that  of  the  Father  and  Son,  and  accomplishes  the  mystery  of 
God  in  the  believing  soul.  Come,  then,  let  us  look  for  it ;  this  great 
salvation  draws  nigh.  Let  us  thank  God  more  thankfully,  more  joyfully, 
more  humbly,  more  penitently,  for  'Christ  our  first  Comforter  ;  and 
hanging  on  his  word,  let  us  ardently  pray  for  the  fulness  of  his  Spirit, 
for  the  indwelling  of  our  second  Comforter,  who  will  lead  us  into  all 
truth,  all  love,  all  power.  Let  us  join  the  few  who  besiege  the  throne 
of  grace,  and  not  give  over  putting  the  Lord  in  remembrance,  till  he  has 
raised  himself  a  pentecostal  Church  again  in  the  earth  ;  I  mean  a 
Church  of  such  believers  as  are  all  of  one  heart  and  one  soul.  Nor 
forget  to  ask,  that,  when  you  press  into  that  kingdom  and  Church,  you 
may  be  followed  by,  dear  madam,  yours,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


LII. — To  Mr.  Greenwood. 

London, ,  1777. 

My  dear  companion  in  tribulation,  and  in  the  patience  of  Jesus.  Peace 
be  multiplied  unto  you,  and  resignation  by  the  cross  of  Jesus.  I  bear 
your  foot  on  my  heart,  and  cast  my  heart  on  Him,  to  whom  all  burdens 
are  lighter  than  a  feather.  Paschal  said,  when  the  rod  of  tribulation 
was  upon  him,  "  Now  I  begin  to  be  a  Christian,"  meaning  a  follower 
of  the  Man  of  sorrows.  By  his  pierced  feet  may  yours  be  eased.  Hold 
this  fast,  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth,  he  chasteneth."  Accept  a  rod  as  a 
token  of  your  adoption,  and  be  willing  to  be  made  perfect  in  patience  by 
sufferings.  In  the  meantime  rejoice  that  Christ's  sufferings  are  over, — 
that  they  are  atoning, — and  that  they  have  purchased  our  comforts.  If 
you  can  come  safely  to-morrow,  you  will  bring  a  blessing  to  your  poor 
pensioner,  who  remains  in  the  bonds  of  grateful,  brotherly  love,  yours, 

J.  Fletcher. 


LIII. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Newington,  Feb.  24,  1777. 
My  Dear  Friend, — Let  us  abandon  ourselves  without  reserve  to 
God,  who  is  alike  the  God  of  all  grace  when  he  chastises,  as  when  he 
blesses  us.  Be  a  son  of  Abraham, — be  an  imitator  of  God.  Abraham 
refused  not  to  offer  up  his  Isaac,  and  God  has  delivered  his  only  Son  to 
death  for  us.  Refuse  nothing  to  this  God  of  love  and  tender  compas- 
sion. The  sacrifice  of  those  things  which  are  most  precious  to  us,  is 
the  least  unworthy  of  him  ;  and  had  we  a  thousand  Isaacs,  we  ought  to 
keep  back  nothing  from  him.     Perhaps  the  Lord  hath  heard  your  prayer 


352  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

and  ours.  If  your  Isaac  lives,  may  he  be  devoted  to  the  Lord  as 
was  Samuel ;  and  may  the  God  of  Elijah  have  all  the  glory  of  his 
recovery.  If  he  be  dead,  prepare  to  follow  him,  and  do  not  envy  him 
the  sweet  repose  which  he  enjoys,  and  in  which  we  shall  soon  share 
with  him. 

Adieu.  They  forbid  my  writing,  but  I  will  write  to  the  last,  "  Blessed 
be  God  who  giveth  us  the  victory  over  death  and  its  pains,  by  Jesus 
Christ !"  In  him  I  am,  and  shall  always  be  altogether  yours.  I  am 
your  ten  thousand  times  obliged  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 

P.  S.  Your  second  letter,  which  reached  me  when  the  above  was  writ- 
ten, informs  me  of  your  loss  ;  but  why  should  I  call  God's  securing  your 
son,  and  giving  him  eternal  life,  your  loss  ?  It  is  Christ's  gain,  who  sees 
in  that  sweet  child  the  travail  of  his  childhood  ;  and  it  is  your  son's  gain, 
since  his  conflicts  and  dangers  are  now  over,  and  nothing  awaits  him  but 
an  eternal  increase  of  happiness.  Who  knows  but  that  God,  who  fore- 
sees all  the  storms  of  corruption,  and  rocks  of  sin  we  are  likely  to  meet 
with  in  the  sea  of  life,  has  taken  your  dear  child  at  the  best,  and  by  this 
premature  death  secures  him  from  eternal  death  ?  Come,  then,  do  not 
repine.  God  has  made  you  the  instrument  of  adding  one  more  little 
cherub  to  the  heavenly  host.  And  in  this  light  you  may  well  say,  "  The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  and  blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord  !"  He  is  better  than  ten  sons.  Your  son  is  in  his  bosom,  and 
this  new  cord  should  now  draw  you  from  earth  to  heaven  with  a  fresh 
degree  of  power — with  an  irresistible  attraction. 

I  thank  you  ten  thousand  times  over  for  all  your  repeated  marks  of 
love  and  generosity  to  me  and  mine  :  the  burden  is  too  great  to  bear ;  I 
must  cast  it  upon  Him  who  can  bless  you  ten  thousand  times  over,  and 
turn  all  your  seeming  losses  into  the  greatest  blessings.  May  the  God 
of  all  consolation  help  you  to  reap  the  earliest  and  ripest  fruit  of  th 
affliction  whereby  he  gives  you  a  new  token  of  your  adoption.  Re- 
member my  kind  love,  and  present  my  best  thanks  to  Mrs.  Ireland. 
Yours,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


LIV. — To  Miss  Perronet. 

i  Newington,  April  21,  1777. 

My  Dear  Friend, — A  thousand  thanks  to  you  for  your  kind,  com- 
fortable lines.  This  prospect  of  going  to  see  Jesus  and  his  glorified 
members,  and  among  them  your  dear  departed  brother,  my  now  ever- 
living  friend — this  sweet  prospect  is  enough  to  make  me  quietly  and 
joyfully  submit  to  leave  all  my  Shoreham  friends,  and  all  the  excellent 
ones  of  the  earth.  But  why  do  I  talk  of  going  to  leave  any  of  Christ's 
members,  by  going  to  be  more  intimately  united  to  the  Head  ? 
We  all  are  one,  who  him  receive, 

And  each  with  each  agree  ; 
In  him  the  One,  the  Truth, — we  live, 
Blest  point  of  unity  ! 

A  point  this,  which  fills  heaven  and  earth ;  which  runs  through  time 
and  eternity.  What  an  immense  point !  In  it  sickness  is  lost  in  health, 
and  death  in  life.  There  let  us  ever  meet.  There  to  live  is  Christ,  and 
to  die  gain. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  353 

Thank  dear  Mrs.*Bissaker  for  all  her  love  to  my  dear  departed  friend; 
and  may  our  kindred  spirits  drink  deeper  into  God,  till  they  are  filled 
with  all  the  fulness  which  our  enlarged  souls  can  admit.  Nor  let  your 
niece,  to  whom  I  send  my  thanks,  keep  aloof.  Let  us  all  tend  to  our 
original  centre  ;  and  experience  that  life  and  death  are  ours,  because  the 
Prince  of  life,  who  is  our  resurrection  and  life,  has  overcome  sin,  death, 
and  the  grave  for  you,  and  for  your  obliged,  unworthy  brother, 

J.  Fletcher 


IN.— To  Miss  Thornton. 

Brislington, ,  1777. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  shall  not  attempt  to  express  my  gratitude 
to  you  for  all  your  charitable  care  of  a  poor  sickly  worm.  As  we  say, 
that  silence  speaks  often  the  best  praises  of  our  great  Benefactor,  so  I 
must  say  here.  I  hope  these  lines  will  find  you  leaving  the  things  that 
are  behind,  and  pressing  forward  toward  the  mark, — the  prize  of  our 
high  calling  on  earth.  In  heaven  we  are  called  to  be  filled  with  all  we 
can  hold  of  the  glorious  fulness  of  God  ;  and  what  that  is  we  know  not, 
but  we  shall  know  if  we  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord.  But  here  also, 
we  are  called  to  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God.  God  is  love,  you 
know  :  to  be  filled  with  all  his  fulness  is  then  to  be  filled  with  love.  O 
may  that  love  be  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given  to  us, 
and  abiding  in  us  !  I  still  look  for  that  ineffable  fulness  ;  and  I  beg,  if  you 
have  not  yet  attained,  you  would  let  nothing  damp  your  hope,  and  slacken 
your  pursuit. 

I  spend  more  time  in  giving  my  friends  an  account  of  my  health  than 
the  matter  is  worth.  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed,  which  I  beg  you 
would  send  to  the  post,  when  you  have  showed  it  to  Mr.  John  and  Charles 
Wesley,  if  they  think  it  worth  their  while  to  run  it  over,  to  see  how  their 
poor  servant  does. 

What  shall  I  say  ?  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gifts, — for 
Jesus, — for  the  Spirit  of  Jesus, — for  the  members  of  Jesus'  mystical 
body,  and  in  particular  am  I  bound  to  return  thanks  for  those  who  have 
ministered  and  still  do  minister  to  my  wants,  and  share  in  my  infirmities. 
Your  meek  humility  forbids  my  saying  that  among  the  many  who,  for 
Christ's  sake,  have  debased  themselves  so  far  as  to  take  up  my  cross 
with  me,  and  help  me  to  bear  it  after  my  Lord,  you  stand  in  the  first  rank, 
and  the  first  fruits  of  my  gratitude  are  due  to  you.  Simon  of  Cyrene 
bore  our  Lord's  cross  by  compulsion :  you  have  borne  that  of  the  most 
unworthy  of  his  servants  without  compulsion  :  and  now,  what  shall  I 
render  1  A  silent  tear  whispers,  I  can  render  nothing.  May  the  merci- 
ful, faithful  God,  who  has  promised  that  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  to 
the  least  of  his  followers  shall  not  lose  its  reward  :  may  that  omnipotent 
God,  who  sees  you  in  all  the  states  of  weakness  which  await  you  between 
the  present  moment  and  the  hour  of  death,  give  you  all  that  can  make 
your  life  comfortable,  your  trials  tolerable,  your  death  triumphant,  and 
vour  eternity  glorious !  I  am  your  affectionate  brother, 

J.  Fletcher. 
Vol.  IV.  23 


354  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 


LVI. — To  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Mary  Fitzgerald. 

Madeley,  Oct.  21,  1777. 
Honoured  and  Dear  Madam, — With  respect  to  the  hints  you  drop 
in  your  letter,  concerning  your  external  circumstances,  I  rind  it  upon  my 
heart  to  say,  Abide  in  the  state  in  which  you  have  been  called,  till  Provi- 
dence makes  a  way  for  you  to  escape  out  of  what  may  be  contrary  to 
your  new  taste.  Your  cross  has  changed  its  nature  with  your  heart ; 
and  we  may,  in  some  cases,  be  called  to  take  up  a  worldly  as  well  as  a 
heavenly  cross.  Joseph  and  Moses  did  so  once  in  Egypt,  Esther  in 
Susa,  Daniel  in  Babylon,  John  the  Baptist  at  Herod's  court,  and  our 
Lord  in  the  house  of  the  rich  Pharisee.  Some  great  end,  to  yourself  or 
to  others,  may  be  answered  by  patiently  bearing  your  worldly  cross,  till 
it  be  taken  from  you,  or  you  are  removed  from  under  it.  Continue  to 
make  it  matter  of  earnest  prayer  to  know  the  will  of  God  concerning 
you  ;  and  while  3>our  eye  watches  the  motions  of  the  providential  cloud, 
and  your  heart  listens  for  the  Lord's  call,  endeavour  to  keep  your  will 
as  an  even  balance  at  his  feet,  that  the  least  grain  of  intimation — clear 
intimation  from  him,  and  the  least  distinct  touch  of  the  hand  of  Provi- 
dence, may  turn  the  scale  either  way,  without  resistance  on  your  part. 
Being  thus  fully  persuaded  you  will  do  and  suffer  all,  with  the  liberty 
and  courage  of  faith,  I  am,  madam,  your  obliged  servant, 

J.  Fletcher. 


LVII. — To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Conyers. 

Macon,  in  Burgundy,  May  18,  1778. 

Hon.  and  Dear  Sir, — I  left  orders  with  a  friend  to  send  you  a  little 
book,  called  "  The  Reconciliation  ;"  in  which  I  endeavour  to  bring 
nearer  the  children  of  God,  who  are  divided  about  their  partial  views  of 
Divine  truths.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  tract  has,  in  any  degree, 
answered  its  design  ;  but  I  believe  truth  can  be  reconciled  with  itself,  and 
the  candid  children  of  God  one  with  another.  O  that  some  abler  hand, 
and  more  loving  heart,  would  undertake  to  mend  my  plan,  if  it  be  worth 
mending,  or  draw  one  more  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God  !  My  eyes 
are  upon  you,  dear  sir,  and  those  who  are  like  minded  with  you,  for  this 
work  :  disappoint  me  not  of  my  hope.  Stand  forth,  and  make  way  for 
reconciling  love,  by  removing,  so  far  as  lies  in  you,  what  is  in  the  way 
of  brotherly  union.  O  sir,  the  work  is  worthy  of  you  !  Take  courage  ! 
Be  bold  for  the  reconciling  truth.  Be  bold  for  peace.  You  can  do  all 
things  through  Christ  strengthening  you  ;  and  as  Doctor  Conyers,  you 
can  do  many  things  ;  a  great  many  more  than  you  think.  What  if  you 
go,  sir,  in  Christ's  name,  to  all  the  Gospel  ministers  of  your  acquaint- 
ance, exhort  them  as  a  father,  entreat  them  as  a  brother,  and  bring 
them,  or  as  many  of  them  as  you  can,  together !  Think  you  that  youi 
labour  would  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord  ?  Impossible,  sir  !  O  despair  not ! 
Charity  hopeth  all  things,  and  as  Kempis  saith,  "  It  trieth  all  things,  and 
bringeth  many  things  to  pass  which  would  appear  impossible  to  him  who 
despaireth,  hateth,  or  careth  not  for  the  sheep." 

If  you  want  a  coach  or  a  friend  to  accompany  you,  when  you  go  upon 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  355 

this  errand  of  love,  remember  there  is  a  Thornton  in  London,  and  an 
Ireland  in  Bristol,  who  wish  you  God  speed,  and  make  your  way  plain 
before  you :  and  God  will  raise  many  more  to  concur  in  the  peaceful 
work.  Let  me  humbly  entreat  you  to  go  to  work,  and  to  persevere  in  it. 
I  wish  I  had  strength  to  be  at  least  your  postilion  when  you  go.  I 
would  drive,  if  not  like  Jehu,  at  least  with  some  degree  of  cheerful 
swiftness,  while  Christ  smiled  at  the  Christian  attempt.  But  I  am  confi 
dent  you  can  do  all  in  the  absence  and  without  the  concurrence  of  him 
who  is,  with  brotherly  love  and  dutiful  respect,  Hon.  and  dear  sir,  your 
obedient  servant  in  the  Gospel,  J.  Fletcher. 


LVIIL— To  Mr.  Thomas  York. 

Nyon,  Sept.  15,  1778. 

My  Dear  Brother, — I  thank  you  for  your  love,  and  generous  care 
of  my  little  temporal  concerns.  I  long  to  know  how  you  all  do.  You 
may  see  in  the  enclosed  how  I  do  in  body.  Blessed  be  the  God  of  all 
consolation,  though  I  have  still  very  trying,  feverish  nights,  and  nothing 
but  forced  evacuations,  I  am  kept  in  peace  of  mind ;  resigned  to  his  will, 
who  afflicts  me  for  my  good,  and  justly  sets  me  aside  for  my  unprofita- 
bleness. Well,  though  I  am  a  bruised  vessel,  yet  I  rest  on  him ;  he  does 
not  break  me,  yea,  he  comforts  me  on  every  side.  His  grace  within, 
and  his  people  without,  turn  my  trying  circumstances  into  matter  of 
praise. 

Give  my  love  to  all  your  dear  family,  and  to  the  two  or  three  who 
may  yet  remember  me  at  Shiflhal.  Also  give  my  love  to  Daniel,  and 
desire  him,  when  he  gathers  the  Easter  dues,  to  give  my  love  and  thanks 
to  all  my  parishioners.     Adieu  !     Yours,  J.  Fletcher. 


LIX.— To  Mr.  William  Wase. 

Nyon,  Feb.  11,  1779. 

My  Dear  Frieno, — I  have  just  received  yours  of  the  24th  Jan.,  and 
rejoice  to  hear  of  the  welfare  of  your  friends ;  but  there  is  no  blessing 
here  without  some  alloy  of  grief,  and  such  was  to  me  the  account  of  the 
poor  state  of  dear  Mrs.  Wase's  health.  The  Lord  be  with  her  as  "  a 
Comforter  and  Sanctifier,"  if  he  does  not  choose  to  be  with  her  as  a  Phy- 
sician. Tell  her  I  should  be  glad  to  hold  up  her  hands  in  her  fight  of 
affliction,  but  if  the  poor,  unprofitable  weak  servartt  is  far  off,  the  Master, 
who  is  rich  in  mercy,  who  fills  the  whole  world  with  his  goodness  and 
patience,  who  has  all  the  power  given  him  as  "  our  brother,  Son  of 
man,"  in  heaven  and  earth  ; — this  kind  Master  is  near  to  her,  and  all  his 
afflicted  ones.  Bid  her  from  me,  entreat  her  in  my  name,  or  rather,  in 
his  dear  name,  Jesus,  salvation,  resurrection,  life,  light,  and  love,  to  look 
to  him,  and  to  make  a  free,  and  constant  use  of  him  in  all  his  offices. 

I  recommend  to  her  two  remedies  ;  the  one  is  a  cheerful  resignation 
to  the  will  of  God,  whereby  her  animal  spirits  will  be  raised  and  sweetly 
refreshed  ;  the  other  is  four  lumps  of  heavenly  sugar,  to  be  taken  every 
half  hour,  day  and  night,  when  she  does  not  sleep.  I  make  a  constant 
use  of  them  to  my  great  comfort.  They  have  quickened  my  soul  when 
I  was  dying,  and  I  doubt  not  but  they  will  have  the  same  effect  upon 


356  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

hers.  Our  Church  has  already  extracted  that  Divine  sugar  from  the 
Scripture,  and  put  it  into  the  common  prayer  book,  as  the  heavenly  bait 
which  is  to  draw  us  to  the  Lord's  table.  Though  they  have  often  pass- 
ed through  my  mouth,  when  I  have  called  her  there,  they  have  lost 
nothing  of  their  sweetness  and  force.  "  God  so  loved  the  world,"  &c 
"  If  any  man  sin,"  &c.  "  It  is  a  faithful  saying,"  &c.  "  Come  unto 
me  all  ye  that  are  weary,"  &c.  God  grant  her  abundance  of  the  faith 
which  rolls  these  heavenly  pills  in  the  mind,  and  much  of  that  love  which 
sucks  their  sweetness  in  the  heart.  Tell  her  they  go  down  best  if  taken 
in  the  cup  of  thanksgiving  ;  into  which  a  tear  of  desire,  of  humility,  of 
repentance,  or  of  joy,  might  be  dropt  occasionally.  That  tear  is  to  be 
had  by  looking  simply  to  Him  who  sells  oil  to  the  virgins,  who  offered  a 
springing  well  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  and  opened  a  fountain  flowing 
with  heavenly  blood  and  water  when  he  hung  for  us  upon  the  cross.  To 
him  be  praise  and  glory  for  ever  !     Amen  !  . 

Tell  my  little  god  daughter,  Patty  Cartwright,  she  is  big  enough  and 
bad  enough  to  take  them  ;  and  that  the  holy  child  Jesus  came  on  purpose 
into  the  world  to  make  them  up  for  her.  What  a  shame  it  is,  to  have 
such  a  remedy  so  near  and  not  to  make  more  use  of  it  to  subdue  our 
unbelief,  and  cure  our  stupid  ingratitude ! 

Thank  brother  Costerdine  and  his  fellow  labourers  for  their  occasional 
help,  and  may  He,  who  gives  the  increase  abundantly,  bless  it  to  them 
and  to  our  friends.  May  the  Lord  vouchsafe  to  consecrate  our  little  Zoar 
by  calling  one  sinner  and  establishing  one  saint.  How  abundantly  shall 
we  be  repaid  for  our  little  expense  and  trouble !     I  am  yours,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


LX. — To  Mr.  Michael  Onions. 

Nyon,  May  18,  1779 
My  Dear  Brother, — Yesterday  I  spoke  with  a  carrier  from  Geneva 
to  take  me  to  London,  who  said  he  would  give  us  a  fortnight's  notice. 
The  Lord  is  always  ready  to  give  our  hearts  a  lift  to  the  kingdom  of 
grace,  through  which  we  must  pass  to  the  kingdom  of  glory.  May  we 
be  ready  also  !  The  comfort  of  this  journey  is,  that  we  all  may  travel 
together,  though  our  bodies  are  asunder ;  for  Christ  the  way  is  every 
where,  and  faith  in  his  word  is,  like  his  word,  one  and  the  same,  in  every 
age  and  country.  So  is  holiness  the  narrow  way ;  for  in  all  places  we 
may  love  God  with  ail  our  hearts,  and  our  neighbour  as  ourselves.  I 
hope  you,  and  all  your  serious  friends,  travel  thus,  and  that  your  journey 
is  like  that  of  St.  Paul,  who  travelled  hard,  as  one  running  for  a  prize, — 
even  for  a  crown  of  life. 

Give  my  kind  love  to  all  who  travel  in  this  manner.  Invite  kindly  all 
who  have  not  yet  set  out.  Stir  up  earnestly  those  that  loiter,  especially 
Thomas  Powis,  over  whom  my  heart  yearns.  Above  all,  give  them  the 
example  of  leaving  the  things  behind,  and  pressing  toward  the  mark  with 
renewed  vigour.  Tell  your  wife  I  hold  her  to  her  promise,  of  being  the 
Lord's  more  than  ever,  because  the  time  is  shorter  for  us  both.  Tell 
your  mother  I  expect  to  find  her  a  bruised  reed  in  herself,  and  a  pillar 
in  Christ  Jesus.  The  Lord  bless  your  brother  and  his  wife,  with  that 
Child  born,  that  Son  given,  who  shall  live  to  restore  us  to  those  whom 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  357 

death  carries  away.%  I  hope  Patty  Cartwright,  with  her  parents,  will  be 
made  strong  in  faith  and  patience,  if  not  in  the  body.  Tell  Mrs.  Ford  I 
hope  she  is  better  in  soul  for  her  bodily  weakness.  If  Mrs.  Brooke  is 
yet  with  her  I  hope  to  find  them  sisters  in  Christ  more  than  in  Adam.  I 
experience  here  that  kindred  in  the  former  is  stronger  and  dearer  than  in 
the  latter.  Tell  Mr.  Wase  I  hope  that  he  is  a  widower  in  the  Lord, 
devoting  himself  to  the  bringing  up  of  the  Lord's  family  and  his  own : 
both  of  which  require  close  attendance.  My  love  to  your  fellow  leaders, 
and  by  them  to  the  companies  you  meet  in  prayer ;  also  to  Mr.  Hatton 
and  the  preachers  who  help  in  the  circuit.  My  love  also  waits  on 
I.  Tranter,  T.  Poole,  and  T.  Banks,  and  all  who  meet  in  their  houses. 
Tell  them  I  hope  to  find  them  growing  up  into  Christ  in  all  things,  parti- 
cularly  in  heavenly  zeal  and  humble  love.  Salute  all  our  dear  friends 
and  neighbours  for  me.     Farewell  in  the  Lord.     I  am  yours  in  him, 

•  J.  Fletcher. 


LXL— To  Mr.  William  Wase. 

Nyon,  Sept.  15,  1780. 
My  Dear  Brother, — You  are  also  entitled  to  many  thanks ;  receive 
them  from  me  till  I  can  return  you  something  more  substantial.  Give 
my  love  and  thanks  to  the  preachers  who  come  and  help  us.  Enforce 
my  little  exhortation  to  the  societies  in  much  love.  Go  and  comfort 
from  me  Mrs.  Palmer  and  Mrs.  Cartwright ;  and  since  God  has  placed 
you  all  in  a  widowed  state,  agree  to  take  Jesus  for  a  never-dying  friend 
and  bridegroom.  Your  Maker  is  your  husband.  He  is  all  in  all ;  and 
what  then  have  you  lost?  Christ  is  yours,  and  all  things  with  him. 
The  resurrection  day  will  soon  come.  Prepare  yourselves  for  the  mar- 
riage feast  of  the  Lamb,  and  till  then  rejoice  in  the  expectation  of  that 
day.  I  sympathize  with  our  sickly  friends,  widow  Matthews,  M. 
Blummer,  L.  Whitaker,  I.  York,  and  S.  Aston.  Salute  them  kindly 
from  me.  Help  them  to  trim  their  lamps  and  wait  for  the  Bridegroom. 
Bid  them  not  be  discouraged.  Thank  Thomas  and  Nelly  Fennel  for 
their  love  to  the  preachers,  and  give  them  mine  as  well  as  John  Owen, 
&c,  by  whom  I  send  it  to  the  little  companies  they  meet  with,  to  call  for 
strength,  comfort,  and  help  in  time  of  need.  Fare  ye  all  well  in  Jesus  ; 
I  say  again,  farewell.     I  am  yours,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXIL— To  Mr.  John  Owen. 

Nyon,  Feb.  14,  1781. 
I  thank  you,  my  dear  brother,  for  your  kind  lines.  I  have  deferred 
answering  them  till  I  could  inform  you  of  the  time  of  my  departure 
hence,  which  you  will  see  "in  my  letter  to  Mr.  Wase.  I  hope  you  help 
both  Mr.  Greaves  and  the  preachers  to  stir  up  the  people  in  my  parish. 
Strengthen  the  things  that  remain  and  are  ready  to  die.  I  hope  you 
take  counsel  with  Michael  Onions,  Mrs.  Palmer,  and  Molly  Cartwright, 
about  the  most  effectual  means  to  recover  the  backsliders ;  and  to  keep 
together  to  Christ,  and  to  each  other,  those  who  still  hold  their  shield. 
Salute  them  kindly  from  me,  and  tell  them  I  hope  they  will  give  me  a 
good  account  of  their  little  companies  and  of  themsel  ves. 


358  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

If  I  were  not  a  minister  I  would  be  a  school  master,  to  have  the  plea- 
sure  of  bringing  up  children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord :  that  pleasure  is 
yours :  relish  it,  and  it  will  comfort  and  strengthen  you  in  your  work. 
The  joy  of  the  Lord,  and  of  charity,  is  our  strength.  Salute  the  children 
from  me,  and  tell  them  I  long  to  show  them  the  way  to  happiness  and 
heaven.  Pray,  have  you  mastered  the  stiffness  and  shyness  of  your 
temper  ?  Charity  gives  a  meekness,  an  affability,  a  childlike  simplicity 
and  openness,  which  nature  has  denied  you,  that  grace  might  have  all  the 
honour  of  it.  Let  me  find  you  shining  by  these  virtues,  and  you  will 
revive  me  much.     God  bless  your  labour  about  the  sheep  and  the  lambs. 

J.  Fletcher. 


LXIIL— To  Mr.  William  Wase. 

Nyon,  Feb.  14, 1781. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  am  exceeding  glad  that  there  is  a  revival  on 
your  side  the  water,  and  that  you  are  obliged  to  enlarge  your  room. 

I  wish  I  could  contribute  to  shake  the  dry  bones  in  my  parish ;  but  1 
have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh ;  and  what  I  could  not  do,  when  I  was 
in  my  strength,  I  have  little  prospect  of  doing  now  that  my  strength  is 
broken.  However,  I  do  not  despair  :  for  the  work  is  not  mine,  "  but  the 
Lord's."  If  the  few  who  love  the  Gospel  would  be  simple  and  zealous, 
God  would  again  hear  their  prayers  for  those  who  are  content  to  go  on  in 
the  broad  way.  I  thank  you  for  your  view  of  the  iron  bridge.  I  hope 
the  word,  and  the  faith  that  works  by  love,  will  erect  a  more  solid  and 
durable  bridge,  to  unite  those  who  travel  together  toward  Sion. 

My  friend  Ireland  invites  me  to  go  and  join  him  in  the  south  of 
France ;  and  I  long  to  see  whether  I  could  not  have  more  liberty  to 
preach  the  word  among  the  Papists,  than  among  the  Protestants.  But 
it  is  so  little  I  can  do,  that  I  doubt  much  whether  it  is  worth  while  going 
so  far  upon  so  little  a  chance.  If  I  were  stronger  and  had  more  time, 
the  fear  of  being  hanged  should  not  detain  me.  I  trust  to  set  out  next 
month  and  to  be  in  England  in  May :  it  will  not  be  my  fault  if  I  be  not 
there  in  April. 

Remember  me  in  much  love  to  Mr.  Greaves,  Mr.  Gilpin,  and  the 
preachers  who  labour  with  us.  O  !  my  friend,  give  yourself  wholly  up 
to  the  Lord,  and  you  will  have  that  peace  and  joy,  through  Christ  and 
righteousness,  which  will  be  worth  a  little  heaven  to  you.  Adieu.  Yours, 

J.  Fletcher. 


LXIV.— To  Mr.  Michael  Onions. 

Nyon,  March,  1781. 
I  thank  you,  my  dear  brother,  for  your  kind  remembrance  of  me, 
and  for  your  letters  :  I  hope  to  bring  my  fuller  thanks  to  you  in  person. 
Come,  hold  up  your  hands.  Confirm  the  feeble  knees.  Set  up  an 
Ebenezer  every  hour  of  the  day.  In  every  thing  give  thanks ;  and  in 
order  to  this,  pray  without  ceasing,  and  rejoice  evermore.  My  heart 
sympathizes  with  poor  Molly  Cartwright.  Tell  her  from  me  that  her 
husband  lives  in  Him  who  is  the  resurrection,  and  that  I  want  her  to  live 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  359 

there  with  him.  In  Christ  there  is  no  death,  but  the  vietoiy  over  death. 
O !  let  us  live  in  him,  to  him,  for  him,  who  more  than  repairs  all  our 
losses.  I  long  to  rejoice  with  her  in  hopes  of  meeting  our  departed 
friends,  where  parting  and  trouble  shall  be  no  more. 

My  love  to  your  wife  ;  tell  her  she  promised  me  to  be  Jesus',  as  well 
as  yours.  I  trust  her  mother  ripens  faster  for  glory  than  for  the  grave. 
I  hope  to  find  her  quite  mellowed  by  the  humble  love  of  the  Gospel. 
My  love  to  John  Owen,  and  all  our  other  leaders,  and  by  them  to  the 
few  who  do  not  tire  by  the  way.  With  regard  to  the  others,  take  them 
in  the  arms  of  prayer  and  love,  and  carry  them  out  of  Egypt  and  So- 
dom, if  they  are  loath  to  come.  Despair  of  none.  You  know  charity 
hopeth  all  things,  and  bringeth  many  things  to  pass.  All  things  are  pos- 
sible to  him  that  believeth,  all  things  are  easy  to  Jiim  that  loveth.  God 
be  with  you,  my  dear  brother,  and  make  you  faithful  unto  death.  It  is 
my  prayer  for  you,  and  all  the  society,  and  all  my  dear  neighbours,  my 
dear  parishioners,  to  whom  I  beg  to  be  remembered.  I  have  no  place 
to  write  their  names ;  but  I  pray  they  may  be  all  written  "  in  the  book 
of  life."  God  is  merciful,  gracious,  and  faithful ;  I  set  my  seal  to  his 
loving  kindness  :  witness  my  heart  and  hand,  John  Fletcher. 


LXV. — To  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Mary  Fitzgerald. 

Madeley,  Sept.,  1781. 

My  Much  Honoured  Lady, — Two  days  ago,  I  came  here,  after  an 
absence  of  above  a  month  :  and  yesterday  I  received  the  honour  of  your 
letter  without  date,  which  has  been,  I  am  told,  waiting  here  some  time. 
What  a  pity  I  did  not  rejoice  sooner  in  the  good  news  you  send  me,  that 
you  desire  to  be  entirely  devoted  to  God.  Indeed,  complaints  follow ; 
but  heaven  is  in  that  holy  desire.  If  you  cultivate  it,  it  will  produce  all 
that  conformity  to  a  holy  God,  which  love  can  bring  to  a  human  soul, 
called  to  partake  the  Divine  nature.  As  for  your  complaints,  they  are 
the  natural  expression  of  that  repentance  which  precedes,  in  our 
hearts,  the  coming  of  the  Comforter  who  is  to  abide  with  us  for  ever. 
I  am  ready  to  rejoice,  or  to  mourn  with  my  honoured  friend  ;  and  I  have 
abundant  cause  to  do  both,  with  respect  to  myself,  my  ministrations,  the 
Church,  and  my  people. 

And  will  you,  indeed,  find  it  in  your  heart  to  honour  my  house  with 
your  presence,  and  perfume  also  with  your  prayers  the  plain  apartments 
occupied  by  your  friend  Johnson  1  I  wonder  at  nothing  on  earth,  when 
I  consider  the  condescension  with  which  Emmanuel  came  down  from 
heaven  and  filled  a  stable  with  his  glory.  Your  time,  my  condescend- 
ing friend,  will  suit  me  best.  You  will  be  queen  in  my  hermitage,  the 
Lord  will  rule  in  our  hearts,  and  you  will  command  under  him  within 
our  walls.  You  smile,  perhaps,  at  the  vastness  of  your  new  empire, 
but  if  you  can  be  content  and  happy  in  God  in  my  homely  solitude,  you 
will  make  greater  advances  toward  bliss  than  if  you  obtained  the  prin- 
cipality of  Wales.  But  if  you  cannot  be  happy  with  Jesus,  prayer, 
praise,  godly  conversation,  and  retirement,  expect  a  disappointment. 
However,  my  honoured  friend,  if  you  come,  as  the  serious  Catholics  go 
on  a  pilgrimage,  as  French  noblemen  go  to  the  Carthusian  convent  at 


2(50  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

La  Trappe,  as  the  French  king's  aunts  went  to  the  Carmelites  :  come 
and  do  evangelical  penance.  Our  good  friend  Johnson  will  tell  you  of 
an  upper  room  where  we  crucify  our  old  man,  and  have  had  many  a 
visit  from  the  new.  If  you  do  not  bring  her  with  you,  bring  her  faith, 
which  brought  him  down,  and  then  you  shall  not  pine  for  the  company 
of  earthly  princes.  The  Prince  of  Peace  and  Life  himself  will  keep 
his  co,urt  in  our  cottage,  and  your  heart  shall  be  one  of  his  favourite 
thrones. 

I  hope,  my  lady,  you  will  bring  us  good  news  of  our  friends  in  St. 
James'  Place.  My  heart  visits  them  often,  and  if  bodies  could  move 
as  quick  as  thought,  they  would  be  importuned  frequently  with  my  com- 
pany. If  you  write  to  them  before  I  do,  convey  my  Christian  and  grate- 
ful love  in  your  letter,  and  accept  it  yourself  from  my  honoured  and 
dear  lady,  your  dutiful  servant  in  Christ,  J.  Fletcher 


LXVL— To  Miss  Perronet. 

Madeley,  Sept.  4,  1781. 
My  Dear  Friend, — You  want  "  some  thoughts  on  the  love  of  God,5 
and  I  want  the  warmest  feelings  of  it.  Let  us  believe  his  creating,  feel 
his  preserving,  admire  his  redeeming,  and  triumph  in  his  sanctifying 
love.  Loving  is  the  best  way  to  grow  in  love.  Look  we,  then,  at  the 
love  of  our  heavenly  Father,  shining  in  the  face  of  our  elder  Brother, 
and  we  shall  be  changed  into  love,  his  image  and  nature,  from  one  glo- 
rious and  glorifying  degree  of  love  to  another.  Love  always  delights 
in  the  object  loved.  "  Delight  thou  in  the  Lord,  then,  and  thou  shalt 
have  thy  heart's  desire ;"  for  we  can  desire  nothing  more  than  the  su- 
preme good  and  infinite  bliss :  both  are  in  God.  When,  therefore,  we 
love  God  truly,  we  delight  in  what  he  is,  we  share  in  his  infinite»happi- 
ness  ;  and  by  Divine  sympathy,  his  throne  of  glory  becomes  ours  ;  for 
true  love  rejoices  in  all  the  joy  of  the  object  it  cleaves  to.  Add  to  this, 
that  when  we  love  God,  we  have  always  our  heart's  desire ;  for  we  love 
his  will,  his  desires  become  ours,  and  ours  are  always  perfectly  resigned 
to  his.  Now  as  God  does  whatever  he  pleases  both  in  heaven  and  earth, 
his  lovers  have  always  their  heart's  desire,  forasmuch  as  they  always 
have  his  will,  which  is  theirs.  Submitting  our  private  will  to  his  is  only 
preferring  a  greater  good  to  a  less,  as  our  Lord  did  in  the  garden ;  and 
we  are  called  to  do  it  in  afflictions.  Farewell,  my  dear  friend,  and  ex- 
cuse these 'reflections,  which  you  could  make  much  better  than  your 
humble  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXVII. — To  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Mary  Fitzgerald. 

Madeley,  Sept.  29,  1781. 
My  Dear  and  Honoured  Friend, — You  have  been  in  the  fire  of 
affliction,  where  faith  is  tried,  where  patient  hope  is  exercised,  and 
where  perfect  love,  which  casts  out  fear,  and  endureth  all  things,  is 
proved  worthy  of  Him  who  made  bare  his  breast,  and  said  to  his  Father, 
"  Lo  !  I  come  to  do  thy  will,  O  God  !"  I  come  to  be  obedient  unto  death, 
even  the  painful,  shameful  death  of  the  cross ' 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  361 

Continue  to  offer  your  body  as  a  living,  or  if  it  please  God,  as  a  linger- 
ing, dying  sacrifice  to  him,  who  has  decreed,  that  if  we  will  reign  with 
Christ,  we  must  suffer  with  him.  This  is  our  reasonable  service  ;  for  it 
should  be  absurd,  that  our  Lord  should  have  been  perfected  by  suffer- 
ings, thorns,  and  the  cross,  and  that  we  should  have  nothing  but  enjoy- 
ment, roses,  and  a  crown.  How  faithful,  how  merciful  is  our  God  !  He 
brings  you  once  more  from  the  verge  of  eternity  :  well,  my  dear  friend, 
I  welcome  you  back  into  life,  and  into  the  enjoyment  of  farther  oppor- 
tunities of  receiving  and  doing  good, — of  growing  in  grace,  and  perfect- 
ing holiness  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 

Chastened,  spared  like  you,  and  more  and  more  convinced  that  I  am 
helplessness  itself,  and  that  there  is  help  laid  on  our  Surety  and  Saviour 
for  us,  I  invite  you  to  say  with  me,  "  When  I  am  weak,"  Christ  my  life 
is  strong  still :  "  for  me  to  live  shall  be  Christ,  and  to  die  gain."  Dear 
madam,  to  know  the  bare  cross  is  uncomfortable  ;  but  to  know,  and 
gather  the  fruit  of  that  tree,  is  life  from  the  dead,  it  is  more  abundant  life 
after  fainting.  Let  us  then  know,  that  is,  consider,  and  embrace  Jesus 
Christ  crucified  to  make  an  end  of  sin ;  shedding  tears,  and  his  most 
precious  blood,  to  cleanse  us  from  all  sin ;  to  trace  again  the  Divine 
image,  goodness,  love,  and  happiness  on  our  souls,  and  seal  our  firm  title 
to  glory. 

"  Not  a  text,"  say  you,  "  came  to  me,  only  I  knew  none  perished  at 
his  feet ;"  then  you  remembered  Christ,  the  sum  and  substance  of  all 
the  Scriptures  ;  then  you  believed  on  him,  in  whom  all  the  sweetest  texts, 
and  all  the  promises  are  "  Yea,  and  Amen."  O  believe  more  steadily, 
more  confidently  !  Dare  even  to  obey  the  apostolic  precept,  "  Reckon 
yourselves  dead  indeed  unto  sin,  but  alive  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord."  Embrace,  with  more 'earnestness,  the  righteousness  of  faith, 
and  you  will  have  more  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Rejoice  in 
Christ  your  peace :  yea,  rejoice  in  God  your  Saviour ;  and  if  there  is 
a  needs  be,  for  your  being  in  heaviness  for  a  season,  rejoice  in  tribula- 
tion ;  "  sorrowful,  but  always  rejoicing."  "When  I  am  destitute  of  all 
comfort,  this  shall  yield  me  comfort,"  saith  Kempis,  "  that  thy  will  is 
done."  If  Abraham  believed  in  hope  against  hope,  that  is,  against  human, 
natural  hope  ;  can  you  not,  through  grace,  as  a  daughter  of  Abraham, 
rejoice  in  heavenly  hope  against  all  natural  feelings,  and  even  against 
all  temptations  ?  "  Count  it  all  joy,"  says  St.  James,  "  when  you  fall 
into  divers  temptations  and  trials."  Don't  be  afraid  of  the  storm  ;  Christ 
is  in  the  ship,  and  he  does  not  sleep,  as  unbelief  is  apt  to  fancy. 

I  thank  you,  my  dear  lady,  for  your  friendly  wish  of  leaving  your  clay 
here.  I  return  it,  by  wishing  you  may  leave  all  the  body  of  sin,  now, 
in  that  mysterious  grotto  of  Mount  Calvary,  where  myriads  of  sinners 
have  buried  their  doubts,  their  fears,  and  their  old  man.  Prop  up  your 
clay  a  little  longer  ;  for  I  want  to  sing  with  you,  "  Salvation  to  God  and 
the  Lamb."  I  want  you  to  help  me,  with  the  understanding  and  the 
voice,  to  witness  that  Jesus  "  saves  to  the  uttermost,  all  who  come  to 
God  through  him ;"  that  he  can  not  only  "  make  an  end  of  sin,  but 
bring  in  an  everlasting,  triumphant  righteousness." 

I  am  not  without  hope  of  seeing  you  in  London,  before  you  see  your 
future  hermitage.  All  my  brotherly  love  goes  to  town,  and  salutes  you 
and  your  good  nurses,  Mrs.  C /Mrs. ,  Mrs. ,  Mrs.  L ; 


362  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

to  whose  continued  care,  as  well  as  to  that  of  our  dear  Redeemer,  I 
earnestly  recommend  you.  I  am,  my  dear  lady,  your  obedient,  affec- 
tionate servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXVIII. — To  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Mary  Fitzgerald. 

Madeley,  Aug.  28,  1782. 

My  Honoured  Friend, — Grace,  mercy,  and  humble  love  be  multi- 
plied to  you  from  God  our  Father,  and  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
through  the  eternal  Spirit ;  in  whose  name  we  were  baptized  into  the 
body  of  the  Church,  the  spouse  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  Lord  has  pe- 
culiar favours  in  store  for  your  ladyship,  and  for  me  :  the  proof  is,  that 
we  are  afflicted.  Have  you  been  in  a  weak  state  of  health  ?  I  have  had 
the  honour  to  drink  of  your  cup  :  the  influenza  has  laid  me  down,  but 
the  Lord  has  raised  me  up  again ;  and  when  I  was  partly  well,  I  broke 
my  shin  accidentally  (should  I  not  say  providentially  ?)  against  a  bench, 
and  the  consequence  was  my  being  confined  by  a  bad  leg  to  my  bed, 
whence  I  write  these  lines.  O  may  they  be  lines  of  consolation  to  my 
dear  friend !  May  the  God  of  all  grace,  who  comforts  unworthy  me, 
rejoice  your  oppressed  heart,  and  make  it  overflow  with  his  patient  love 
and  sanctifying  truth. 

You  still  complain  of  vile  self:  I  wish  you  joy,  for  your  knowing  your 
enemy.  Let  vile  self  be  reduced  to  order,  and,  though  he  be  a  bad  mas- 
ter, he  will  become  an  excellent  servant.  If  you  say,  How  shall  I  do 
this  ?  I  reply,  by  letting  the  Lord,  the  Maker,  the  Preserver,  the  Re- 
deemer, the  Lover  of  your  soul,  ascend  upon  the  throne  of  your  thoughts, 
will,  and  affections.  Who  deserves  to  engross  and  fill  them  better  than 
he  does  ?  Is  he  not  your  first  Lord,  your  best  Husband,  your  most  faith- 
ful Friend,  and  your  greatest  Benefactor  1  If  you  say,  "  I  do  not  see 
him  ;"  I  reply,  that  you  never  saw  the  soul  of  any  of  your  friends  ; — 
nor  do  you  see  even  the  body  of  him  you  call  your  idol.  O  !  allow  Je- 
hovah, the  Supreme  Being,  to  be  to  you,  what  he  deserves  to  be,  "  all 
in  all."  One  lively  act  of  faith,  one  ascent  and  consent  to  this  delight- 
ful truth,  that  your  Father,  who  is  in  heaven,  loves  you  a  thousand  times 
more  than  you  love  your  idol,  (for  God's  love  is  like  himself,  "  infinite 
and  boundless,")  will  set  your  heart  at  liberty,  and  even  make  it  dance 
for  joy.  What,  if  to  this  ravishing  consideration,  you  add  the  transport- 
ing truth,  that  the  Son  of  God,  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men,  and  brighter 
than  angels,  has  loved  you  unto  death — to  the  death  of  the  cross,  and 
loves  you  still  more  than  all  your  friends  do,  were  their  love  collected 
into  one  heart ;  could  you  help  thinking,  with  a  degree  of  joyous  grati- 
tude, of  such  an  instance  of  Divine  condescension  !  No,  your  vile  self 
would  be  ennobled,  raised,  expanded,  and  set  at  liberty,  by  this  evangeli- 
cal thought ;  and  if  you  did  not  destroy  this  Divine  conception,  if  you 
nourished  this  little  degree  of  the  love  of  Christ,  Emmanuel,  the  God  of 
love  would  be  more  fully  manifested  in  you,  and  salvation  would  from 
this  moment  grow  in  your  soul.  Jesus  would  grow  in  your  believing, 
loving  heart ;  self  would  be  nobody,  Emmanuel  would  be  all  in  all  ;  and 
Lady  Mary  would  share  all  the  happiness,  and,  ere  long,  all  the  glory  of 
that  favoured  virgin  whom  all  the  nations  shall  call  blessed.  You  beai 
her  name  :  let  her  Son,  by  the  incorruptible  seed  of  the  Word,  be  also 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.    *  363 

formed  in  you  through  faith  ;  and  you  will  be  so  taken  up  with  this 
wonder  of  Divine  love,  so  employed  in  praising  your  Father's  mercy, 
and  Saviour's  love  and  tenderness,  that  you  will  have  little  time  to  speak 
either  of  good  or  bad  self.  When  self  is  forgotten  as  nothing  before  God, 
you  put  self  in  its  proper  place  ;  and  you  make  room  for  the  heavenly 
Being,  whose  holy  and  happy  existence  you  are  to  shadow  out. 

If  you  have  left  off  attending  on  the  princess,  attend  on  the  Prince  of 
Peace  with  double  diligence.  If  you  have  been  wanting  in  that  sweet 
and  honourable  duty,  it  is  because  the  enemy  has  told  you  lies  of  your 
Saviour,  and  has  cast  a  veil  over  the  love  of  his  heart,  and  the  beauty 
of  his  face.     See  the  snare  and  avoid  it. 

Shall  we  ever  have  the  honour  of  seeing  you,  my  lady?  My  wife, 
who  joins  in  respectful  love  and  thanks  to  your  ladyship  for  your  re- 
membrance of  her,  says  she  will  do  her  best  to  render  our  cold  house 
safe  for  you  if  not  convenient.  You  would  have  had  a  repeated  invita- 
tion from  us,  if  fear  and  a  concern  for  your  health,  heightened  by  the  bad 
weather,  had  not  checked  our  desires  to  have  an  opportunity  of  assuring 
you  here  how  much  we  are  devoted  to  your  service.  But  the  roads  and 
the  weather  beginning  to  amend,  we  venture  to  offer  you  the  best  apart- 
ment in  our  hermitage.     I  wish  it  were  large  enough  to  take  in  dear 

Mrs.  G ,  and  our  dear  friends  in  St.  James'  Place ;  but  we  have 

only  two  small  rooms ;  to  which,  however,  you  would  be  received  with 
two  enlarged  hearts :  I  mean  those  of,  my  honoured  lady,  your  lady- 
ship's  obedient  devoted  servants,  J.  and  M.  Fletcher 


LXIX.— To  Mrs.  Dolier. 

Madeley,  Nov.,  1783. 
And  were  my  dear  brother  and  sister  Dolier  pleased  by  the  receipt 
of  a  letter  from  such  an  unworthy  worm  ?  O  that  I  could  convey  some 
word  from  the  mouth  of  my  adorable  Lord  to  your  hearts !  O  that  he 
would  permit  me,  his  poor  creature,  to  drop  a  sentence  which  may  prove 
an  encouragement  to  my  dear  friends  in  their  way !  You  ask,  "  Shall  I 
hope  to  obtain  the  clean  heart,  and  walk  in  purity  while  here  below  ?" 
Why  not  ?  "  Abraham  hoped  against  hope,  and  there  sprang  from  him, 
as  good  as  dead,  as  the  stars  of  the  heaven  for  multitude."  Does  un- 
belief say,  "  Thou  art  dead ;  thou  hast  outstayed  thy  day,  and  it  is  all 
over?"  Then  arise  out  of  the  dust,  rouse  up  all  your  powers,  "against 
hope  believe  in  hope,"  and  by  faith  receive  strength  to  apprehend  the 
fulness  of  God.  Remember,  Christ  is  in  "  your  faith  ;"  hold  faith  and 
you  hold  Christ.  If  you  know  not  how  to  get  hold  on  faith,  remember 
it  is  "  in  the  promise  :"  seek  for  a  promise,  and  lay  hold  there.  But  if 
you  cry  out,  "  I  see  the  links  of  the  chain  so  far  off,  that,  alas  !  I  cannot 
take  hold  on  the  promise ;  I  don't  know  which  is  for  me,  I  cannot  reach 
so  far :"  well,  don't  faint  yet ;  there  is  another  link  still  lower,  that  is  to 
say,  your  wants.  Can  you  be  sure  there  is  a  wound  within  ?  Are  you 
certain  you  are  a  sinner  ?  Well,  then,  reach  your  hand  hither,  "  I  came 
not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners."  Are  you  a  helpless  sinner?  "To 
them  who  have  no  might  he  increaseth  strength."  Are  you  an  ungrate- 
ful, backsliding  sinner  ?    Hear  him  say,  "  Thou  hast  played  the  harlot 


334  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

with  many  lovers;  but  return  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord;"  and  if  you 
doubt  whether  you  may  believe  for  a  great  measure  of  holiness ;  whether 
your  soul,  already  in  old  age  and  barren,  shall  believe  for  abundant  fruit- 
fulness ;  answer  yourself,  my  dear  friend,  from  that  word,  "  Whosoever 
will,  let  him  come,  and>  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  I  have  just  told 
Mrs.  Smyth  of  one  of  your  sisters  here,  once  a  deeper  unbeliever  than 
yourself,  but  now  quite  full  of  God ;  I  refer  you  to  her  letter.  O  my 
God,  in  mercy  let  thy  power  rest  on  thy  dear  servants !  Convey,  even 
by  this  poor  scrawl,  some  power  to  their  poor  hearts  ;  some  fresh  light 
into  the  mighty  chain  which  begins  with  man's  wickedness,  hangs  on 
God's  mercy  in  the  promises,  is  continued  by  faith  and  victory  springing 
therefrom,  and  ends  with  Christ's  fulness  becoming  all  in  all.  We  pray 
the  God  of  love  to  be  with  your  children,  and  all  who  meet  with  them. 
Tell  sister  Hammond  to  keep  hold  on  the  chain :  it  shall  draw  her  into 
the  holy  of  holies.  With  our  kindest  and  most  grateful  remembrance 
of  you  both,  we  remain  your  sincere,  but  unworthy  friends, 

J.  and  M.  Fletcher. 


LXX.— To  Mr.  Henry  Brooke. 

Maoeley,  April  27,  1784. 

My  Dear  Brother, — Mercy,  peace,  and  perfect  love  attend  you, 
your  dear  partner,  and  the  dear  friends  under  your  roof,  with  whom  I 
beg  you  may  abide  under  the  cross,  till,  with  John,  Mary,  and  Salome, 
&c,  you  all  can  say,  "  We  are  crucified  with  him,  and  the  life  we  now 
live,  we  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  us,  and  gave  him- 
self for  us." 

You  are  certainly  right  when  you  prefer  the  inward  to  the  outward : 
the  former  is  the  safer,  but  both  together  make  up  the  beauty  of  holiness. 
The  inward  life  may  be  compared  to  the  husband,  the  outward  to  the 
fruitful  wife  :  what  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man,  nor  even  angel, 
put  asunder. 

With  respect  to  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  "  it  is  at  hand,  whatever  false 
wisdom  and  unbelief  may  whisper  to  our  hearts  :  it  can  be  no  farther  off 
than  the  presence  of  Him  who  fills  all  in  all.  Our  wrong  notions  of 
things  are  a  main  hinderance  to  our  stepping  into  it :  and  perhaps  our 
minding  more  the  cherubim  of  glory  than  the  plain  tables  and  the  manna 
hid  in  the  ark."  "  There  is  a  passing,"  says  Bromley,  "  from  the  out- 
ward to  the  inward,  and  from  the  inward  to  the  inmost,  and  it  is  only 
from  the  inmost  that  we  can  see  the  Lord's  spiritual  glory."  Pray,  my 
dear  brother,  when  you  get  so  fixed  in  the  inmost,  as  not  to  lose  sight  of 
Him  who  dwells  in  the  light  and  in  the  thick  darkness,  may  we  share 
your  joy.     Love  will  make  me  partake  of  your  happiness. 

With  respect  to  what  you  say  of  the  kingdom  not  coming  with  out- 
ward pomp,  which  is  discoverable  by  the  men  of  the  world,  it  is  strictly 
true ;  but  that  there  is  an  inward  display  of  power  and  glory,  under 
pentecostal  Christianity,  is  undeniable,  both  from  our  Lord's  promises  to 
his  disciples,  and  from  their  experiences,  after  the  kingdom  was  come 
to  them  with  power.  It  is  sometimes  suggested  to  me  that,  as  the 
apostasy  hath  chiefly  consisted  in  going  after  the  pomp  of  the  whore  of 
Babylon,  so  that  while  the  woman,  who  fled  into  the  wilderness,  remains 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  365 

there  as  a  widow,  she  must  be  deprived  even  of  those  true  ornaments, 
and  of  that  spiritual  glory  which  was  bestowed  upon  her  on  the  day  of 
pentecost,  the  day  of  her  espousals.  I  do  not,  however,  close  in  with 
the  suggestion,  as  I  am  not  sure  that  it  cannot  come  from  Satan  trans- 
formed  into  an  angel  of  light  to  rob  me  of  a  bright  jewel  of  my  Christian 
hope.  To  wait  in  deep  resignation,  and  with  a  constant  attention  to  what 
the  Lord  will  please  to  do,  or  say,  concerning  us,  and  his  Church ;  and 
to  leave  to  him  the  times  and  the  seasons  is  what  I  am  chiefly  called  to 
do ;  taking  care  in  the  meanwhile  of  falling  into  either  ditch  :  I  mean  into 
speculation,  which  is  careless  of  action,  or  into  the  activity,  which  is 
devoid  of  spirituality.  I  would  not  have  a  lamp  without  oil,  and  I  could 
not  have  oil  without  a  lamp,  and  a  vessel  to  hold  it  in  for  myself,  and  to 
communicate  it  to  others. 

I  thank  you,  my  dear  friend,  for  the  books  you  have  sent  me.  My 
good  wishes  attend  your  brothers.  Fare  you  all  well  in  Christ :  so 
prays,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXI. — To  Mrs.  Greenwood. 

Madeley,  June  20,  1784. 
My  Dear  Friend, — I  shall  never  forget  the  mercy  which  the  living 
and  the  dead  have  showed  me  ;  but  the  sight  of  Mr.  Greenwood  in  his 
son,  has  brought  some  of  my  Newington  scenes  fresh  to  my  remem- 
brance, and  1  beg  leave  to  convey  my  tribute  of  thanks  back  by  his 
hands.  Thanks  !  thanks !  What,  nothing  but  words  ?  Here  is  my 
humbling  case  !  I  wish  to  requite  your  manifold  kindness,  but  I  cannot ; 
and  so  I  must  be  satisfied  to  be  ever  your  insolvent  debtor.  Nature  and 
'grace  do  not  love  it.  Proud  nature  lies  uneasy  under  great  obligations  ; 
and  thankful  grace  would  be  glad  to  put  something  in  the  scale  opposite 
to  that  which  you  have  filled  with  so  many  favours.  But  what  shall  I 
put?  I  wish  I  could  send  you  all  the  bank  of  England,  and  all  the 
Gospel  of  Christ ;  but  the  first  is  not  mine ;  and  the  second  is  already 
yours  ;  so  praying  the  Lord  Jesus  to  make  up  my  deficiencies  with  you, 
as  he  has  done  with  his  Father,  I  remain  your  still  unprofitable,  and  still 
obliged  Lazarus,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXIL— To  Mr.  John  Fennel. 

Madeley,  Nov.  28,  1784. 
Dear  John, — I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  think  of  a  better  world,  and  of 
the  better  part,  which  Mary  and  your  late  mother,  another  Mary,  chose 
before  you  ;  may  all  her  prayers,  but  above  all,  may  the  dew  of  heaven 
come  down  upon  your  soul  in  solemn  thoughts,  heavenly  desires,  and 
strong  resolutions  to  be  the  Lord's,  cost  what  it  will.  Let  the  language 
of  your  heart  and  lips  be,  at  any  rate,  "  I  will  be  a  follower  of  Christ ; 
yea,  a  member  of  his,  a  child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  A  noble  promise  this !  and  of  which  I  have  so  peculiar 
a  right  to  put  you  in  mind.  But  in  order  to  be  this  happy  and  holy  soul, 
you  must  not  forget  that  your  Christian  name,  your  Christian  vows,  and 
ten  thousand  reasons  beside,  bind  you  to  turn  your  back  upon  the  world, 


866  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

the  flesh,  and  the  devil ;  and  to  set  yourself  steadfastly  to  look  to  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  to  your  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier. 

My  dear  John,  you  have  no  time  to  lose :  we  have  calls  here  to  the 
young  without  end ;  they  die  fast.  I  lately  buried  two  brothers  and 
sisters  in  the  same  grave.  Be  you  also  ready !  I  was  some  nights  ago 
praying  for  you  on  my  bed,  in  my  sleepless  hours,  and  I  asked  for  you 
the  faith  of  righteous  Abel,  the  chastity  of  Joseph,  the  early  piety  of 
Samuel,  the  right  choice  of  young  Solomon,  the  self  denial  and  absti- 
nence of  Daniel,  together  with  the  zeal  and  undaunted  courage  of  his 
three  friends.  But  above  all,  I  asked  that  you  might  follow  John  the 
Baptist,  and  John  the  apostle,  as  they  followed  our  Lord.  Back, 
earnestly,  constantly  back  my  prayer.  So  shall  you  be  faithful,  diligent, 
and  godly ;  a  blessing  to  all  around  you ;  and  a  comfort  to  your  affec- 
tionate old  friend  and  minister,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXIII. — To  the  Right  Hon.  Lady  Mary  Fitzgerald. 

Madeley,  Feb.  11,  1785. 
Mercy,  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  be  multiplied  to  dear  Lady 
Mary,  and  to  all  who  are  dear  and  near  unto  her,  from  the  Father  of 
mercies,  through  the  Son  of  his  boundless  love,  and  through  the  Spirit 
of  infinite  love,  which  the  Father  breathes  continually  toward  the  Son, 
and  the  Son  toward  the  Father !  So  prays  John  Fletcher.  And  who 
are  we,  my  lady,  that  we  should  not  be  swallowed  up  by  this  holy, 
loving,  living  Spirit,  which  fills  heaven  and  earth  ?  If  we  could  exclude 
him  from  our  hearts,  we  might  vilely  set  up  self  in  opposition  to  him 
who  is  all  in  all.  But  whether  we  consider  or  not,  there  he  is,  a  true, 
holy,  loving,  merciful  God.  Assent  to  it,  my  lady ;  believe  it,  rejoice  in 
it.  Let  him  be  God  all  in  all ;  your  God  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  your 
brother,  who  is  flesh  of  your  flesh,  bone  of  your  bone  ;  your  surety,  who 
payeth  all  your  debt,  in  whom  the  Father  was  reconciling  you  and  us 
unto  himself,  and  in  whom  we  are  accepted.  What  an  ocean  of  love  to 
swim  in — to  dive  into !     Don't  be  afraid  to  venture  and  to  plunge  with 

all  yours ;  especially  our  dear  friends  in  St.  James'  Place,  Mrs.  G 

and  Mrs.  L ,  &c.     I  am,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXIV.— To  Mr.  Henry  Brooke. 

Madeley,  Feb.  28,  178o 
My  Dear  Brother, — I  am  now  led  to  be  afraid  of  that  in  my  nature, 
which  would  be  for  pomp,  show,  and  visible  glory.  I  am  afraid  of  fall- 
ing by  such  an  expectation  into  what  I  call  a  spiritual  judaizing ;  into  a 
looking  for  Christ's  coming  in  my  own  pompous  conceit,  which  might 
make  me  reject  him,  if  his  wisdom,  to  crucify  mine,  chose  to  come  in  a 
meaner  way;  and  if,  instead  of  coming  in  his  Father's  glory,  he  chose 
to  come  meek,  riding,  not  on  the  cherubim,  but  on  the  foal  of  an  ass. 
Our  Saviour  said,  with  respect  to  his  going  to  the  feast,  "  My  time  is  not 
yet  come."  Whether  his  time  to  come  and  turn  the  thieves  and  buyers 
out  of  the  outward  Church  is  yet  come,  I  know  not.  I  doubt  Jerusalem 
and  the  holy  place  are  yet  given  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  the  Gen  ■ 
tiles.     But  my  Jerusalem  !     Why  it  is  not  swallowed  up  of  the  glory  of 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  367 

that  which  comes  down  from  heaven,  is  a  question,  which  I  wait  to  be 
solved  by  the  teaching  of  that  great  prophet,  who  is  alone  possessed  of 
Urim  and  Thummim.  The  mighty  power  to  wrestle  with  him  is  all 
Divine ;  and  I  often  pray, 

That  mighty  faith  on  me  bestow, 

Which  cannot  ask  in  vain, 
Which  holds,  and  will  not  let  thee  go, 

Till  I  my  suit  obtain  : 
Till  thou  into  my  soul  inspire, 

That  perfect  love  unknown, 
And  tell  my  infinite  desire, 

"  Whate'er  thou  wilt,  be  done." 

In  short,  the  Lord  crucifies  my  wisdom  and  my  will  every  way ;  but 
I  must  be  crucified  as  the  thieves.  "All  my  bones  must  be  broken ;" 
for  there  is  still  in  me  that  impatience  of  wisdom,  which  would  stir, 
when  the  tempter  says,  "  Come  down  from  the  cross."  It  is  not  for  us 
to  know  the  times  and  seasons,  the  manner  and  mystical  means  of  God's 
working ;  but  only  to  hunger  and  thirst,  and  lie  passive  before  the  great 
Potter.  In  short,  I  begin  to  be  content  to  be  a  vessel  of  clay  or  of  wood, 
so  I  may  be  emptied  of  self,  and  filled  with  my  God,  my  all.  Do  not 
give  up  your  confident  hope :  it  saves  still  secretly,  and  hath  a  present, 
and,  by  and  by,  will  have  a  great  recompense  of  reward.  We  are 
vour  obliged  friends,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXV.— To  Mr.  Melville  Home. 

•    Madeley,  May  10,  1785. 

Dear  Brother, — I  am  sorry  you  should  have  been  uneasy  about  the 
books :  I  received  them  safely  after  they  had  lain  for  some  time  at  Sa- 
lop. I  seldom  look  into  any  book  but  my  Bible ;  not  out  of  contempt, 
as  if  I  thought  they  could  not  teach  me  what  I  do  not  know ;  but  be- 
cause "  Vita  brevis,  Ars  longa :"  I  may  never  look  into  either  of  them 
again. 

Go  on  improving  yourself  by  reading,  but  above  all  by  meditation  and 
prayer  :  and  allow  our  Lord  to  refine  you  in  the  fire  of  temptation. 
Where  you  see  a  want,  at  home  or  abroad,  within  or  without,  look  upon 
that  want  as  a  warning  to  avoid  the  cause  of  the  leanness  you  perceive, 
and  a  call  to  secure  the  blessings  which  are  ready  to  take  their  flight ; 
for  sometimes  true  riches,  like  those  of  this  world,  make  themselves 
wings  and  fly  away :  the  heavenly  dove  may  be  grieved  and  take  its 
flight  to  humbler  and  more  peaceful  roofs.  I  am  glad  you  do  not  want 
hard  or  violent  measures  :  I  hope  you  never  will  countenance  them,  no, 
not  against  what  you  dislike.  I  believe  things  will  turn  out  very  well 
at  the  conference,  and  I  shall  be  a  witness  of  it,  if  the  Lord  of  the  har- 
vest give  me  a  commission  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  order  and  quietness 
of  those  who  shall  be  there :  if  not,  I  shall  help  you  by  prayer  to  draw 
from  far  the  blessing  of  love  upon  our  friends. 

In  being  moderate,  humble,  and  truly  desirous  to  be  a  Christian,  that 
is,  to  be  the  least,  the  last,  and  the  servant  of  all,  we  avoid  running  our- 
selves into  difficulties,  we  escape  many  temptations  and  many  mortifying 
disappointments.     For  my  part,  as  I  expect  nothing  from  men,  they 


368  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

cannot  disappoint  me ;  and  as  I  expect  all  good  things  from  God,  in 
the  time,  way,  measure,  and  manner  it  pleaseth  him  to  bestow,  here  I 
cannot  be  disappointed,  because  he  does,  and  will  do  all  things  well. 

I  trust  you  labour  for  God  and  souls,  not  for  praise  and  self.  When 
the  latter  are  our  aim,  God,  in  mercy,  blesses  us  with  barrenness,  that 
we  may  give  up  Barabbas,  and  release  the  humble  Jesus,  whom  we 
crucify  afresh  by  setting  the  thief  on  the  throne,  and  the  Lord  of  glory 
at  our  footstool :  for  so  do  those  who  preach  Christ  out  of  contention, 
or  that  they  may  have  the  praise  of  men.  That  God  may  bless  you 
and  your  labours,  is  the  prayer  of  your  old  brother,       J.  Fletcher. 


LXXVI.— To  Mr.  John  Wesley. 

Tern,  Nov.  24,  1756. 

Rev.  Sir, — As  I  look  upon  you  as  my  spiritual  guide,  and  cannot 
doubt  of  your  patience  to  hear,  and  your  experience  to  answer  a  ques- 
tion proposed  by  one  of  your  people,  I  freely  lay  my  case  before  you. 

Since  the  first  time  I  began  to  feel  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  my 
soul,  which  was,  I  think,  at  seven  years  of  age,  I  resolved  to  give  my- 
self  up  to  him,  and  to  the  service  of  his  Church,  if  ever  I  was  fit  for  it; 
but  the  corruption  which  was  in  the  world,  and  that  which  was  in  my 
heart,  soon  weakened,  if  not  erased  those  first  characters  which  grace 
had  written  upon  it.  However,  I  went  through  my  studies,  with  a  de- 
sign of  going  into  orders  ;  but  afterward,  upon  serious  reflection,  feeling 
I  was  unequal  to  so  great  a  burden,  and  disgusted  by  the  necessity  I 
should  be  under  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  I  yielded 
to  the  desire  of  my  friends  who  would  have  me  to  go  into  the  army : 
but  just  before  I  was  quite  engaged  in  a  military  employment,  I  met 
with  such  disappointments  as  occasioned  my  coming  to  England.  Here 
I  was  called  outwardly  three  times  to  go  into  orders ;  but  upon  praying 
to  God,  that  if  those  calls  were  not  from  him  they  might  come  to  no- 
thing, something  always  blasted  the  designs  of  my  friends ;  and  in  this 
I  have  often  admired  the  goodness  of  God,  who  prevented  my  rushing 
into  that  important  employment,  as  the  horse  into  the  battle.  I  never 
was  more  thankful  for  this  favour,  than  since  I  heard  the  Gospel  in  its 
purity.  Before,  I  had  been  afraid,  but  then  I  trembled  to  meddle  with 
holy  things ;  and  resolved  to  work  out  my  salvation  privately,  without 
engaging  in  a  way  of  life,  which  required  so  much  more  grace  and  gifts 
than  I  was  conscious  I  possessed ;  yet,  from  time  to  time,  I  felt  warm 
and.  strong  desires  to  cast  myself  and  my  inability  on  the  Lord,  if  I 
should  be  called  any  more,  knowing  that  he  could  help  me,  and  show  his 
strength  in  my  weakness :  and  these  desires  were  increased  by  some 
little  success  which  attended  my  exhortations  and  letters  to  my  friends. 

I  think  it  necessary  to  let  you  know,  sir,  that  my  patron  often  desired 
me  to  take  orders,  and  said  he  would  soon  help  me  to  a  living ;  to  which 
I  coldly  answered,  I  was  not  fit,  and  that,  beside,  I  did  not  know  how  to 
get  a  title.  The  thing  was  in  that  state,  when,  about  six  weeks  ago,  a 
gentleman  I  hardly  knew,  offered  me  a  living,  which,  in  all  probability, 
will  be  vacant  soon  ;  and  a  clergyman  I  never  spoke  to  gave  me,  of  his 
own  accord,  the  title  of  curate  to  one  of  his  livings.  Now,  sir,  the 
question  which  I  beg  you  to  decide  is,  whether  I  must  and  can  make 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  30 [) 

use  of  that  title  to  get  into  orders  1  For,  with  respect  to  the  living, 
were  it  vacant,  I  have  no  mind  to  it ;  because  I  think  I  could  preach 
with  more  fruit  in  my  native  country,  and  in  my  own  tongue. 

I  am  in  suspense.  On  one  side,  my  heart  tells  me  I  must  try,  and  it 
tells  me  so  whenever  I  feel  any  degree  of  the  love  of  God  and  man ; 
on  the  other,  when  I  examine  whether  I  am  fit  for  it,  I  so  plainly  see  my 
want  of  gifts,  and  especially  of  that  soul  of  all  the  labours  of  a  minister, 
— love,  continual,  universal,  flaming  love,  that  my  confidence  disappears ; 
I  accuse  myself  of  pride  to  dare  to  entertain  the  desire  of  supporting 
one  day  the  ark  of  God,  and  conclude,  that  an  extraordinary  punish- 
ment will,  sooner  or  later,  overtake  my  rashness.  As  I  am  in  both  of 
these  frames  successively,  I  must  own.  sir,  I  do  not  see  which  of  these 
two  ways  before  me  I  can  take  with  safety ;  and  I  shall  gladly  be  ruled 
by  you  ;  because,  I  trust,  God  will  direct  you  in  giving  me  the  advice 
you  think  will  best  conduce  to  his  glory,  which  is  the  only  thing  I  would 
have  in  view  in  this  affair.  I  know  how  precious  your  time  is,  and  de- 
sire no  long  answer, — persist  or  forbear,  will  satisfy  and  influence,  Rev. 
sir,  your  unworthy  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXVIL— To  Miss  Hatton. 

Madeley,  Nov.  1,  1762. 

Madam, — I  thank  you  for  the  confidence  you  repose  in  the  advice  of 
a  poor  fellow  sinner.  May  the  Father  of  lights  direct  you  through  so 
vile  an  instrument !  If  you  build  all  your  hopes  of  heaven  upon  Jesus 
Christ  in  all  his  offices,  you  do  not  build  without  a  foundation,  but  upon 
the  true  one. 

That  there  is  a  seal  of  pardon,  and  an  earnest  of  our  inheritance 
above,  which  you  are  as  yet  a  stranger  to,  seems  clear  from  the  tenor  of 
your  letter ;  but  had  I  been  in  the  place  of  the  gentleman  you  mention, 
I  would  have  endeavoured  to  lay  it  before  you,  as  the  fruit  of  faith,  and 
a  most  glorious  privilege,  rather  than  as  the  root  of  faith,  and  a  thing 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  being  of  it. 

I  believe  many  people  know  when  they  receive  faith,  and  all  peo- 
ple when  they  receive  the  seal  of  their  pardon  :  when  they  believe 
in  Christ  they  are  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  and  when  they  are  sealed 
by  the  Spirit,  they  are  fully  assured  of  that  justification  in  their  own 
conscience.  Some  receive  faith  and  the  seal  of  their  pardon  in  the  same 
instant,  as  the  jailer,  &c  ;  but  most  receive  faith  first,  as  the  dying  thief, 
the  woman  of  Canaan,  David,  the  people  of  Samaria,  Acts  viii,  12,  16, 
and  the  faithful  at  Ephesus,  Eph.  i,  13.  Suppose,  then,  God  gave  you 
faith,  i.  e.  a  hearty  trust  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  a  sincere  closing 
with  him,  as  your  righteousness  and  your  all,  while  you  received  the 
sacrament,  (which  seems  to  me  very  probable,  by  the  account  you  give 
me,)  your  way  is  exceedingly  plain  before  you.  Hold  fast  your  confi- 
dence, but  do  not  trust  nor  rest  in  it  ;  trust  in  Christ,  and  remember  he 
says,  I  am  the  way  ;  not  for  you  to  stop,  but  to  run  on  in  him.  Rejoice 
to  hear  that  there  is  a  full  assurance  of  faith  to  be  obtained  by  the  seal 
of  God's  Spirit,  and  go  on  from  faith  to  faith,  until  you  are  possessed  of 
it.     But  remember  this,  and  let  this  double  advice  prevent  your  straying 

Vol.  IV.  24 


370  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

to  the  right  or  left :  first,  that  you  will  have  reason  to  suspect  the  sin- 
cerity  of  your  zeal,  if  you  lie  down  easy  without  the  seal  of  your  pardon, 
and  the  full  assurance  of  your  faith.  Secondly,  while  you  wait  for  that 
seal  in  all  the  means  of  grace,  beware  of  being  unthankful  for  the  least 
degree  of  faith  and  confidence  in  Jesus  ;  beware  of  burying  one  talent, 
because  you  have  not  five  ;  beware  of  despising  the  grain  of  mustard 
seed,  because  it  is  not  yet  a  tree. 

May  the  Lord  teach  you  the  middle  path,  between  resting  short 
of  the  happiness  of  making  your  calling  and  election  sure,  and  suppos- 
ing you  are  neither  called  nor  chosen,  and  that  God  hath  not  yet  truly 
begun  the  work.  You  can  never  be  too  bold  in  believing,  provided  you 
aspire  still  after  new  degrees  of  faith,  and  do  not  use  your  faith  as  a 
cloak  for  sin.  The  Lord  despises  not  the  day  of  small  things  ;  only 
beware  of  resting  in  small  things,  and  look  for  the  seal  and  abiding  wit- 
ness of  God's  Spirit,  according  to  the  following  direction  : — 

Restless,  resign'd,  for  this  I  wait, 
For  this  my  vehement  soul  stands  still. 

As  to  deep  sights  of  the  evil  of  sin,  the  more  you  go  on  the  more 
you  will  see  Christ  exceeding  lovely,  and  sin  exceeding  sinful :  therefore 
look  up  to  Jesus,  as  a  vile  and  helpless  sinner,  pleading  his  promises : 
this  is  going  on,  and  trust  him  for  the  rest. 

With  respect  to  myself,  in  many  conflicts  and  troubles  of  soul  I  have 
consulted  many  masters  of  the  spiritual  life  ;  but  Divine  mercy  did  not, 
does  not,  suffer  me  to  rest  upon  the  word  of  a  fellow  creature.  The 
best  advices  have  often  increased  my  perplexities ;  and  the  end  was  to 
make  me  cease  from  human  dependence,  and  wait  upon  God  from  the 
dust  of  self  despair.  To  him,  therefore,  I  desire  to  point  you  and  myself, 
in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  incarnate  God  receives  weary, 
perplexed  sinners  still,  and  gives  them  solid  rest.  He  teaches  as  no 
man  ever  taught;  his  words  have  spirit  and  life;  nor  can  he  possibly 
mistake  our  case.  I  am,  madam,  your  fellow  servant  in  the  patience 
and  kingdom  of  Jesus,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXVIIL— To  Miss  Ireland. 

Madeley,  Dec.  5,  1768. 

My  Dear  afflicted  Friend, — I  hear  you  are  returned  from  the 
last  journey  you  took  in  search  of  bodily  health.  Your  heavenly  Father 
sees  fit  to  deny  it  you,  not  because  he  hateth  you,  "  for  whom  the  Lord 
loveth  he  chasteneth,"  but  because  health  and  life  might  be  fatal  snares 
to  your  soul,  out  of  which  you  could  not  escape,  but  by  tedious  illness, 
and  an  early  death.  Who  knows  also,  whether  by  all  you  have  suffered, 
and  still  suffer,  our  gracious  Lord  does  not  intend  to  kill  you  to  the  flesh 
and  to  the  world,  and  both  to  you  ?  Beside,  our  hearts  are  so  stupid, 
and  our  insensibility  so  great,  that  the  Father  of  our  spirits  sees  it 
necessary  to  put  some  of  his  sharpest  and  longest  thorns  into  our  flesh, 
to  make  us  go  to  our  dear  Jesus  for  the  balmy  graces  of  his  Spirit. 

I  believe  some  are  driven  out  of  all  the  refuges  of  crafty  and  indolent 
nature,  only  by  the  nearest  and  last  approaches  of  that  faithful  minister 
and  servant  of  Christ, — Death.     Of  this  I  had  a  remarkable  instance 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  371 

no  later  than  last  Monday,  when  God  took  to  himself  one  of  my  poor 
afflicted  parishioners,  a  boy  of  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  was  turned  out 
of  the  infirmary  two  years  ago  as  incurable.  From  that  time  he  grew 
weaker  every  day  by  the  running  of  a  wound  ;  but  his  poor  soul  did  not 
gather  strength.  In  many  respects  one  would  have  thought  his  afflic- 
tions were  lost  upon  him.  He  seemed  to  rest  more  in  his  sufferings,  and 
his  patience  under  them,  than  in  the  Saviour's  blood  and  righteousness. 
Being  worn  to  a  skeleton,  he  took  to  his  death  bed  ;  where  I  found  him 
the  week  before  last,  with  his  candle  burning  in  the  socket,  and  no  oil 
seemingly  in  the  vessel.  I  spent  an  hour  in  setting  before  him  the 
greatness  of  his  guilt  in  this  respect,  that  he  had  been  so  long  under  the 
rod  of  God,  and  had  not  been  whipt  out  of  his  careless  unbelief  to  the 
bosom  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  fell  under  the  conviction,  confessed  that 
particular  guilt,  and  began  to  call  on  the  Lord  with  all  the  earnestness 
his  dying  frame  would  allow.  This  was  on  the  Wednesday  ;  and,  on 
the  Wednesday  following,  the  God,  who  delivers  those  that  are  appointed 
to  die,  set  one  of  his  feet  upon  the  rock,  and  the  next  Sunday  the  other. 
He  had  chiefly  used  that  short  petition  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  "  Thy  king- 
dom  come ;"  and  spent  his  last  hours  in  testifying,  as  his  strength  would 
allow,  that  the  kingdom  was  come,  and  he  was  going  to  the  King ;  to 
whom  he  invited  his  joyful,  mournful  mother  to  make  the  best  of  her 
way  after  him.  Five  or  six  days  before  his  death,  my  wicked,  unbe- 
lieving heart  might  have  said,  To  what  purpose  hath  God  afflicted  so 
long  and  so  heavily  this  poor  worm  ?  But  the  Lord  showed  that  he 
had  been  all  that  while  driving  ihe  spear  of  consideration  and  conviction, 
till  at  last  it  touched  him  in  a  sensible  part,  and  made  him  cry  to  the 
Saviour  in  earnest.  And  whoever  called  upon  him  in  vain  ?  No  one. 
Not  even  that  poor  indolent  collier  boy,  who  for  two  years  would  not  so 
much  as  cross  the  way  to  hear  me  preach.  Yet  how  good  was  the 
Lord !  because  his  body  was  too  weak  to  bear  any  terrors  in  his  mind, 
he  showed  him  mercy  without.  The  moment  I  heard  him  pray  and  saw 
him  feel  after  a  Saviour,  my  fears  on  his  account  vanished  ;  and  though 
he  had  not  been  suffered  to  testify  so  clearly  of  God's  kingdom,  yet  I 
should  have  had  a  joyful  hope  that  God  had  taken  him  home. 

Like  the  poor  youth  and  myself  you  have  but  one  enemy,  my  dear 
friend, — an  indolent,  unbelieving  heart ;  but  the  Lord  hath  driven  it  to  a 
corner,  to  make  you  cry  to  him,  who  hath  been  waiting  at  the  door  all 
these  years  of  trouble,  to  bring  you  pardon,  peace,  and  eternal  life,  in 
the  midst  of  the  pangs  of  bodily  death  :  Jesus  is  his  name.  Salvation 
and  love  are  his  nature.  He  is  the  Father  of  eternity ; — your  Father 
of  course.  All  the  love  that  is  in  Mrs.  Ireland's  breast,  is  nothing  to 
the  abyss  of  love  that  is  in  your  Creator's  heart.  A  mother  may  forget 
her  sucking  child,  "  but  I  will  not  forget  thee,"  says  he  to  every  poor 
distressed  soul  that  claims  his  help. 

O  fear  not,  my  friend,  to  say  I  will  arise  and  go  to  this  Father,  though 
I  have  sinned  greatly  against  heaven  and  in  his  sight.  Lo  he  rises  and 
runs  to  meet  and  embrace  you.  He  hath  already  met  you  in  the  vir- 
gin's womb ;  there  he  did  so  cleave  to  your  flesh  and  spirit  that  he 
assumed  both,  and  wears  them  as  a  pledge  of  love  to  you.  Claim  in 
return,  claim  as  you  can  his  blood  and  Spirit.     Both  are  now  the  pro- 


372  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

perty  of  every  dying  sinner  that  is  not  above  receiving  by  faith  the 
unspeakable  gift. 

Your  father  has  crossed  the  sea  for  you ;  Jesus  has  done  more :  he 
hath  crossed  the  abyss  that  lies  between  heaven  and  earth,  between  the 
Creator  and  the  creature.  He  has  waded  through  the  sea  of  his  tears, 
blood,  and  agonies,  not  to  take  you  to  the  physicians  at  Montpelier,  but 
to  become  your  Physician  and  Saviour  himself;  to  support  you  under 
all  your  bodily  tortures,  to  sanctify  all  your  extremities,  and  to  heal 
your  soul  by  his  multiplied  stripes.  Your  father  has  spared  no  expense 
to  restore  you  to  health ;  but  Jesus,  who  wants  you  in  your  prime,  hath 
spared  no  blood  in  his  veins  to  wash  you  from  your  sins,  write  your 
pardon,  and  seal  your  title  to  glory. 

0  my  friend,  delay  not  cheerfully  to  surrender  yourself  to  this  good 
Shepherd.  He  will  gladly  lay  you  on  the  arm  of  his  power,  torn  as 
you  are  with  the  bruises  of  sin  and  disease,  and  will  carry  you  tri- 
umphantly to  his  heavenly  sheepfold.  Look  not  at  your  sins  without 
beholding  his  blood  and  righteousness.  Eye  not  death  but  to  behold, 
through  that  black  door,  your  gracious  Saviour,  saying,  "  Fear  not,  O 
thou  of  little  faith  ;  wherefore  dost  thou  doubt  ?"  Consider  not  eternity 
but  as  the  place  where  you  are  going  to  enter  with  the  Bridegroom  of 
souls,  and  rest  from  all  your  sins  and  miseries.  View  not  the  condemn- 
ing law  of  God,  but  as  made  honourable  by  Him,  who  was  a  curse  for 
you,  and  bore  the  malediction  of  the  law,  by  hanging,  bleeding,  and 
dying  on  the  cursed  tree,  in  your  place.  If  you  think  of  hell,  let  it  be 
to  put  you  in  mind  to  believe  that  the  blood  of  God  incarnate  hath 
quenched  its  devouring  flames.  If  you  have  no  comfort,  mistrust  not 
Jesus  on  that  account  ;  on  the  contrary,  take  advantage  from  it  to  give 
greater  glory  to  God,  by  believing,  as  Abraham,  in  hope  against  hope. 
And  let  this  be  your  greatest  comfort,  that  Jesus,  who  had  all  faith  and 
patience,  cried  out  for  you  in  his  dying  moments,  "  My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  As  your  strength  will  bear  exertion,  and 
his  grace  apprehended  will  allow,  surrender  yourself  constantly  to  him 
as  the  purchase  of  his  blood,  and  invite  him  earnestly  to  you,  as  a  poor 
worm,  perishing  without  him.  In  this  simple,  Gospel  way,  wait  the 
Lord's  leisure,  and  he  will  comfort  your  heart.  He  will  make  all  his 
goodness  to  pass  before  you  here,  or  take  you  hence  to  show  you  what 
you  could  not  bear  in  flesh  and  blood,  the  direct  beams  of  the  uncreated 
beauty  of  your  heavenly  Spouse. 

1  hope  you  take  care  to  have  little  or  nothing  else  mentioned  to  and 
about  you  but  his  praises  and  promises.  Your  tongue  and  ears  are 
going  to  be  silent  in  the  grave ; — now,  or  never,  use  them  to  hear  and 
speak  good  of  his  name.  Comfort  your  weeping  friends.  Reprove 
the  backsliders.  Encourage  seekers.  Water  and  you  shall  be  watered. 
Death  upon  you,  makes  you  through  Christ  a  mother  in  Israel.  Arise 
as  Deborah.  Remember  the  praying,  believing,  preaching,  though 
dying  thief.  And  be  not  afraid  to  drop  a  word  for  him  who  openeth  a 
fountain  of  blood  for  you  in  his  dying,  tortured  body.  Suffer,  live,  die 
at  his  feet,  and  you  will  soon  revive,  sing,  and  reign  in  his  bosom  for 
evermore.     Farewell  in  the  Conqueror  of  death,  and  Prince  of  life. 

J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  373 

LXXIX. — To  Lady  Huntingdon. 

Madeley,  Jan.  3,  1768. 
My  Lady, — A  thousand  thanks  to  your  ladyship  for  the  letter  you 
were  so  kind  as  to  favour  me  with  ;  it  relieved  me,  in  a  great  measure, 
of  the  fears  I  had  concerning  your  health.  Blessed  be  our  God  who 
spares  you  to  see  the  beginning  of  a  new  year,  and  to  fill  up  the  space 
of  it  with  inward  acts  of  faith  and  love  toward  Him  who  did  not  abhor 
the  virgin's  womb  and  outward  attempts  to  promote  every  where  the 
savour  of  his  knowledge.  May  the  child  born,  and  the  Son  given,  show 
himself  more  abundantly  than  ever  to  be  wonderful  in  his  works  and 
ways  with  regard  to  your  ladyship's  soul  and  projects !  May  you  find 
him  turning  this  year  into  a  Christian  jubilee  wherever  his  providence 
shall  direct  your  steps ;  and  may  your  very  enemies  be  forced  to  con- 
fess that  the  mighty  God  and  the  Prince  of  Peace  is  your  sun,  shield,  and 
exceeding  great  reward.  What  this  year  may  bring  forth  who  knows  ? 
This,  however,  we  know  ; — all  will  be  welcome  that  he  shall  be  pleased 
to  appoint ;  and  nothing  will  befall  us  but  by  his  appointment,  for  the 
very  hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered.  With  what  angelic  peace 
and  martyr-like  intrepidity  ought  this  consideration  to  inspire  us !  O 
for  more  faith  to  persevere,  as  seeing  the  invisible,  as  carrying  this 
Saviour  in  arms  of  love  with  the  sensibility  of  exulting  Simeon  !  I  am 
through  mercy  in  some  feeble  manner  penetrated  with  a  sense  of  the 
necessity  of  abandoning  myself  to  the  holy  child  Jesus,  as  a  worthless 
mite  toward  the  reward  of  his  humiliation.  If  the  Word  was  made 
flesh ;  if  the  Most  High  exchanged  his  throne  for  a  manger,  his  heaven 
for  a  stable,  and  his  transcendent  majesty  for  the  apparent  feebleness  of 
an  infant,  good  God,  into  what  abyss  of  shame  and  humility  should  I 
plunge  myself!  Methinks,  if  my  eyes  were  truly  opened  to  see  this 
mystery  of  godliness,  I  should  instantly  be  dissolved  into  tears  of  aston- 
ishment and  love.  O  pray  for  me,  insensible  me,  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  teach  me  to  sound  the  depths  of  incarnate  love,  or  at  least  to  lose 
myself  in  their  immensity  together  with  your  ladyship.  It  is  an  ocean 
without  bottom.  May  we  fall  into  it  every  moment,  as  insignificant 
drops  of  gall,  to  be  absorbed  in  those  pure  and  mighty  waters.  There 
the  mountains  of  our  iniquities,  and  the  valleys  of  our  deficiencies,  are 
more  effectually  covered«than  the  highest  mountains  were  by  the  waters 
of  the  flood.  Our  temptations,  transgressions,  losses,  and  pains,  are  lost 
here  like  drops  or  showers  in  the  sea.  We  are  in  this  sea ;  it  fills 
heaven  and  earth  ;  and  if  we  meet  now  and  then  in  it  with  a  dash  against 
the  rock  of  adversity,  or  a  storm  from  the  boisterous  winds  of  tempta- 
tion, it  is  only  to  make  our  scum  go  from  us  as  Isaiah  says.  Welcome 
then  even  contrary  winds;  they  are  in  reality  favourable.  Some  will 
no  doubt  blow  upon  your  ladyship  from  that  little  point  of  the  compass, 
Trevecka;  but  the  Lord  hath  them  in  his  hands;  fear  not,  the  govern- 
ment is  still  upon  his  shoulders.  I  thank  your  ladyship  for  having 
recommended  me  to  Easterbrook.  I  hope  he  "will  be  the  captain  of  the 
school,  and  a  great  help  to  the  master  as  well  as  a  spur  to  the  students. 
He  hath  good  parts,  a  most  happy  memory,  and  a  zeal  that  would  glad- 
den your  ladyship's  heart.  He  has  preached  no  less  than  four  times 
to-day ;  and  seems  indeed  in  his  own  element  when  he  is  seeking  after 


374  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  He  is  employed  every  evening  in 
the  work  of  the  Lord  ;  and  I  give  him  the  more  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise his  talent,  as  it  appears  he  does  it  far  better  than  I.  I  beg  two 
things  for  him  ;  first,  that  it  may  hold  ;  secondly,  that  he  may  be  kept 
humble.  He  would  at  first  live  upon  potatoes  and  water ;  but  finding  it 
may  impair  his  health,  I  have  got  him  to  table  with  me,  and  shall  gladly 
pay  his  board ;  he  works  for  me,  and  the  workman  is  worthy  of  his 
hire.  Our  young  collier  seems  a  little  discouraged  with  regard  to  the 
hopes  of  his  being  admitted  one  of  your  students ;  he  thinks  he  stands  no 
chance  if  all  must  be  qualified  as  he  is.  With  regard  to  books,  I  am  in 
doubt  what  to  write  to  your  ladyship.  Having  studied  abroad,  and  used 
rather  foreign  than  English  books  with  my  pupils,  I  am  not  acquainted 
with  the  books  Great  Britain  affords  well  enough  to  select  the  best  and 
most  concise.  Beside,  a  plan  of  studies  must  be  fixed  upon  first  before 
proper  books  can  be  chosen.  Grammar,  logic,  rhetoric,  with  eccle- 
siastical history,  and  a  little  natural  philosophy  and  geography,  with  a 
great  deal  of  practical  divinity,  will  be  sufficient  for  those  who  do  not 
care  to  dive  into  languages.  Mr.  Townsend  and  C.  Wesley  might,  by 
spending  an  hour  together,  make  a  proper  choice,  and  I  would  recom- 
mend them  not  to  forget  Watts'  Logic,  and  his  History  of  the  Bible,  by 
questions  and  answers,  which  seem  to  me  excellent  books  of  the  kind  for 
clearness  and  order.  Mr.  Wesley's  Natural  Philosophy  contains  as 
much  as  is  wanted,  or  more.  Mason's  Essay  on  Pronunciation  will  be 
worth  their  attention.  Henry  and  Gill  on  the  Bible,  with  the  four 
volumes  of  Baxter's  Practical  Works,  Reach's  Metaphors,  Taylor  on 
the  Types,  printed  at  Trevecka,  Gurnal's  Christian  Armour,  Edwards 
on  Preaching,  Johnson's  English  Dictionary,  and  Mr.  Wesley's  Chris- 
tian Library,  may  make  part  of  the  little  library.  The  book  of  Baxter  I 
mention,  I  shall  take  care  to  send  to  Trevecka,  as  a  mite  toward  the  col- 
lection, together  with  Usher's  Body  of  Divinity,  Scapula's  Greek  Lexicon, 
and  Littleton's  Latin  Dictionary. 

With  regard  to  those  who  propose  to  learn  Latin  and  Greek,  the  mas- 
ter your  ladyship  will  appoint  may  choose  to  follow  his  particular  method. 
Mr.  Wesley's  books  printed  for  the  use  of  Christian  youths,  seem  to  me 
short  and  proper,  and  their  expense  less,  which,  I  suppose,  should  be  con- 
sulted. Two  or  three  dictionaries  of  Bailey  or  Dyke,  for  those  who 
learn  English,  with  two  or  three  Cole's  dictionaries,  Screvelius'  and 
Pasor's,  for  those  who  will  learn  Latin  and  Greek,  may  be  a  sufficient 
stock  at  first. 

The  woman  I  mentioned  died  as  happy,  I  trust,  as  I  described  her ; 
but  she  remained  speechless  some  days  through  the  violence  of  her  dis- 
order. Another  I  buried  the  same  week,  who  died  as  triumphant  as 
Mr.  Janaway.  God  prepare  us  for  that  solemn  change !  Mr.  Easter- 
brook  joins  me  in  duty  to  your  ladyship.     We  have  rejoiced  greatly 

together  at  the  opening  made  by  the  death  of  Lord  B ,  for  the 

spreading  of  the  Gospel :  may  many  enter  in  at  that  door,  and  especially 
all  the  relations  he  hath  ieft  behind.  Mr.  James  Stillingrleet  is  presented 
by  Mr.  Hill  to  the  living  of  Shawbury,  eight  miles  from  Shrewsbury, 
and  twenty  from  here.  I  thank  the  Lord  for  this  fellow  helper.  My 
Christian  respects  wait  upon  all  that  love  Jesus  about  your  ladyship.  I 
am  your  ladyship's  unworthy  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  375 


LXXX. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Dec.  30,  1769. 

My  Dear  Fkiend, — Last  night  I  received  your  obliging  letter,  and 
am  ready  to  accompany  you  to  Montpelier,  provided  you  will  go  with 
me  to  Nyon.  I  shall  raise  about  twenty  guineas,  and  with  that  sum,  a 
gracious  Providence,  and  your  purse,  I  hope  we  shall  want  for  nothing : 
if  the  Lord  sends  me,  I  should  want  nothing,  though  I  had  nothing,  and 
though  my.  fellow  traveller  was  no  richer  than  myself. 

I  hope  to  be  at  Bristol  soon,  to  offer  you  my  services  to  pack  up.  You 
desired  to  have  a  Swiss  servant,  and  1  offer  myself  to  you  in  that  capacity ; 
for  I  shall  be  no  more  ashamed  of  serving  you,  as  far  as  I  am  capable 
of  doing  it,  than  I  am  of  wearing  your  livery. 

Two  reasons  (to  say  nothing  of  the  pleasure  of  your  company)  engage 
me  to  go  with  you  to  Montpelier ;  a  desire  to  visit  some  poor  Hugonots 
in  the  south  of  France,  and  the  need  I  have  to  recover  a  little  French, 
before  I  go  to  converse  with  my  compatriots. 

The  priest  at  Madeley  is  going  to  open  his  mass  house,  and  I  have 
declared  last  Sunday,  that  I  propose  to  strip  the  whore  of  Babylon,  and 
expose  her  nakedness  to-morrow.  All  the  Papists  are  in  a  great  ferment, 
and  they  have  held  meetings  to  consult  on  the  occasion.  One  of  their 
bloody  bullies  came  to  "  pick  up,"  as  he  said,  a  quarrel  with  me,  and 
what  would  have  been  the  consequence  had  not  I  providentially  had  com- 
pany  with  me  I  know  not.  How  far  more  their  rage  may  be  kindled 
to-morrow,  I  don't  know :  but  I  question  whether  it  will  be  right  for  me 
to  leave  the  field  in  these  circumstances.  I  forgot  to  mention  that  two  of 
our  poor  ignorant  Churchmen  are  going  to  join  the  mass  house,  which 
is  the  cause  of  my  having  taken  up  arms  also.     Farewell.     Yours, 

J.  Fletcher 


LXXXI. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Trevecka,  Jan.  13,  1770. 

My  Dear  Frieivd, — I  know  not  what  to  think  of  our  journey.  My 
heart  frequently  recoils.  I  have  lost  all  hopes  of  being  able  to  preach 
in  French,  and  I  think  if  I  could  they  would  not  permit  me.  I  become 
more  stupid  every  day ;  my  memory  fails  me  in  a  surprising  manner. 
I  am  good  for  nothing  but  to  go  and  bury  myself  in  my  parish.  I  have 
those  touches  of  misanthropy  which  make  solitude  my  element :  judge, 
then,  whether  I  am  fit  to  go  into  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  I  fear 
that  your  journey  is  undertaken  partly  from  complaisance  to  me,  and  in 
consequence  of  the  engagement  we  made  to  go  together.  I  acquit  you  of 
your  promise,  and  if  your  business  does  not  really  demand  your  presence 
in  France,  I  beg  you  will  not  think  of  going  there  on  my  account.  The 
bare  idea  of  giving  you  trouble  would  make  the  journey  ten  times  more 
disagreeable  to  me  than  the  season  of  the  year. 

The  day  after  I  wrote  to  you  I  preached  the  sermons  against  popery, 
which  I  had  promised  to  my  people :  and  Mr.  S— t — r  called  out  seve. 
ral  times  in  the  church  yard  as  the  people  went  out  of  church,  that 
"  there  was  not  one  word  of  truth  in  the  whole  of  my  discourse,  and  that 


376  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

he  would  prove  it,"  and  told  me  that  "  he  would  produce  a  gentleman 
who  should  answer  my  sermon,  and  the  pamphlet  I  had  distributed."  I 
was  therefore  obliged  to  declare  in  the  church,  that  I  should  not  quit 
England,  and  was  only  going  into  Wales,  from  whence  I  would  return 
soon  to  reply  to  the  answer  of  Mr.  S — t — r  and  the  priest,  if  they  should 
offer  any.  I  am  thus  obliged  to  return  to  Madeley  by  my  word  so  pub- 
licly pledged,  as  well  as  to  raise  a  little  money  for  my  journey.  Were 
it  not  for  these  circumstances,  I  believe  I  should  pay  you  a  visit  at  Bris- 
tol, notwithstanding  my  misanthropy. 

The  hamper,  which  you  mention,  and  for  which  I  thank  you,  provided 
it  be  the  last,  arrived  three  days  before  my  departure ;  but  not  knowing 
what  it  was,  nor  for  whom  it  was  intended,  I  put  it  in  my  cellar  without 
opening  it.  I  want  the  living  water  rather  than  cider,  and  righteous- 
ness more  than  clothes.  I  fear,  however,  lest  my  unbelief  should  make 
me  set  aside  the  fountain  whence  it  flows,  as  I  did  your  hamper.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  is  high  time  to  open  the  treasures  of  Divine  mercy,  and 
to  seek  in  the  heart  of  Jesus  for  the  springs  of  love,  righteousness,  and 
life.  The  Lord  give  us  grace  so  to  seek  that  we  may  find,  and  be 
enabled  to  say,  with  the  woman  in  the  Gospel,  "  I  have  found  the  piece 
of  silver  which  I  had  lost." 

If  your  affairs  do  not  really  call  you  to  France,  I  will  wait  until  Provi- 
dence and  grace  shall  open  a  way  for  me  to  the  mountains  of  Switzer- 
land, if  I  am  ever  to  see  them  again.  Adieu.  Give  yourself  wholly  to 
God.  A  divided  heart,  like  a  divided  kingdom,  falls  naturally  by  its 
own  gravity,  either  into  darkness  or  into  sin.  My  heart's  desire  is,  that 
the  love  of  Jesus  may  fill  your  soul,  and  that  of  your  unworthy  and 
greatly  obliged  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXIL— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Jan.,  1775. 

My  Very  Dear  Sir, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter,  and  your  very 
friendly  postscript  to  your  brother's.  I  am  glad  you  did  not  altogether 
disapprove  of  my  "  Essay  on  Truth."  The  letter,  I  grant,  professeth 
but  little  until  the  Spirit  animates  it.  I  had,  some  weeks  ago,  one  of 
these  touches,  which  realize,  or  rather  spiritualize  the  letter,  and  it  con- 
vinced me  more  than  ever,  that  what  I  say  in  this  tract  of  the  Spirit  and 
of  faith  is  truth. 

I  am  also  persuaded  that  the  faith  and  spirit,  which  belong  to  perfect 
Christianity,  are  at  a  very  low  ebb  even  among  believers.  When  the 
Son  of  man  cometh  to  set  up  his  kingdom,  shall  he  find  Christian  faith 
upon  the  earth  ?  Yes ;  but  I  fear  as  little  as  he  found  of  Jewish  faith 
when  he  came  in  the  flesh. 

I  believe  you  can  rest  either  with  the  easy  Antinomian  or  the  busy 
Pharisee.  You  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  die  to  all  that  is  of  a 
sinful  nature,  and  to  pray  for  the  po'^er  of  an  endless  life.  God  make 
us  faithful  to  our  convictions,  and  keep  us  from  the  snares  of  outward 
things.  You  are  in  danger  from  music,  children,  poetry ;  and  I  from 
speculation,  controversy,  sloth,  &c,  &c.  Let  us  watch  against  the  de- 
ceitfulness  of  self  and  sin  in  all  their  appearances. 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  377 

What  power  of  the  Spirit  do  you  find  among  the  believers  in  London  ? 
What  openings  of  the  kingdom  1  Is  the  well  springing  up  in  many 
hearts  ?  Are  many  souls  dissatisfied,  and  looking  for  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  power  ?  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ? — What  of  the  day  ? — 
What  of  the  dawn  ? 

I  feel  the  force  of  what  you  say  in  your  last  about  the  danger  of  so 
encouraging  the  inferior  dispensation,  as  to  make  people  rest  short  of 
the  faith  which  belongs  to  perfect  Christianity.  I  have  tried  to  obviate 
it  in  some  parts  of  the  Equal  Check,  and  hope  to  do  it  more  effectually 
in  my  reply  to  Mr.  Hill's  Creed  for  Perfectionists.  Probably  I  shall  get 
nothing  by  my  polemic  labours,  but  loss  of  friends,  and  charges  of 
"  novel  chimeras,"  on  both  sides.  I  expect  a  letter  from  you  on  the  sub- 
ject :  write  with  openness,  and  do  not  fear  to  discourage  me,  by  speak- 
ing your  disapprobation  of  what  you  dislike.  My  aim  is  to  be  found  at 
the  feet  of  all,  bearing  and  forbearing,  until  truth  and  love  bring  better 
days.  I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  your  most  affectionate  brother  and  son 
in  the  Gospel,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXIII.— To  Mr.  Charles  Perronet. 

Bristol,  July  12,  1776. 

My  Very  Dear  Brother, — Having  an  opportunity  of  writing  a  line 
to  you,  by  a  friend  whom  I  meet  daily  at  the  hot  well,  and  who  is  about 
to  set  out  for  Canterbury,  I  gladly  embrace  this  opportunity  of  thanking 
you  for  your  last  favour  about  my  health.  I  am  here,  drinking  the 
waters  ;  with  what  effect  time  will  show.  The  Lord  keeps  me  hanging 
by  a  thread :  he  weighs  me  in  the  balance  for  life  and  death :  I  trust 
him  for  the  choice  :  he  knows,  far  better  than  I,  which  is  the  best ;  and 
I  leave  all  to  his  unerring  wisdom.  The  fumigating  medicine  you  re- 
commend me,  is  advertised  in  the  pump  room ;  but  my  physician  says 
it  is  not  proper  in  my  case.  I  fumigate  my  lungs  with  vinegar,  drink 
the  waters,  and  live  upon  vegetables.  These,  with  some  pills,  change 
of  air,  and  moderate  exercise,  make  the  whole  of  my  physical  regimen, 
if  you  add  bleeding. 

With  respect  to  my  mind,  I  am  calm,  and  wait  in  submission  what  the 
Lord  will  say  concerning  me.  I  wait  to  be  baptized  into  all  his  fulness, 
and  trust  the  word,  the  faithful  word  of  his  grace.  Afflictions  and 
shakes  may  be  a  ploughing  necessary  to  make  way  for  the  heavenly 
seed,  and  to  prepare  me  to  bring  some  fruit  in  life,  or  in  death.  Whether 
it  be  in  the  former  or  in  the  latter,  I  hope  I  shall  live  and  die  the  object 
of  your  love,  and  subject  of  your  prayers,  as  you  are  of  the  cordial  affec- 
tion and  good  wishes  of,  my  very  dear  friend,  your  devoted  brother, 
and  obliged  companion  in  tribulation,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXIV. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Madeley,  Sept.  7,  1776. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter,  and  am 

glad  you  will  continue  to  oppose  bigotry,  though  I  would  not  have  you 

bring  a  whole  house  about  your  ears,  for  the  sake  of  so  insignificant  a 

creature  as  I  am.     As  many,  who  espouse  the  sentiments  of  my  oppo. 


378  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

nents,  condemn  me  without  having  heard  me  out,  and  upon  the  dreadful 
charges  which  they  have  brought  against  me,  they  are  not  much  to 
blame ;  for  what  good  man  can  think  well  of  a  blasphemer,  and  an 
enemy  to  the  Gospel  ?  I  hope,  for  my  part,  to  do  what  shall  be  in  my 
power  to  remove  prejudices,  and  trust  to  gain  some  resignation  and 
patience,  by  what  I  shall  not  be  able  to  remove.  God  is  my  witness, 
that  I  honour  and  love  them,  though  I  will  never  part  with  my  liberty 
of  exposing  error,  wherever  I  shall  detect  it.  Why  might  I  not  endea- 
vour to  take  off  a  spot  from  a  friend's  sleeve,  without  running  the  risk 
of  losing  his  friendship,  and  incurring  his  ill  will  ? 

My  health  is,  I  thank  God,  better  than  when  I  wrote  last.  I  have 
not  yet  preached,  rather  from  a  sense  of  my  duty  to  my  friends,  and 
high  thoughts  of  Mr.  Greaves'  labours,  (who  does  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist to  better  purpose  than  I,)  than  to  spare  myself;  for,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  I  am  as  able  to  do  my  work  now,  as  I  was  a  year  ago. 

A  fortnight  ago  I  paid  a  visit  to  West  Bromwick  :  I  ran  away  from 
the  kindness  of  my  parishioners,  who  oppressed  me  with  tokens  of  their 
love.  To  me  there  is  nothing  so  extremely  trying  as  excessive  kindness. 
I  am  of  the  king's  mind ;  when  the  people  showed  their  love  to  him  on 
his  journey  to  Portsmouth,  "  I  can  bear,"  he  said,  "  the  hissings  of  a 
London  mob,  but  these  shouts  of  joy  a»e  too  much  for  me."  You,  my 
dear  friend,  Mrs.  Ireland,  Mrs.  Norman,  and  all  your  family,  have  put 
me  to  that  severe  trial,  to  which  all  trials  caused  by  the  hard  words  that 
have  been  spoken  of  me  are  nothing.  I  return  you  all  my  warmest 
thanks,  and  pray  that,  excess  excepted,  you  may  all  meet,  in  the  day  of 
your  weakness,  as  kind  nurses  and  benefactors,  as  you  have  proved 
to  me. 

At  our  age,  a  recovery  can  be  but  a  short  reprieve  :  let  us,  then,  give 
up  ourselves  daily  to  the  Lord,  as  people  who  have  no  confidence  in  the 
flesh,  and  do  not  trust  to  to-morrow.  I  find  my  weakness,  unprofitable- 
ness, and  wretchedness,  daily  more  and  more  ;  and  the  more  I  find  them, 
the  more  need  I  have  to  sink  into  self  abhorrence.  Nor  do  I  despair  to 
sink  one  day  so  in  it,  as  to  die  to  self,  and  revive  in  my  God.  Fare- 
well. J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXV.— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Charles  Wesley. 

Madeley,  Sept.  15,  1776. 

My  Very  Dear  Brother, — I  lately  consulted  a  pious  gentleman, 
near  Lichfield,  famous  for  his  skill  in  the  disorders  of  the  breast.  He 
assures  me  I  am  in  no  immediate  danger  of  a  consumption  of  the  lungs  ; 
and  that  my  disorder  is  upon  the  nerves,  in  consequence  of  too  much 
close  thinking.  He  permitted  me  to  write  and  preach  in  moderation, 
and  gave  me  medicines,  which,  I  think,  are  of  service  in  taking  off  my 
feverish  heats.  My  spitting  of  blood  is  stopped,  and  I  may  yet  be  spared 
to  travel  with  you  as  an  invalid. 

If  God  adds  one  inch  to  my  span  I  see  my  calling.  I  desire  to  know 
nothing  but  Christ,  and  him  crucified,  revealed  in  the  Spirit.  I  long  to 
feel  the  utmost  power  of  the  Spirit's  dispensation ;  and  I  will  endeavour 
to  bear  my  testimony  to  the  glory  of  that  dispensation,  both  with  my  pen 
and  tongue.    Some  of  our  injudicious  or  inattentive  friends  will  probably 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  379 

charge  me  with  novelty  for  it ;  but  be  that  as  it  will,  let  us  meekly  stand 
for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  trust  the  Lord  for  every  thing.  I  thank 
God  I  feel  so  dead  to  popular  applause,  that,  I  trust,  I  should  not  be 
afraid  to  maintain  a  truth  against  all  the  world ;  and  yet  I  dread  to  dis- 
sent from  any  child  of  God,  and  feel  ready  to  condescend  to  every  one. 
O  what  depths  of  humble  love,  and  what  heights  of  Gospel  truth  do  I 
sometimes  see  !  I  want  to  sink  into  the  former  and  rise  into  the  latter. 
Help  me  by  your  example,  letters,  and  prayers  ;  and  let  us,  after  our  forty 
years'  abode  in  the  wilderness  with  Moses  and  John,  break  forth  after  our 
Joshua  into  the  Canaan  of  pure  love.     I  am,  &c,         J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXVL— To  the  Rev.  Joseph  Benson. 

Lowestoff,  Nov.  21,  1776. 
Mv  Dear  Friend, — Mr.  Wesley  having  invited  me  to  travel  with 
him  to  see  if  change  of  air,  and  motion,  will  be  the  means  of  restoring 
me  to  a  share  of  my  former  health,  I  have  accompanied  him  through 
Oxfordshire,  Northamptonshire,  and  Norfolk :  and  I  hope  I  am  rather 
better  than  worse.  I  find  it  good  to  be  with  this  extraordinary  servant 
of  God  :  I  think  his  diligence  and  wisdom  are  matchless.  It  is  a  good 
school  for  me  :  only  I  am  too  old  a  scholar  to  make  a  proficiency. 
However,  let  us  live  to  God  to-day,  and  trust  him  for  to-morrow :  so 
that  whether  we  are  laid  up  on  a  sick  bed,  or  in  a  damp  grave,  or 
whether  we  are  yet  able  to  act,  we  may  be  able  to  feel  and  say, 

"  God  is  the  sea  of  love, 

Where  all  my  pleasures  roll ; 
The  circle  where  my  passions  move, 

And  centre  of  my  soul." 

I  find  the  nearer  I  am  to  you  the  more  glad  I  should  be  to  oe  strength- 
ened by  the  mutual  faith  of  you  and  me.  The  bearer  saith  he  hopes  to 
be  soon  at  Newcastle,  and  I  send  this  scrawl  by  him,  to  assure  you  of 
my  repentance  toward  God,  my  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  my 
lively  expectation  of  the  kingdom  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  my  brotherly 
love  toward  you.  The  Lord  fill  you  with  every  grace  and  gift  which 
can  complete  the  Christian  and  the  evangelist !  And  what  I  ask  for 
you,  I  trust  you  will  not  forget  to  ask  for  your  affectionate  friend  and 
brother,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXVII. — To  James  Ireland,  Esq. 

Newington,  Jan.  29,  1777. 

Thanks  be  to  God,  and  to  my  dear  friend,  for  favours  upon  favours, 
for  undeserved  love,  and  the  most  endearing  tokens  of  it.  I  have 
received  your  obliging  letters,  full  of  kind  offers,  and  your  jar  full  f 
excellent  grapes.  May  God  open  to  you  the  book  of  life,  and  seal  upon 
your  heart  all  the  offers  and  promises  it  contains  ;  and  may  the  treasures 
of  Christ's  love,  and  all  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  be  abundantly  open  to  my 
dear  friend  and  unwearied  benefactor  ! 

Providence  sent  me  last  Sunday  Dr.  Turner,  who,  under  God,  saved 
my  life  twenty-three  years  ago  in  a  dangerous  illness  ;  and  I  am  inclined 
to  try  what  his  method  will  do.     He  orders  me  asses'  milk,  chicken 


380  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

&c,  forbids  me  riding,  and  recommends  the  greatest  quietness.  He 
prohibits  the  use  of  Bristol  water ;  advises  some  waters  of  a  purgative 
nature ;  and  tries  to  promote  expectoration  by  a  method  that  so  far 
answers,  though  I  spit  by  it  more  blood  than  before.  It  will  be  in  order 
to  cure  one  way  or  other. 

With  respect  to  my  soul,  I  find  it  good  to  be  in  the  balance,  awfully 
weighed  every  day  for  life  or  death.  I  thank  God,  the  latter  has  lost  its 
sting,  and  endears  to  me  the  Prince  of  life.  But,  O !  I  want  Christ, 
my  resurrection,  to  be  a  thousand  times  more  dear  to  me  ;  and  doubt 
not  he  will  be  so  when  I  am  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  revela- 
tion in  the  knowledge  of  him.  Let  us  wait  for  that  glory,  praising  God 
for  all  we  have  received,  and  do  daily  receive ;  and  trusting  him  for  all 
we  have  not  yet  received.  Let  our  faith  do  justice  to  his  veracity,  our 
hope  to  his  goodness,  and  our  love  to  all  his  perfections.  It  is  good  to 
trust  in  the  Lord,  and  his  saints  like  well  to  hope  in  him.  I  am  provided 
here  with  every  necessary  and  convenient  blessing  for  my  state.  The 
great  have  even  done  me  the  honour  of  calling :  Mr.  Shirley,  Mr.  Row- 
land Hill,  Mr.  Peckwell,  &c.  I  exhort  them  to  promote  peace  in  the 
Church,  which  they  take  kindly.  I  hope  God  will  incline  us  all  to  peace, 
living,  and  dying.  Lady  Huntingdon  has  written  me  a  kind  letter  also. 
O  for  universal,  lasting  kindness  !  This  world  to  me  has  now  become  a 
world  of  love.  May  it  be  so  to  my  dear  friend  also.  My  kindest  love 
and  thanks  wait  on  yourself,  Mrs.  Ireland,  and  all  your  family. 

J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXVIIL— To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenwood. 

Brislington,  May  28,  1777. 

My  very  dear  friends  and  benefactors,  Charles  and  Mary  Greenwood. 
My  prayers  shall  always  be,  that  the  merciful  may  find  mercy,  and  that 
the  great  kindness  I  have  found  under  your  quiet  roof,  may  be  showed 
you  every  where  under  the  canopy  of  heaven.  I  think  with  grateful 
joy  on  the  days  of  calm  retreat  I  have  been  blessed  with  at  Newington, 
and  lament  my  not  having  improved  better  the  opportunity  of  sitting,  like 
Mary,  at  the  feet  of  my  great  Physician.  May  he  requite  your  kind 
care  to  a  dying  worm,  by  abundantly  caring  for  you  and  yours,  and 
making  all  your  bed  in  your  sickness  !  May  you  enjoy  full  health ! 
May  you  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  both  that  of  Christ  and 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  be  abundantly  filled  therewith  !  May  his 
rod  and  staff  comfort  you  under  all  the  troubles  of  life,  the  decays  of  the 
body,  the  assaults  of  the  enemy,  and  the  pangs  of  death !  May  the 
reviving  cordials  of  the  word  of  truth  be  ever  within  the  reach  of  your 
faith,  and  may  your  eager  faith  make  a  ready  and  constant  use  of  them ; 
especially,  when  faintings  come  upon  you,  and  your  hands  begin  to  hang 
down  !  May  you  stand  on  the  cliffs  of  the  Rock  of  ages,  and  there  be 
safely  sheltered  when  all  the  storms  of  justice  shall  fall  around.  May 
you  have  always  such  temporal  and  spiritual  helps,  friends,  and  com- 
forts, as  I  have  found  in  your  pleasing  retreat ! 

You  have  received  a  poor  Lazarus,  though  his  sores  were  not  visible. 
You  have  had  compassion,  like  the  good  Samaritan  :  you  have  admitted 
me  to  the  enjoyment  of  your  best  things ;  and  he,  that  did  not  deserve  to 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  381 

have  the  dogs  to  lick  his  sores,  has  always  found,  the  members  of  Jesus 
ready  to  prevent,  to  remove,  or  to  bear  his  burdens.  And  now,  what 
shall  I  say  ?  What,  but,  "  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift !" 
and  thanks  be  to  my  dear  friends  for  all  their  favours !  They  will,  I 
trust,  be  found  faithfully  recorded  in  my  breast,  "  when  the  great 
Rewarder  of  those,  who  diligently  seek  him,  will  render  to  every  man 
according  to  his  works."  Then  shall  a  raised  Lazarus  appear  in  the 
gate  to  testify  of  the  love  of  Charles  and  Mary  Greenwood,  and  of  their 
godly  sister. 

.1  thought  myself  a  little  better  last  Sunday ;  but  I  have  since  spit 
more  blood  than  I  had  done  for  weeks  before.  Glory  be  to  God  for 
every  providence !  His  will  be  done  in  me,  by  health  or  sickness,  by 
life  or  death !  All  from  him  is,  and,  I  trust,  will  always  be  welcome  to 
your  obliged  pensioner,  J.  Fletcher. 


LXXXIX.— To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenwood. 

1111. 
Ten  thousand  blessings  light  upon  the  heads  and  hearts  of  my  dear 
benefactors,  Charles  and  Mary  Greenwood  !  May  their  quiet  retreat  at 
Newington  become  a  Bethel  to  them !  May  their  offspring  be  born 
again  there  !  And  may  the  choicest  consolations  of  the  Spirit  visit  their 
minds,  whenever  they  retire  thither  from  the  busy  city  !  Their  poor 
pensioner  travels  on,  though  slowly,  toward  the  grave.  His  journey 
to  the  sea  seems  to  him  to  have  hastened,  rather  than  retarded  his  pro- 
gress to  his  old  mother,  earth.  May  every  providential  blast  blow  him 
nearer  to  the  heavenly  haven  of  his  Saviour's  breast ;  where,  he  hopes, 
one  day,  to  meet  all  his  benefactors,  and  among  them,  those  whom  he 
now  addresses.  O  my  dear  friends,  what  shall  I  render?  What  to 
Jesus  ?  What  to  you  ?  May  He  who  invites  the  heavy  laden,  take  upon 
him  all  the  burdens  of  kindness  you  have  heaped  on  your  Lazarus ! 
And  may  angels,  when  you  die,  find  me  in  Abraham's  bosom,  and  bring 
you  into  mine,  that,  by  all  the  kindness  which  may  be  shown  in  heaven, 
I  may  try  to  requite  that  which  you  have  shown  to  your  obliged  brother, 

J.  Fletcher. 


XC.—To  Mrs.  Thornton. 

Brislington,  1777. 

My  Dear  Friend, — You  should  have  heard  from  me,  if  sometimes 
want  of  spirits  to  hold  a  pen,  and  for  some  days,  want  of  paper,  had  not 
stood  in  the  way  of  my  inclination.  Now  I  have  paper  and  a  degree 
of  strength,  how  can  I  employ  both  better,  than  in  trying  to  fulfil  with 
my  pen  the  great  commandment,  which  contains  my  duty  to  God  and 
my  neighbour  1  But  what  can  a  pen  do  here  ?  It  can  just  testify  what 
my  heart  feels  :  that  no  words  can  describe  what  I  owe  to  my  hea- 
venly Benefactor,  to  my  earthly  friends,  and  to  you  in  particular,  who 
have  had  so  much  patience  as  to  stand  by  me  and  Dear  a  share  in  my 
burdens,  for  so  many  months  at  home  and  abroad. 

What  shall  I  say?  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gifts; — 
for  Jesus ; — for  the  Spirit  of  Jesus ; — for  the  members  of  Jesus'  m\  sti. 


382  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

cal  body ;  and  in  particular  am  I  bound  to  return  thanks  for  those  who 
have  ministered,  and  still  do  minister  to  my  wants,  and  share  in  my  in- 
firmities. Your  meek  humility  forbids  my  saying,  that  among  the  many 
who,  for  Christ's  sake,  have  debased  themselves  so  far  as  to  take  up  my 
cross  with  me  and  help  me  to  bear  it  after  my  Lord;  you  stand  in  the 
first  rank,  and  the  first  fruits  of  my  gratitude  are  due  to  you.  Simon 
of  Cyrene  bore  our  Lord's  cross  by  compulsion :  you  have  borne  that 
of  the  most  unworthy  of  his  servants  without  compulsion :  and  now, 
what  shall  I  render  ?  A  silent  tear  whispers,  I  can  render  nothing. 
May  the  merciful,  faithful  God,  who  has  promised  that  a  cup  of  cold 
water  .given  to  the  least  of  his  followers  shall  not  lose  its  reward — may 
that  omnipotent  God  who  sees  you  in  all  the  states  of  weakness,  which 
await  you  between  the  present  moment  and  the  hour  of  death,  give  you 
all  that  can  make  your  life  comfortable,  your  trials  tolerable,  your  death 
triumphant,  and  your  eternity  glorious  ! 

What  I  ask  for  you,  I  also  peculiarly  beg  for  your  dear  brother  and 
sister,  who  have  vouchsafed  to  bind  so  dry,  so  insignificant  (I  had  almost 
said,  so  rotten)  a  stick  as  myself  in  the  bundle  of  that  love  with  which 
they  embrace  the  poor,  the  lame,  the  helpless,  the  loathsome,  and  those 
who  have  their  sores  without,  as  Lazarus,  or  within,  as  I.  May  we  all 
be  found  bound  up  together  in  the  bundle  of  life,  light,  and  love  with  our 
Lord  !  And  when  he  shall  make  up  his  jewels,  may  you  all  shine 
among  his  diamonds  of  the  finest  water  and  the  first  magnitude ! 

You  want  possibly  to  know  how  I  go  on.  Though  I  am  not  worth  a 
line,  I  shall  observe,  to  the  glory  of  my  patient,  merciful  Preserver  and 
Redeemer,  that  I  am  kept  in  sweet  peace,  and  am  looking  for  the  tri- 
umphant joy  of  my  Lord,  and  for  the  fulness  expressed  in  these  words, 
which  sweetly  filled  the  sleepless  hours  of  last  night : — 

"Drawn, — and  redeem'd, — and  seal'd, 

I  bless  the  One  and  Three  ; 
With  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  fill'd 

To  all  eternity." 

With  respect  to  my  body,  I  sleep  less  and  spit  more  blood  than  I  did 
when  you  were  here :  nor  can  I  bear  the  least  trot  of  an  easy  horse. 
If  this  continues  many  days,  instead  of  thinking  to  go  and  see  my 
friends  on  the  continent,  I  shall  turn  my  steps  to  my  earthly  home,  to 
be  ready  to  lay  my  bones  in  my  church  yard :  and  in  such  a  case,  I 
shall  put  you  in  mind  of  your  kind  promise,  that  you  would  do  to  the 
last  the  office  of  a  guardian  angel, — hold  up  my  hands  in  my  last  con- 
flict, and  close  my  eyes  when  it  is  over.  Two  of  my  parishioners  came 
to  convey  me  safe  home,  and  had  persuaded  me  to  go  with  them  in  a 
post  chaise ;  but  I  had  so  bad  a  night  before  the  day  I  was  to  set  out, 
that  I  gave  it  up.  My  prospects  and  ways  are  shut  up,  so  that  I  have 
nothing  to  look  at  but  Jesus  and  the  grave.  May  I  so  look  at  them,  as 
to  live  in  him,  my  resurrection  and  life  ;  and  die  in  all  the  meekness  and 
holiness  of  my  Lord  and  my  all !  I  humbly  request,  a  continued  inte- 
rest in  your  fervent  prayers,  that  I  may  be  found  completely  ready  when 
my  Lord's  messenger  shall  come  for  my  soul.  Adieu,  my  dear  friend. 
God  bless  and  reward  you.  I  am  your  most  affectionate  friend  and 
brother,  J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  383 


XCL— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Greaves. 


Nyon,  Sept.  15,  1780. 

My  Dear  Fellow  Labourer, — I  had  fixed  the  time  of  my  departure 
for  this  month ;  but  now  two  hinderances  stand  in  my  way.  When  I 
came  to  collect  the  parts  of  my  manuscript,  I  found  the  most  consider- 
able part  wanting  ;  and  after  a  thousand  searches,  I  was  obliged  to  write 
it  over  again.  This  accident  obliged  me  to  put  off  my  journey ;  and 
now  the  change  of  weather  has  brought  back  some  symptoms  of  my 
disorder.  I  speak,  or  rather  whisper  with  difficulty ;  but  I  hope  the 
quantity  of  grapes  I  begin  to  eat  will  have  as  good  an  effect  upon  me, 
as  in  the  last  two  autumns.  Have  patience  then  a  little  while.  If  things 
are  not  as  you  could  wish,  you  can  do  but  as  I  have  done  for  many  years 
— learn  patience  by  the  things  which  you  suffer.  Crossing  our  will,  get- 
ting  the  better  of  our  own  inclinations,  and  growing  in  experience,  are 
no  mean  advantages ;  and  they  may  all  be  yours.  Mr.  Ireland  writes 
me  word,  that  if  I  return  to  England  now,  the  winter  will  undo  all  I 
have  been  doing  for  my  health  for  many  years.  However,  I  have  not 
quite  laid  by  the  design  of  spending  the  winter  with  you ;  but  do  not 
expect  me  till  you  see  me.  I  am,  nevertheless,  firmly  purposed,  that  if 
I  do  not  set  out  this  autumn,  I  shall  do  so  next  spring,  as  early  as  I  can 

Till  I  had  this  relapse  I  was  able,  thank  God,  to  exhort  in  a  private 
room  three  times  a  week :  but  the  Lord  Lieutenant  will  not  allow  me  to 
get  into  a  pulpit,  though  they  permit  the  school  masters,  who  are  laymen, 
to  put  on  a  band  and  read  the  Church  prayers :  so  high  runs  the  preju- 
dice. The  clergy,  however,  tell  me  that  if  I  will  renounce  my  ordina- 
tion, and  get  Presbyterian  orders  among  them,  they  will  allow  me  to 
preach  :  and,  on  these  terms,  one  of  the  ministers  of  this  town  offers  m? 
his  curacy.  A  young  clergyman  of  Geneva,  tutor  to  my  nephew,  ap- 
pears to  me  a  truly  converted  man ;  and  he  is  so  pleased  when  I  tell 
him  there  are  converted  souls  in  England,  that  he  will  go  over  with  me 
to  learn  English,  and  converse  with  the  British  Christians.  He  wrote 
last  summer  with  such  force  to  some  of  the  clergy,  who  were  stirring  up 
the  fire  of  persecution,  that  he  made  them  ashamed,  and  we  have  since 
iad  peace  from  that  quarter. 

There  is  little  genuine  piety  in  these  parts ;  nevertheless,  there  is  yet 
some  of  the  form  of  it ;  so  far  as  to  go  to  the  Lord's  table  regularly  four 
times  a  year.  There  meet  the  adulterers,  the  drunkards,  the  swearers, 
the  infidels,  and  even  the  materialists.  They  have  no  idea  of  the  double 
damnation  that  awaits  hypocrites.  They  look  upon  partaking  that  sacra- 
ment as  a  ceremony  enjoined  by  the  magistrate.  At  Zurich,  the  first 
town  of  this  country,  they  have  lately  beheaded  a  clergyman,  who  wanted 
to  betray  his  country  to  the  emperor,  to  whom  it  chiefly  belonged.  It 
is  the  town  of  the  great  reformer  Zuinglius  ;  yet  there  they  poisoned  the 
sacramental  wine  a  few  years  ago.  Tell  it  not  in  Gath  !  I  mention  this 
to  show  you  there  is  occasion  and  great  need  to  bear  a  testimony  against 
the  faults  of  the  clergy  here ;  and  if  I  cannot  do  it  from  the  pulpit, 
I  must  try  to  do  it  from  the  press.  Their  canons,  which  were  composed 
by  two  hundred  and  thirty  pastors,  at  the  time  of  the  reformation,  are  so 
spiritual  and  apostolic,  that  I  design  to  translate  them  into  English  if  I 
am  spared. 


384  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

Farewell,  my  dear  brother.  Take  care,  good,  constant  care  of  the 
flock  committed  to  your  charge ;  especially  the  sick  and  the  young. 
Salute  all  our  dear  parishioners.  Let  me  still  have  a  part  in  your  prayers, 
public  and  private ;  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  as,  through  grace,  I  am 
enabled  to  do  in  all  my  little  tribulations.  I  am  your  affectionate  friend 
and  fellow  labourer,  J.  Fletcher. 


XCII. — To  the  societies  in  and  about  Madeley. 

Nyon,  Sept.  15,  1780. 

Grace  and  peace,  truth  and  love  be  multiplied  unto  you  all.  Stand 
fast  in  the  Lord  my  dear  brethren,  stand  fast  to  Jesus  ;  stand  fast  to  one 
another ;  stand  fast  to  the  vow  we  have  so  often  renewed  together  upon 
our  knees,  and  at  the  Lord's  table.  Resolve  to  save  yourselves  altogether. 
Do  not  be  so  unloving,  so  cowardly,  as  to  let  one  of  your  little  company 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  world  and  the  devil  :  and  agree  to  crucify  the 
body  of  sin  altogether. 

I  am  still  in  a  strait  between  the  work  which  Providence  cuts  out  for 
me  here,  and  the  love  which  draws  me  to  you.  When  I  shall  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you,  let  it  not  be  imbittered  by  the  sorrow  of  rinding 
any  of  you  half  hearted  and  lukewarm.  Let  me  find  you  all  strong  in 
the  Lord,  and  increased  in  humble  love.  Salute  from  me  all  that  fol- 
lowed with  us  fifteen  years  ago.  Care  still  for  your  old  brethren.  Let 
there  be  no  Cain  among  you,  no  Esau,  no  Lot's  wife.  Let  the  love  of 
David  and  Jonathan,  heightened  by  that  of  Martha,  Mary,  Lazarus,  and 
our  Lord,  shine  in  all  your  thoughts,  your  tempers,  your  words,  your 
looks,  and  your  actions.  If  you  love  one  another,  your  little  meetings 
will  be  a  renewed  feast ;  and  the  God  of  love,  who  is  peculiarly  present 
where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  in 
the  spirit  of  love,  will  abundantly  bless  you.  Bear  me  still  upon  your 
hearts  in  prayer,  as  I  do  you  upon  mine !  and  rejoice  with  me,  that  the 
Lord,  who  made,  redeemed,  and  comforts  us,  bears  us  all  upon  his  heart, 
l  am  yours  in  him,  J.  Fletcher. 


XCIII.— To  Miss  Loxdale. 

Madeley,  May  24,  1781. 
Dear  Madam, — I  embrace  the  first  opportunity  of  thanking  my  un- 
known friend  for  her  kind  Christian  letter.  As  I  believe  you  are  sincere, 
and  mean  what  your  pen  has  traced  upon  paper,  I  may  rejoice  over  a 
greater  treasure  than  that  of  the  Indies  ;  I  mean  the  treasure  of  a  Chris- 
tian friend ;  for  nothing  but  Christianity  could  give  you  the  courage  to 
express  any  degree  of  friendship  for  so  contemptible  a  neighbour.  I 
shall  preach  here  next  Sunday,  please  God.  If  you  can,  and  if  you  are 
not  afraid  of  dining  upon  a  bit  of  cold  meat,  come  and  dine  with  your 
new  and  yet  old  friend,  who,  though  he  cannot  converse  long  with  his 
friends,  on  account  of  his  weakness,  will  find  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to 
assure  you  that,  in  the  faith,  hope,  and  love  of  the  Gospel,  he  is,  madam, 
your  obliged  friend  and  obedient  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  385 


XCIV.— To  Miss  Loxdale. 


Madeley,  June  22,  1781. 

Grace,  mercy,  and  truth,  power,  love,  and  joy,  be  multiplied  to  my 
dear  friend,  from  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit,  the  threefold  spring  of  life, 
light,  and  love.  I  never  doubted  your  sincerity,  my  dear  friend ;  and 
with  pleasure  I  acknowledge,  against  the  accuser  of  the  brethren,  that  I 
can,  without  wavering,  and  with  the  assurance  of  faith  and  love,  confess 
vou  a  member  of  my  Lord,  a  child  of  my  heavenly  Father,  and  a  fellow 
heir  of  the  kingdom,  purchased  for  penitent  believers.  May  the  accuser 
fall  as  lightning,  and  his  accusation  be  cast  down  by  this  word  of  my 
testimony.  I  believe  too  that  you  have  received  more  than  forgiving 
love.  See  John  xx,  22.  But  whether  you  have  received  the  other 
Comforter  in  his  fulness,  or  the  pentecostal  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is 
what  it  concerns  you  to  inquire  into.  You  may  know  that  measure  of 
grace  by  the  following  marks.  It  is  great  grace,  and  abundant  life ;  it 
destroys  self,  it  'fills  with  power  from  on  high,  it  perfects  in  one,  it  per- 
fects in  love.  It  is,  at  least,  accompanied  with  the  gift  of  prophecy.* 
It  makes  us  always  to  triumph  in  Christ. 

Ah  !  my  friend,  I  sympathize  with  you  in  the  weakness  of  your  body, 
which  doesnot  permit  you  to  take  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  the  violence 
of  that  praying,  agonizing  faith,  which  some  can  put  forth  when  their 
souls  come  to  a  pinching  want,  or  to  a  birth  of  desire.  Take  two  or 
three  observations  about  it :  (1.)  There  are  two  kinds  of  wrestlings  ;  the 
one,  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  in  us  is  very  active,  and  we  are  almost 
passive.  You  may  thus  passively  wrestle,  if  the  power  of  the  Highest 
helps  your  infirmities.  So  some  dying  persons  wrestle  sometimes.  (2.) 
There  is  another  wrestling,  in  which  we  are  very  active,  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  helps  us  imperceptibly.  Follow,  seek,  wait — quietly,  meekly, 
humbly  wait  for  the  former  power.  The  latter  kind  of  wrestling  may 
not  be  so  suitable  for  you.  I  advise  you  to  imitate  the  Virgin  Mary. 
Let  strong  people  wrestle  in  the  second  manner,  but  do  -you  gently, 
believingly,  lifting  up  your  head  in  calm  expectation,  say,  till  you  are 
overwhelmed  with  the  power  from  on  high,  "  '  Behold  the  handmaid  of 
the  Lord ;  let  it  be  done  to  me  according  to  thy  word.'  For,  as  for  me, 
I  can  do  nothing  but  wait  for  thy  salvation,  and  give  glory  to  thy  word 
of  promise."  You  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  the 
promise  is  unto  you.  Believe  and  pray  with  the  will  and  the  under- 
standing, more  than  with  the  passions  ;  with  your  sublimer,  rather  than 
with  your  inferior  powers.  I  rejoice  in  you,  your  aunt,  and  sister,  as 
of  three  who  will  be  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  in  Shropshire,  called  to  be 
all  of  one  heart  and  one  soul,  all  believing,  loving,  prophesying.  Re- 
member me  to  them  in  Christian  regard,  and  permit  my  spirit  to  twist 
itself  with  the  threefold  cord,  when  you  pull  blessings  from  heaven  upon 
yourselves  and  the  Church.  I  thank  you  for  the  direction  to  Mr.  Wes- 
ley. I  shall  now  forward  my  letter  to  him.  I  am  dear  Miss  Loxdale's 
affectionate  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 

*  That  is,  speaking  to  the  edification  of  those  with  whom  they  converse. 
Vol.  IV.  25 


386  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

XCV.—To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wesley. 

Madeley,  June  24,  1781. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — As  to  Miss  L ,  I  believe  her  to  be  a  sim- 
ple, holy  follower  of  the  Lord.  Nothing  throws  unscriptural  mysticism 
down  like  holding  out  the  promise  of  the  Father,  and  the  fulness  of  the 
Spirit,  to  be  received  now,  by  faith,  in  the  two  promisers,  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  Ah  !  what  is  the  penal  fire  of  the  mystics,  to  the  burning  love 
of  the  Spirit,  revealing  the  glorious  power  of  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
according  to  John  xiv,  26,  and  filling  us  with  all  the  fulness  of  God  ? 
Plain  Scripture  is  better  than  all  mystic  refinements. 

When  I  was  at  N ,  near  Geneva,  three  ministers  received  the 

word,  and  preached  the  truth.  When  persecution  arose  because  of  the 
word,  the  two  pastors  were  afraid ;  but  the  curate  of  the  first  pastor,  a 
burgess  of  the  town,  stood  by  me.  This  Timothy  opened  his  house, 
when  the  pastors  shut  both  their  pulpits  and  houses ;  and  I  heard  him 
preach  a  discourse  before  I  came  away,  Worthy  of  you,  sir,  upon  the 
heights  and  depths  of  holiness.  He  wrote  an  apology  for  me,  which  he 
sent  to  the  head  of  the  persecuting  clergy,  and  so  stopped  the  torrent  of 
wrath.  He  made  observations  upon  the  mischief  done  to  Christianity  by 
a  bad  clergy,  such  as  George  Fox,  and  you,  sir,  would  not  disown. 
When  I  told  him  of  you  and  the  Methodists,  he  expressed  a  great  desire 
to  come  to  England,  to  hear  you,  to  see  the  English  brethren,  and  to 
learn  English,  that  he  might  read  your  works,  and  perhaps  translate 
some  of  them.  He  can  have  no  living  in  his  own  country,  because  he 
will  not  swear  to  prosecute  all  who  propagate  Arminian  tenets ;  which 
is  more  honest  than  the  clergy,  many  of  whom  are  Arians,  Socinians,  or 
Deists,  and  do  not  scruple  to  take  the  Calvinian  oaths  !  I  shall  endea- 
vour to  wait  upon  you  at  Leeds  at  the  time  of  the  conference  ;  in  the 
meantime,  I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant,  and  affection- 
ate son  in  the  Gospel,  J.  Fletcher.  . 


XCVL— To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perronet. 

Madeley,  Sept.  4,  1781. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — Your  last  favour  I  received,  and  rejoice  that 
like  a  father  in  Christ,  inured  to  disappointments  and  losses,  you  greet 
your  friends  in  light,  and  commend,  with  deep  resignation,  those  who 
survive,  to  the  mercy  of  that  God,  who  hath  stood  by  you  many  years. 
O !  dear  sir,  he  will  do  better  for  them  and  for  us  than  we  either  can 
ask  or  think.  We  need  not  then  be  staggered,  when  we  see  a  black 
cloud  hanging  over  our  earthly  enjoyments ;  even  over  the  life  of  our 
choicest  friends.  We  must  hope  against  hope,  that  great  good — yea, 
spiritual  and  eternal  good,  will  come  out  of  the  external,  transitory  evils 
we  fear  or  feel.  We  shall  know  hereafter  why  the  Lord  dealt  so  by  us ; 
in  the  meantime,  let  us  say,  like  the  Jews,  "  He  has  done  all  things  well !" 

I  have  been  for  some  weeks  in  Yorkshire,  chiefly  at  the  house  of  an 
old  friend  of  mine,  Miss  Bosanquet's,  whose  happy  family  put  me  in  mind 
of  yours.  At  my  return  home,  I  have  found  a  letter  from  my  brother,  who 
informs  me  that  my  dear  friend,  your  son,  continues  very  weak.  He  is 
now  at  Gimel,  a  fine  village  betw  een  Lausanne  and  Geneva,  where  Miss 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  387 

Peironet's  sister  is  settled.  There  he  rides,  and  drinks  asses'  milk,  ana 
breathes  the  purest  air.  The  Lord  give  his  blessing  to  those  means  of 
health !  and  if  he  refuses  it,  may  he  give  the  best  of  blessings,  saving 
health,  and  eternal  life  in  Him  who  died  for  our  sins,  and  rose  again  for 
our  justification !  Mrs.  Perronet  is  there  with  her  two  daughters,  and 
my  dear  friend,  so  that  if  his  illness  should  grow  more  grievous,  he  will 
not  want  for  good  attendance,  and  the  most  tender  nursing. 

I  design  to  write  soon  to  him  and  to  Miss  Perronet.  Support  him, 
dear  sir,  by  your  fatherly  exhortations ;  they  are  balm  to  his  blood,  and 
marrow  to  his  bones.  Recommending  myself  to  your  prayers  and 
blessing,  I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  and  dutiful  son  in  the 
Gospel,        .  J.  Fletcher. 


XCVIL— To  Miss  Hatlon. 

You  seem,  madam,  not  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  happiness  of  the 
love  of  Jesus,  or  at  least  of  your  privilege  of  loving  him  again.  Your 
dulness  in  private  prayer  arises  from  the  want  of  familiar  friendship  with 
Jesus.  To  obviate  it,  go  to  your  closet,  as  if  you  were  going  to  meet 
the  dearest  friend  you  ever  had.  Cast  yourself  immediately  at  his  feet ; 
bemoan  your  coldness  before  him  ;  extol  his  love  to  you,  till  your  heart 
breaks  with  a  desire  to  love  him  ;  yea,  till  it  actually  melts  with  his  love. 
Be  you,  if  not  the  importunate  widow,  at  least  the  importunate  virgin, 
and  get  your  Lord  to  avenge  you  of  your  adversary — I  mean  your  cold 
heart. 

You  ask  from  me  some  directions  to  get  a  mortified  spirit.  To  get 
this  get  recollection.  Recollection  is  a  dwelling  within  ourselves  ;  being 
abstracted  from  the  creature,  and  turned  toward  God.  It  is  both  out- 
ward and  inward.  Outward  recollection  consists  in  silence  from  all  idle 
and  superfluous  words,  and  a  wise  disentanglement  from  the  world ; 
keeping  to  our  own  business,  observing  and  following  the  order  of  Goc 
for  ourselves,  and  shutting  the  ear  against  all  curious  and  unprofitable 
matters.  Inward  recollection  consists  in  shutting  the  door  of  the  senses  ; 
in  a  deep  attention  to  the  presence  of  God,  and  in  continual  care  of 
entertaining  holy  thoughts  for  fear  of  spiritual  idleness.  Through  the 
power  of  the  Spirit,  let  this  recollection  be  steady,  even  in  the  midst  of 
hurrying  business :  let  it  be  calm  and  peaceable,  and  let  it  be  lasting. 
Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation.  To  maintain  this  recol- 
lection, beware  of  entering  too  deeply,  and  beyond  what  is  necessary,  into 
outward  things  ;  beware  of  suffering  your  affections  to  be  entangled  by 
worldly  vanities,  your  imagination  to  amuse  itself  with  unprofitable 
objects,  and  of  indulging  yourself  in  the  commission  of  what  are  called 
small  faults.  For  want  of  continuing  in  a  recollected  frame  all  the 
day,  our  times  of  prayer  are  frequently  dry  and  useless ;  imagination 
prevails,  and  the  heart  wanders ;  whereas  we  easily  pass  from  recol- 
lection to  delightful  prayer.  Without  this  spirit,  there  can  be  no  useful 
self  denial,  nor  can  we  know  ourselves ;  but  where  it  dwells,  it  makes 
the  soul  all  eye,  all  ear ;  traces  and  discovers  sin,  repels  its  first 
assaults,  or  crushes  it  in  its  earliest  risings.  But  take  care  here  to 
be  more  taken  up  with  thoughts  of  God  than  of  yourself;  and  consider 
how  hardly  recollection  is  sometimes  obtained,  and  how  easily  it  is 


388  FAMILIAR  LKTTEES. 

lost.  Use  no  forced  labour  to  raise  a  particular  frame ;  nor  tire,  fret, 
nor  grow  impatient  if  you  have  no  comfort ;  but  meekly  acquiesce,"  and 
confess  yourself  unworthy  of  it ;  lie  prostrate  in  humble  submission  be- 
fore God,  and  patiently  wait  for  the  smiles  of  Jesus.  May  the  following 
motives  stir  you  up  to  the  pursuit  of  recollection.  (1.)  Without  it,  God's 
voice  cannot  be  heard  in  the  soul.  (2.)  It  is  the  altar  on  which  we 
must  offer  up  our  Isaacs.  (3.)  It  is  instrumentally  a  ladder,  (if  I  may 
be  allowed  the  expression,)  to  ascend  to  God.  (4.)  By  it  the  soul  gets 
to  its  centre,  out  of  which  it  cannot  rest.  (5.)  Man's  soul  is  the  temple 
of  God ;  recollection  the  holy  of  holies.  (6.)  As  the  wicked  by  recol- 
tion  find  hell  in  their  hearts,  so  faithful  souls  find  heaven.  (7.)  With- 
out recollection,  all  means  of  grace  are  useless,  or  make  but  a  light  and 
transitory  impression.  If  we  would  be  recollected,  we  must  expect  to 
suffer.  Sometimes  God  does  not  speak  immediately  to  the  heart ;  we 
must  then  continue  to  listen  with  a  more  humble  silence.  Sometimes 
assaults  of  the  heart,  or  of  the  temper,  may  follow,  together  with  a  weari- 
ness, and  a  desire  to  turn  the  mind  to  something  else :  here  we  must  be 
patient.  By  patience  unwearied  we  inherit  the  promises.  Dissipated 
souls  are  severely  punished.  If  any  man  abide  not  in  Christ,  he  is  cast 
out  as  a  branch  ; — cast  out  of  the  light  of  God's  countenance,  and  bar- 
renness follows  in  the  use  of  the  means.  The  world  and  Satan  gather 
and  use  him  for  their  service.  He  is  cast  into  the  fire  of  the  passions, 
of  guilt,  of  temptation,  and  perhaps  of  hell.  As  dissipation  always  meets 
its  punishment,  so  recollection  never  fails  of  its  reward.  After  a  patient 
waiting,  comes  communion  with  God,  and  the  sweet  sense  of  his  peace 
and  love.  Recollection  is  a  castle,  an  inviolable  fortress  against  the 
world  and  the  devil :  it  renders  all  times  and  places  alike,  and  it  is  the 
habitation  where  Christ  and  his  bride  dwell. 

I  give  you  these  hints,  not  to  set  Christ  aside,  but  that  you  may, 
according  to  the  light  and  power  given  to  you,  take  these  stones,  and 
place  them  upon  the  chief  corner  stone,  and  cement  them  with  the  blood 
of  Jesus  until  the  superstructure,  in  some  measure,  answers  to  the  excel- 
lence of  the  foundation.  I  beg  an  interest  in  your  prayers  for  myself 
and  those  committed  to  my  charge  ;  and  am,  with  sincerity,  madam, 
your  servant  for  Christ's  sake,  J.  Fletcher. 


XCVIII.— To  the  Hon.  Mrs.  C. 

Cross  Hall,  Yorkshire,  Dec.  26,  1781. 
My  Dear  Friend, — Your  favour  of  the  4th  instant  did  not  reach  me 
until  a  considerable  time  after  date,  through  my  being  still  absent  from 
Madeley  ;  a  clergyman  of  this  neighborhood  having  made  an  exchange 
with  me,  to  facilitate  my  settling  some  affairs  of  a  temporal  nature  in 
this  county.  The  kind  part  you  take  in  my  happiness  demands  my 
warmest  thanks  ;  and  I  beg  you  will  accept  them  multiplied  by  those 
which  my  dear  partner  presents  to  you.  Yes,  my  dear  friend,  I  am 
married  in  my  old  age,  and  have  a  new  opportunity  of  considering  a 
great  mystery,  in  the  most  perfect  type  of  our  Lord's  mystical  union  with 
his  Church.  I  have  now  a  new  call  to  pray  for  a  fulness  of  Christ's 
holy,  gentle,  meek,  loving  Spirit,  that  I  may  love  my  wife  as  he  loved 
nis  spouse,  the  Church.     But  the  emblem  is  greatly  deficient.     The 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  389 

Lamb  is  worthy  of  his  spouse,  and  more  than  worthy,  whereas  I  must 
acknowledge  myself  unworthy  of  the  yoke-fellow  whom  Heaven  has 
reserved  for  me.  She  is  a  person  after  my  own  heart ;  and  I  make  no 
doubt  we  shall  increase  the  number  of  the  happy  marriages  in  the  Church 
militant.  Indeed,  they  are  not  so  many,  but  it  may  be  worth  a  Chris- 
tian's while  to  add  one  more  to  the  number.  God  declared  it  was  not 
good  that  man,  a  social  being,  should  live  alone,  and  therefore  he  gave 
him  a  helpmeet  for  him  :  for  the  same  reason  our  Lord  sent  forth  his 
disciples  two  and  two.  Had  I  searched  the  three  kingdoms,  I  could  not 
have  found  one  brother  willing  to  share  gratis  my  weal,  wo,  and  labours, 
and  complaisant  enough  to  unite  his  fortunes  to  mine  ;  but  God  has  found 
me  a  partner,  a  sister,  a  wife,  to  use  St.  Paul's  language,  who  is  not 
afraid  to  face  with  me  the  colliers  and  bargemen  of  my  parish,  until 
death  part  us. 

Buried  together  in  our  country  village,  we  shall  help  one  another  to 
trim  our  lamps,  and  wait,  as  I  trust  you  do  continually,  for  the  coming 
of  the  heavenly  Bridegroom.  Well ;  for  us  the  heavenly  child  is  born, 
to  us  a  double  Son  is  given,  and  with  him  the  whole  kingdom  of  grace 
and  glory.  O  my  dear  friend,  let  us  press  into,  and  meet  in  both  of 
these  kingdoms.  Our  Surety  and  Saviour  is  the  way  and  the  door  into 
them  ;  and  blessed  be  free  grace,  the  way  is  free,  as  the  king's  highway, 
and  the  door  open,  like  the  arms  of  Jesus  crucified. 

January  1st,  1782.  I  live,  blessed  be  God,  to  devote  myself  again 
to  his  blessed  service  in  this  world,  or  in  the  next,  and  to  wish  my  dear 
friends  all  the  blessings  of  a  year  of  jubilee.  Whatever  this  year  brings 
forth,  may  it  bring  us  the  fullest  measures  of  salvation  attainable  on 
earth,  and  the  most  complete  preparation  for  heaven.  I  have  a  solemn 
call  to  gird  my  loins  and  keep  my  lamp  burning.  Strangely  restored  to 
health  and  strength,  considering  my  years,  by  the  good  nursing  of  my 
dear  partner,  I  ventured  to  preach  of  late  as  often  as  I  did  formerly, 
and  after  having  read  prayers  and  preached  twice  on  Christmas  day, 
&c,  I  did,  last  Sunday,  what  I  had  never  done, — I  continued  doing  duty 
from  ten  till  past  four  in  the  afternoon,  owing  to  christenings,  churchings, 
and  the  sacrament,  which  I  administered  to  a  church  full  of  people  ;  so 
that  I  was  obliged  to  go  from  the  communion  table  to  begin  the  evening 
service,  and  then  to  visit  some  sick.  This  has  brought  back  upon  me 
one  of  my  old,  dangerous  symptoms,  so  that  I  had  flattered  myself  in 
vain  to  do  the  whole  duty  of  my  own  parish.  My  dear  wife  is  nursing 
me  with  the  tenderest  care,  gives  me  up  to  God  with  the  greatest  resig- 
nation, and  helps  me  to  rejoice  that  life  and  death,  health  and  sickness, 
work  all  for  our  good,  and  are  all  ours,  as  blessed  instruments  to  for- 
ward us  in  our  journey  to  heaven.  We  intend  to  set  out  for  Madeley 
to-morrow.  The  prospect  of  a  winters  journey  is  not  sweet ;  but  the 
prospect  of  meeting  you  and  your  dear  sister,  and  Lady  Mary,  and  Mrs. 
L.  and  Mrs.  G.,  and  all  our  other  companions  in  tribulation,  in  heaven, 
is  delightful.  The  Lord  prepare  and  fit  us  for  that  glorious  meeting ! 
As  soon  as  I  reach  Madeley,  I  shall  write  to  Lady  Mary.  Give  my  best 
respects  to  her,  to  our  dear  sister,  and  to  the  ladies  I  have  just  named  • 
and  believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  friend  and  fellow  traveller  to  Zion,  your 
most  obliged  and  affectionate  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


390  FAMILIAR   LETTERS. 

The  following  letters,  addressed  principally  to  Mr.  William  Perronet, 
explain  the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  written.  They  have 
been  obligingly  communicated,  exclusively  for  this  edition,  by  Mrs.  Grey 
of  Walthamstow,  a  pious  descendant  of  the  late  reverend  Vincent  Per- 
ronet, vicar  of  Shoreham.  Extracts  from  a  few  of  them  have  been 
inserted  by  the  late  Rev.  Joseph  Benson,  in  his  excellent  life  of  the 
amiable  author.  Published  now  in  a  regular  series,  according  to  their 
respective  dates,  though  they  may  be  regarded  chiefly  as  letters  of  busi- 
ness, they  will  afford  strong  additional  proofs  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  heavenly 
skill,  in  compelling  the  most  common  topics  of  daily  occurrence  to 
contribute  something,  either  in  the  form  of  simile  or  contrast,  toward 
exalting  the  honour  and  glory  of  his  gracious  Creator,  Redeemer,  and 
Sanctifier. 

Mr.  William  Perronet  was  a  surgeon  and  apothecary  in  London. 
The  friendship  which  subsisted  between  the  different  branches  of  his 
family  and  Mr.  Fletcher,  induced  him  to  wait  upon  the  latter,  and  to  offer 
him  the  benefit  of  his  professional  advice,  while  this  dear  friend  of  his 
venerable  father  was  an  invalid  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Greenwood  at  Stoke 
Newington,  and  afterward  at  Bristol,  to  which  city  he  repaired,  by  the 
direction  of  his  medical  advisers,  in  April,  1777. 

Of  this  young  gentleman  Mr.  Benson  gives  the  subjoined  account : — 
"  One  of  those  who  visited  him  at  Newington,  was  Mr.  W.  Perronet ;  a 
pious,  sensible,  benevolent,  and  amiable  man,  who  was  snatched  hence 
in  the  strength  of  his  years.  He  often  said,  the  first"  sight  of  Mr. 
Fletcher  fixed  an  impression  upon  his  mind,  which  never  wore  off,  till  it 
issued  in  a  real  conversion  to  God,  accompanied  with  a  most  affectionate 
and  lasting  regard  for  the  instrument  of  that  happy  change.  Of  this 
friendly  man,  Mr.  F.  writes  thus  to  Miss  Perronet : — '  I  cannot  tell  you 
how  much  I  am  obliged  to  your  dear  brother  for  all  his  kind,  brotherly 
attendance  as  a  physician.  He  has  given  me  his  time,  his  long  walks, 
his  remedies  :  he  has  brought  me  Dr.  Turner  several  times,  and  will  not 
so  much  as  allow  me  to  re-imburse  his  expenses.' " 


XCIX.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Bristleton,  Nov.  19,  1777. 
Dear  Sir, — I  thank  you  for  your  two  favours  from  London,  added 
to  so  many  received  at  Newington  and  here.  May  the  Lord  visit  you 
when  you  shall  be  sick !  And  may  he  raise  you  such  kind  friends, 
helpers,  and  comforters,  as  he  has  raised  to  me !  I  have  kept  plying 
the  bark  since  you  went,  and  have  taken  a  pound,  I  think.  It  seems  to 
be  blessed  to  me  as  well  as  the  rhubarb.  My  spitting  of  blood  is  almost 
stopped ;  my  breast  stronger.  I  am,  I  hope,  better  upon  the  whole ; 
and,  if  I  do  not  relapse,  I  might  yet  be  able  to  preach,  according  to  your 
dear  father's  prophecy.  I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and 
thanking  you,  sir,  and  Dr.  Turner,  in  my  way  to  Dover,  some  time  the 
week  after  next.  I  have  not  seen  any  physician  since  you  went.  Hope 
to  wait  this  week  on  Dr.  Ludlow  to  thank  him.  I  am  much  obliged  to 
your  dear  sister  for  her  letter  and  receipt.  Hope  to  answer  the  former, 
'hough  I  shall  not,  I  think,  make'  use  of  the  latter. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  391 

O  my  dear  friend,  Jesus  is  at  the  end  of  the  race.  Your  dear 
brothers*  have  run  it  out ;  we  follow  them.  O  for  more  speed — more 
winged  despatch — more  faith — more  of  that  power  which  takes  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence  ! 

That  the  Lord  would  give  us  more  power,  and  make  us  more  faithful 
to  that  which  we  have,  is,  dear  sir,  the  earnest  prayer  of  your  obliged 
friend  and  obedient  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


C.—To  Mr.  W.  Perronel. 

Nyon,  in  Switzerland,  June  2,  1778. 

My  Dear  Friend, — When  I  wrote  to  you  last  month,  by  Mrs.  Ire- 
land,  I  mentioned,  that,  at  Morges,  I  had  seen  two  ladies  of  your  family, 
two  Miss  Perronets,  who  have  married  two  brothers,  Messieurs  Monod. 
Since  that  time  they  have  requested  me  to  send  to  your  father  the 
enclosed  memorial,  which,  I  hope,  will  prove  of  use  to  your  family. 
As  the  bad  writing,  and  the  language,  may  make  the  understanding  of 
it  difficult  to  you,  I  send  you  the  substance  of  it,  and  of  the  letter  of  the 
ladies'  lawyer,  as  follows  : — 

Mr.  Emanuel  Perronet,  chief  justice  at  Chateau  d'Oex,  in  the  canton 
of  Berne,  had  an  estate  worth  six  or  seven  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
By  will,  he  left  it  to  his  son,  and  his  son's  children.  His  son  had  a 
son,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Theodore  Perronet,  who  died  at  Geneva  in  1770, 
without  will,  and  without  children.  Now,  Mr.  Emanuel  Perronet,  his 
grandfather,  had  ordered  in  his  will,  that  if  his  son,  or  his  grandson, 
should  die  without  issue,  his  estate  was  to  go  to  his  nephews  and  nieces  ; 
namely,  to  the  then  unborn  children  of  his  three  brothers,  Mr.  James 
Louis  Perronet,  Mr.  Christian  Perronet,  and  Mr.  David  Perronet,  and  to 
Mr.  Beat  Rodolph  Perronet,  a  nephew  of  his  (then  born)  by  another 
brother,  who,  I  suppose,  was  then  dead. 

Without  any  attention  to  this  entail,  some  rich  gentlemen  of  Geneva, 
who  were  related  to  Mr.  Theodore  Perronet  by  his  mother,  have  taken 
possession  of  the  estate,  as  being  his  nearest  relations.  Now  Mr.  James 
Louis  Perronet,  Mr.  Christian  Perronet,  Mr.  David  Perronet,  and  their 
children  are  all  dead,  or  supposed  to  be  dead.  (I  hope,  by  the  by,  your 
father  is  one  of  them.)  The  estate  has  been  claimed  by  the  ladies  I 
have  seen,  who  are  grand  daughters  of  Mr.  James  Louis  Perronet,  the 
oldest  brother  of  the  testator,  and  who  consequently  were  only  grand- 
nieces  of  the  testator,  and  not  his  nieces.  And  they  have  lost  their  suit 
on  that  account,  because  the  will  of  Mr.  Emanuel  Perronet  mentioned 
his  brothers,  and  his  nephews,  and  nieces,  but  made  no  mention  of  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  his  nephews  and  nieces.  Had  the  father  of  the 
ladies,  (who  was  also  a  clergyman,)  been  alive  eight  years  ago,  the 
estate  would  have  been  his,  and  the  entail  would  have  taken  place 
without  difficulty.  But  his  daughters  being  one  degree  farther  off,  the 
judges  on  that  account  gave  it  against  them  at  Geneva,  where  the  case 
was  tried. 

Though  the  ladies  have  not  succeeded,  they  should  be  glad  that  your 

*  Messrs.  Vincent  and  Charles  Perronet,  who  with  other  branches  of  their 
family  had  died  in  great  peace  and  triumph. 


392  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

father  did ;  and  he  undoubtedly  will,  if  he  can  legally  prove  that  he  is 
either  Mr.  Christian  Perronet,  or  Mr.  David  Perronet,  or  the  son  of 
either  of  them.  For  then,  as  brother  or  nephew  of  the  testator,  and  as 
being  expressly  mentioned  in  the  will,  he  will  recover  the  estate  without 
any  difficulty. 

The  ladies  send  their  love  to  all  your  family,  and  desire  to  hear  what 
account  your  father  can  give  of  his  father,  and  what  light  can  be  thrown 
upon  this  affair.  The  Mr.  Perronet,  whose  estate  has  been  thus  con- 
tended for,  for  want  of  one  of  the  nephews  mentioned  in  the  will,  is 
probably  the  same  clergyman  from  whom  I  saw  a  letter  at  your  house. 
His  end  had  something  tragical  in  it.  He  unfortunately  fell  into  the 
Rhone  at  Geneva,  and  was  drowned.  This  accident  probably  prevented 
his  making  a  will.  In  what  degree  was  your  father  related  to  him  ?  If 
the  estate  be  his,  it  is  no  charity  to  leave  it  to  those  who  have  laid  their 
hands  upon  it ;  for  they  are  very  rich  without  it. 

While  I  invite  you  to  make  your  title  clear  to  a  precarious  estate  on 
earth,  permit  me  to  remind  you,  my  dear  sir,  of  the  heavenly  inheritance 
entailed  on  believers.  The  will,  the  New  Testament,  by  which  we  can 
recover  it,  is  proved.  The  court  is  just  and  equitable,  the  Judge 
gracious  and  loving.  To  enter  into  possession  of  a  part  of  the  estate 
here,  and  of  the  whole  hereafter,  we  need  only  believe,  and  prove  evan- 
gelically, that  we  are  believers.  Let  us  then  set  about  it  now,  with 
earnestness,  with  perseverance,  and  with  a  full  assurance,  that  (through 
grace)  we  shall  infallibly  carry  our  point.  Alas  !  what  are  estates  and 
crowns,  to  grace  and  glory!  The  Lord  grant  that  we,  and  all  our 
friends,  may  choose  the  better  part,  which  your  brother,  my  dear  friend, 
so  happily  chose !  And  may  we  firmly  stand  to  the  choice,  as  he  did, 
to  the  last !  My  best  respects  wait  upon  your  dear  father,  your  sisters, 
and  nieces.     God  reward  your  kindness  to  me  upon  them  all ! 

Remember  me  in  grateful  love  to  Dr.  Turner.  I  have  had  a  pull 
back  since  I  wrote  last.  After  I  left  Mr.  Ireland  at  Macon,  to  shorten 
my  journey,  and  enjoy  new  prospects,  I  ventured  to  cross  the  mountains, 
which  separate  France  from  this  country.  But  on  the  third  day  of  the 
journey  I  found  an  unexpected  trial :  a  large  hill,  the  winding  roads  of 
which  were  so  steep  that,  although  we  fed  the  horses  with  bread  and 
wine,  they  could  scarcely  draw  the  empty  chaise.  This  obliged  me  to 
walk  in  all  the  steepest  places.  The  climbing  lasted  several  hours,  the 
sun  was  hot,  I  perspired  violently,  and  the  next  day  I  spit  blood  again. 
I  have  chiefly  kept  to  goats'  milk  ever  since,  and  hope  I  shall  get  over 
this  death  also,  because  I  find  myself  (blessed  be  God  !)  better  again,  and 
my  cough  is  neither  frequent  nor  violent. 

I  have  not  ventured  on  preaching  in  this  country.  It  is  delightful. 
If  you  come  to  see  it,  and  claim  the  estate,  bring  all  the  papers,  anec- 
dotes, and  memorials  your  father  can  collect,  and  come  to  share  a  de- 
lightful apartment,  and  one  of  the  finest  prospects  in  the  world,  in  the 
house  where  I  was  born.  The  weather  is  not  (hitherto)  too  hot  for  me, 
and  I  design  to  try  this  fine  air  some  months  longer.  We  have  a  fine 
shady  wood  near  the  lake,  where  I  can  ride  in  the  cool  all  the-  day,  and 
enjoy  the  singing  of  a  multitude  of  birds,  which  (though  sweet)  does  not 
come  up  to  the  singing  of  my  dear  friends  in  England.  There  I  meet 
them  in  spirit  several  hours  in  the  day.     Give  my  love  and  thanks  to 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  393 

those  you  know,  and  particularly  to  dear  Messrs.  Wesley,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Greenwood,  Miss  Thornton,  Mr.  Atlay,  and  all  the  Foundery  family. 
Do  not  forget  my  god-daughter,  her  mother,  and  brothers.  God  bless 
you,  my  dear  friend !  And  believe  me,  dear  sir,  your  obedient,  obliged 
servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


CI.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  in  Switzerland,  May  15,  1778. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend, — I  have  received  your  kind  letter,  and  the 
directions  and  prescriptions  which  it  contains ;  for  which  I  return  you, 
and  Dr.  Turner,  my  sincerest  thanks.  I  have  laid  aside  upon  it  my 
pills  of  soap  and  aloes,  and  shall  use  no  physic  but  in  case  of  absolute 
necessity.  The  climate  and  prospect,  the  fine  roads  and  pure  air  which 
I  enjoy  here,  had  contributed  to  strengthen  me  a  little,  when  an  accident 
(I  think)  has  pulled  me  back. 

About  a  month  ago,  something  I  chewed  got  into  my  windpipe,  and 
caused  a  fit  of  coughing,  with  the  greatest  efforts  of  the  lungs,  for  half 
an  hour.  I  began  to  spit  blood  again ;  and  ever  since  I  have  had  a  bad 
cough,  which  has  -sometimes  held  me  violently  for  an  hour  after  my  first 
sleep.  My  cough  has  been  better  these  two  days  again,  and  I  hope  it 
will  go  off  if  I  can  spit.  My  friends  here,  (through  a  national  preju- 
dice,) have  opposed  my  taking  the  senna.  This  delay  hurt  me ;  and 
for  peace  sake  I  have  taken,  now  and  then,  a  glass  of  a  diet  drink,  made 
of  manna  dissolved  in  water,  which  answers  the  end  of  the  senna  and 
prunes.  I  have  bought  a  quiet  horse,  whose  easy  pace  I  can  bear  ;  and 
I  ride  much.  Upon  the  whole,  if  my  cough  leaves  me,  I  may  yet  re- 
cover my  strength  ;  but  if  it  fixes,  it  will  probably  be  my  last.  The  will 
of  the  Lord  be  done  ! 

I  have  not  ventured  upon  preaching  since  I  came  here.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  me  now  to  go  through  it.  If  the  weather  should  grow 
hot,  I  may  go  to  the  foot  of  the  hills,  which  is  but  five  or  six  miles  off. 
I  drink  goats'  milk,  and  have  left  off  meat  since  the  cough,  but  design 
eating  a  little  again  at  dinner. 

I  passed  last  Monday  through  a  town  called  Morges,  fifteen  miles  off, 
where  I  was  told  there  was  a  gentlewoman  of  your  name.  I  waited 
upon  her ;  she  is  an  elderly  person,  about  forty-five ;  lives  with  her  sis- 
ter who  is  a  widow  lady.  They  received  me  kindly.  I  gave  them  an 
account  of  their  friends  in  England,  and  the  dear  Shoreham  family. 
They  were  very  glad  to  hear  of  them.  Their  father  was  a  clergyman, 
nephew,  or  first  cousin  to  your  venerable  father.  The  clergyman  with 
whom  your  family  corresponded,  was  another  who  died  at  Geneva. 
They  seemed  well  inclined,  but  (like  the  people  of  this  country)  not  deep 
in  internal  religion.  The  husband  of  the  lady  (who  is  a  widow)  was 
one  of  Lady  Guyon's  correspondents  ;  at  least,  I  remember  to  have  seen 
among  her  printed  letters,  one  directed  to  him  at  Morges.  They  invited 
me  to  call  again,  which  I  design  to  do,  if  I  can,  and  shall  let  you  know 
more  of  the  matter.  They  told  me  they  had  two  relations  of  your 
name  ;  one  a  merchant  at  Marseilles  and  another  a  great  man  at  Paris, 
worth  much  money,  being  "general  inspector  of  all  the  roads  and  bridges 
in  the  kingdom.     I  told  them  they  had  some  relations  greater  still,  as 


394  FAMILIAR    LETTLKS. 

being  possessed  of  "  the  pearl  of  great  price,  the  new  name,  and  the  new 
and  living  way  to  glory."  I  would  have  stopped  longer  with  them,  but 
my  company  did  not  permit  it.  I  exhorted  them  to  pray  for  your  branch 
of  the  family,  as  I  was  sure  yours  had  done,  and  would  do  for  them ; 
and  I  rejoiced  at  being  with  your  relations,  telling  them  how  much  I  was 
indebted  to  you,  and  at  meeting  the  dear  Shoreham  family  in  their  dis- 
tant friends.  My  best  respects  to  them  all,  as  well  as  to  Dr.  Turner, 
whose  kindness,  in  conjunction  with  yours,  draws  the  deepest  prayers 
and  thanks  from,  my  very  dear  friends,  your  much  indebted  and  obliged 
servant,  J.  Fletcher. 

By  favour  of  Miss  Thornton. 


CII.— To  the  Rev.  V.  Perronet. 

Nyon. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — Last  week  I  received  your  kind  letter,  and 
immediately  sent  an  extract  of  it  to  Mr.  Monod,  who  married  a  Miss 
Perronet,  and  who  some  weeks  ago  came  on  purpose  from  Morges  to 
inquire  after  your  family.  As  it  was  he  that  had  gone  to  law  about  re- 
covering the  estate  of  your  family,  and  he  appeared  "to  me  a  person  of 
sense  and  good  nature,  I  requested  he  would  direct  me  what  to  write  to 
you,  with  respect  to  the  cautions  necessary  to  be  taken  to  recover  your 
estate.  As  his  answer  contains  all  I  could  say,  and  more,  I  send  it  you 
as  the  best  guide.  If  you  can  any  how  get  a  copy  of  the  register  of  the 
place  where  you  was  baptized,  duly  authenticated  before  two  witnesses, 
it  will  be  an  important  piece.  If  you  can  but  prove  yourself  to  be  your 
father's  son,  I  see  no  difficulty  in  the  getting  of  your  right.  May  we 
stand  to  our  Christian  baptism,  and  get  by  that  means  the  heavenly  inhe- 
ritance !  May  the  extract  be  found  written  in  my  heart  with  as  much 
faithfulness,  and  in  as  deep  characters,  as,  I  trust,  it  is  in  yours  !  I  hope 
your  son  will  soon  bring  us  good  news  of  the  faith  and  health,  grace 
and  resignation  of  every  branch  of  your  family  which  I  salute  much  in 
the  Lord.  J'  F. 


CIll.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon. 
My  Dear  Friend, — Bring  along  with  you  all  the  papers  which  can 
prove  your  Swiss  origin  ;  and,  trusting  a  good  Providence,  come  to  your 
patient,  who  (blessed  be  God  !)  is  in  better  health  than  he  ever  thought 
he  should  be,  though  far  from  being  strong  yet.  The  air  here  agrees 
with  me,  and  hope  it  will  with  you.  By  the  lawyer's  talk,  I  said  the 
estate  would  be  six  or  seven  thousand  pounds.  I  find  by  your  relation's 
talk,  who  knows  better,  it  will  be  but  half  that  sum  ;  but  let  not  that  dis- 
courage you.  It  is  proper  there  should  be  a  draw-back  on  our  earthly 
expectations ;  but  the  riches  of  Christ  are  unsearchable.  We  shall  find 
more  than  ever  was  told  us :  "  The  one  half,"  said  the  queen  of  Sheba, 
"  has  not  been  told  me  ;"  and  she  spoke  but  of  an  earthly  Solomon.  If 
the  war  with  France  has  broke  out,  you  must  come  by  Harwich,  Hel- 
voet  Sluys,  Rotterdam,  Bois  le  Due,  Maestricht,  Aix  la  Chapelle,  Co- 


FAMILIAR    LETTERS.  395 

logne,  Francfort,  Basil,  Berne,  Lausanne,  Merges,  Nyon,  where  (please 
God)  you  will  find  me  near  the  church ;  and  the  God  of  Jacob  be  your 
guide  and  protector !  My  thanks  and  respects  Wait  on  dear  Dr.  Turner : 
Dray,  if  you  see  him,  be  so  kind  as  to  tell  him,  that  by  eating  great  quan- 
tities of  little  black  cherries,  I  find  my  body  better ;  and  ask  him,  if  I 
might  venture  to  bathe  in  the  lake  of  Geneva.  I  have  spit  blood  but 
once  since  I  wrote  last.     Adieu.  J.  F. 


CIV.— To  Miss  Thornton. 

Nyon. 
The  heavenly  dove  loves  no  selfishness.  My  tract  was  not  contrived 
to  please  but  to  reconcile  parties  ;  party  people,  therefore,  will  never  like 
it.  And  neuters  are  seldom  valiant  in  the  cause  of  peace.  The  sword 
may  do  what  pens  cannot.  Any  thing  that  will  make  us  all  shelter 
together  under  the  wings  of  our  heavenly  protector  and  peace  maker, 
will  be  a  blessing.     I  am  glad  your  late  trial  has  had  that  effect. 

Closer  and  closer  let  us  cleave, 

To  his  beloved  embrace  ; 
Expect  his  fulness  to  receive, 

And  grace  to  answer  grace  : — 

Grace  received  to  answer  that  which  is  promised, — the  grand  promise 
not  excepted ! 

Poor  England !  But  God's  kingdom  ruleth  over  all.  I  have  ven- 
tured to  preach  once.  The  birds  of  my  fine  wood  have  almost  done 
singing ;  but  I  have  met  there  with  a  parcel  of  children  whose  hearts 
seem  turned  toward  singing  the  praises  of  God.  And  we  sing  every 
day  from  four  till  five.  Help  us  by  your  prayers.  One  of  them,  I  hope, 
received  the  love  of  Christ  this  week.  My  love  to  Thomas  and  Sarah. 
Accept  it  from  your  obliged  friend,  John  Fletcher. 


CV. — To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenwood. 

My  Dear  Brother,  Sister,  and  Benefactors, — I  thank  you  for 
the  favour  of  your  letter,  as  well  as  for  former  mercies  shown  to  an 
unworthy  wretch.  I  wish  I  could  help  you  also  to  an  estate  here.  But 
a  sure  one  awaits  us  all  in  heaven.  Let  us  go  with  full  assurance  to 
the  throne  of  grace  and  demand,  in  Jesus'  name,  the  earnest  of  it.  God 
sanctify  all  trials  and  blessings  to  you !  The  former  word  is  useless, 
because  trials  from  our  heavenly  Father  are  but  blessings  of  another 
kind.  Hold  out  faith  and  patience !  If  you  will  go  into  the  country 
for  change  of  air,  all  I  have  at  Madeley  house — horse  and  field  is  yours. 
Go  and  God  will  bless  the  journey.  My  duty,  love,  and  thanks,  &c, 
wait  on  Mr.  Wesley,  Mr.  Atley,  Mr.  Phipps,  Miss  Ray,  Mrs.  Carteret, 
and  her  honoured  friends,  all  friends  at  the  Foundery,  and  every  where. 

John  Fletcher. 

CVI. — To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perronet. 

January  2,  1779. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — I  thank  you  for  the  favour  of  your  letter,  and 
for  the  bearer,  [Mr.  W.  Perronet,]  who  makes  shift  with  me  in  this 


396  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

strange  land  of  our  fathers.  All  who  have  seen  the  titles  he  brings, 
think  them  good — except  the  interested,  who  find  them  not  sufficient. 
This  will  oblige  us  to  go  to  Chateau  D'Oex,  and  then  the  shortest  will 
be  to  make  an  agreement  with  your  cousins,  who  will  be  much  better 
able  to  recover  what  is  owing  to  you  in  whole  or  in  part. 

May  we  make  use  of  our  better  title  to  the  heavenly  inheritance  !  If 
from  the  date  of  this  letter  we  subtract  about  thirty-three  years,  we  shall 
find  the  date  of  the  Testator's  will,  and  be  able  to  say,  "  The  kingdom 
that  cannot  be  moved  was  bequeathed  in  the  year  34  ;  and  the  will  and 
deed  of  conveyance  were  then  sealed  with  the  Testator's  own  blood, 
and  proved  by  the  Judge  of  all,  when  he  spoke  from  heaven  and  said, 
'  Hear  ye  Mm,  the  Testator  !'  who,  delivering  the  bloody  titles,  said  him- 
self, '  It  is  finished.'  " 

That  you,  dear  sir,  your  whole  family,  and  dear  Mrs.  Bissaker,  (to 
whom,  as  well  as  to  Miss  Perronet  and  Miss  Briggs,  I  beg  to  be  remem- 
bered,) may  all,  without  deputy,  sue  and  take  possession  of  that  estate, 
is  the  wish  and  prayer  of  your  affectionate  brother  and  servant, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CVIL* — To  tlie  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet. 
(From  his  son  William.) 

Nyon,  Feb.  8,  1779. 

Honoured  and  Dear  Sir, — Your  last  letter,  (dated  Jan.  6,)  I  did 
not  receive  till  the  5th  of  this  month  ;-and  it  seems  that  mine  was  nearly 
as  long  in  getting  to  Shoreham,  which,  I  am  told,  is  owing  to  the  bad- 
ness of  the  roads  at  this  season  :  however,  we  have  hitherto  had  (bless- 
ed  be  God !)  a  very  fine,  though  a  very  sharp  winter. 

The  storm  which  my  sister  mentions  in  her  letter,  was  felt  here ;  but 
I  believe  (though  it  was  very  violent)  no  mischief  was  done  in  this 
place.  Indeed,  the  houses  here,  like  the  mountains  which  surround 
them,  are  so  strong,  so  enormously  heavy,  that  no  ordinary  hurricane 
is  able  to  affect  them.  The  house  we  live  in  is  like  an  old  castle,  and 
is  supposed  to  have  been  built  near  five  hundred  years :  and  as  to  the 
church,  it  would  be  no  easy  matter  to  draw  or  describe  it ;  for  it  is  so 
surrounded  by  old  walls  and  buildings  of  one  kind  or  other,  that  we 
can  scarce  see  it,  though  we  live  close  to  it.  However,  it  is  something 
like  Oxford  church ;  only  the  spire  is  not  quite  so  high. 

Last  week  Mr.  Fletcher,  Mr.  Monod,  (the  lawyer,)  and  myself,  went 
again  to  Geneva,  and,  at  the  request  of  those  who  have  possession  of  the 
estate,  lodged  a  copy  of  our  papers  in  the  hands  of  their  lawyer ;  who 
is  to  inspect  them,  and  then  to  give  his  opinion  with  regard  to  the 
validity  of  our  claim.  But  what  time  he  will  require  for  this,  or  what  his 
determination  will  be,  we  know  not ;  but  I  trust  that  the  cause  is  in  better 
hands  than  those  of  cunning  and  artful  lawyers,  namely,  in  the  hands 
of  Him  who  is  able  to  overrule  and  dispose  them  both  to  peace  and 
justice. 

*  This  communication  is  inserted  to  explain  some  passages  in  the  succeeding 
letters,  as  well  as  to  exhibit  the  amiable  disposition  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  friend  and 
correspondent. 


s 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  397 

1  am  very  thankful  to  hear  that  you  are  so  well  recovered  from  your 
late  illness.  But  both  Mr.  Fletcher  and  myself  are  of  opinion  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  you  should  have  some  one  to  assist  you.  It  has 
been  upon  my  mind  ever  since  I  left  England,  that  should  it  please  God 
to  give  us  any  part  of  this  estate,  the  money  could  not  be  applied  to  a 
better  purpose.  However,  I  would  not  have  it  turn  on  that  event, 
(which  is  at  present  so  uncertain,)  but  wish  it  were  done  out  of  hand. 
Mr.  F.  recommends  two  persons ;  a  Mr.  Bailey,  (who  is  at  present  at 
Kingswood,)  a  very  pious,  worthy  young  man,  in  all  respects  qualified 
for  orders,  and  who  only  waits  for  a  title.  The  other  is  Mr.  Benson, 
who  was  formerly  in  Lady  Huntingdon's  college  ;  and  Mr.  F.  says  that 
he  was*in  every  respect  the  best  master  they  ever  had  there :  but  his 
religious  sentiments  not  happening  to  agree  with  those  of  her  ladyship, 
he  was  dismissed,  and  is  now  a  travelling  preacher  with  Mr.  Wesley. 
Mr.  F.  guys  that  if  he  wanted  a  curate  himself,  he  should  scarce  know 
which  of  the  two  to  choose.  But  poor  Mr.  F.,  so  far  from  wanting  ano- 
ther curate,  says  he  does  not  know  how  he  shall  be  able  to  keep  what  he 
has  already,  as  he  gives  him  fifty  pounds  a  year,  (which  is  ten  more  than 
is  usual,)  and  his  friends  at  Madeley  sent  him  word  that  it  is  more  than 
they  can  raise  out  of  the  living.  I  am,  honoured  and  dear  sir,  youi 
dutiful  son,  W.  Perronet. 


CVIII. — To  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Feb.  8,  1799. 

Honoured  and  Dear  Father  in  Christ, — I  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  accompanying  your  son  to  your  father's  birth  place.  It  is  a  charming 
country  for  those  who  have  a  taste  for  highland  prospects,  but  what  is  it 
to  our  heavenly  Father's  hill  of  Zion  ?  Thither  may  we  all  travel  sum- 
mer and  winter,  and  there  may  we  all  have  a  happy  meeting,  and  find 
an  eternal  inheritance ! 

Whether  you  will  come  to  your  earthly  estate  in  these  parts,  by  pos- 
session as  by  right,  is  yet  to  me  matter  of  doubt.  A  little  time,  I  hope, 
will  decide  the  question ;  and  as  Providence  will  throw  in  the  turning 
weight,  it  wili  be  for  the  best,  which  way  soever  the  affair  ends.  My 
friend  is  tolerably  well,  and  I  hope  Providence  will  bring  him  back  safe 
to  you,  more  out  of  conceit  with  the  vanity  of  earth ;  and  may  we  all 
be  more  in  love  with  the  blessings  of  Heaven  !  I  beg  to  be  remembered 
to  Miss  Perronet,  Miss  Briggs,  and  dear  Mrs.  Bissaker ;  and,  begging 
an  interest  in  your  prayers,  I  am,  with  dutiful  respect,  yours,  &c, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CIX.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

(Who  was  then  at  Lausanne.) 

Nyon,  Nov.  9,  1779. 

My  Dear  Friend, — You  must  not  expect  to  see  me  as  I  designed. 

I  am  deprived  of  that  pleasure  by  a  rheumatic  pain,  which  fastened  on 

my  left  shoulder  the  Sunday  after  you  set  out.     I  have  been  almost 

crippled  by  it  at  times ;  and  it  has  robbed  me  of  a  good  deal  of  sleep. 


393  FAMILIAR    LETTERS. 

However,  it  is  not  so  violent  now ;  and  I  find  it  a  good  goad  to  make  me 
go  to  the  Spring  of  help,  health,  and  comfort.  No  letter  here  for  you 
or  me.  When  do  you  come  back  ?  Remember  me  to  Miss  Perronet, 
and  believe  me  your  affectionate  friend  and  obliged  brother, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CX.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Nov.  13. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  thank  you  for  your  letter.  I  have  been  advised 
to  apply  a  great  plaister  of  turpentine  to  my  shoulder ;  and  I  haTO  partly 
recovered  the  use  of  it,  (thank  God  !)  though  it  is  still  very  weak.  They 
have  no  good  hartshorn  drops  in  this  country :  but  I  drink  a  decoction 
of  pineapple,  from  the  fir  tree,  which  is  as  warm  as  guaiacum.  My 
writing  does  not  go  on :  but  the  will  of  the  Lord  is  done,  and  that  is 
enough. 

I  have  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ireland,  who  sends  his  love  to  you.  He 
sends  no  news.  He  stays  in  England  to  serve  the  office  of  sheriff.  I  have 
stopped  my  chimney  with  straw,  so  t  cannot  have  the  draught  occasioned 
by  a  fire.  I  would  press  you  to  come  back  soon  if  I  was  not  persuaded 
you  are  better  off  with  Miss  Perronet.  I  have  been  afraid  our  bad  meat 
here  would  make  you  lose  all  your  flesh.  And,  for  the  honour  of  Switzer- 
land, I  should  be  glad  you  had  some  to  carry  back  to  England,  if  we  live 
to  go  and  see  our  friends  there.  However,  when  it  will  suit  you  to  re- 
turn, your  company  will  particularly  oblige,  my  dear  friend,  your  obliged 
friend  and  servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


CXI.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Dec.  31,  1779. 

My  Dear  Friend, — How  do  you  do  ?  I  send  a  line  to  let  you  know 
how  I  am,  and  to  wish  you  a  Christian  Christmas,  and  a  happy  new 
year. 

Now  for  me.  My  niece  was  married  last  Wednesday  to  a  man  who 
has  grand  children.  The  old  colonel  is  already  here,  with  two  maids 
and  a  whistling,  saucy  footman.  I  would  have  got  off  already,  bat  I  have 
not  the  key  of  the  new  lodging ;  my  sister  will  not  lead  nor  drive,  so  I 
must  stay.  I  do  not  offer  you  a  room  now,  for  I  do  not  know  whether  I 
shall  stay  there,  as  the  place  is  damp  by  report.  I  would  go  and  try 
Lausanne,  if  I  could  spare  my  brother's  help  and  company.  I  wish 
myself  with  you  :  O,  for  quietness  and  English  friends !  I  have  had  let- 
ters  from  my  parish,  and  they  are  not  very  good ;  I  hope  yours  were 
better.  I  sent  your  papers  to  Mr.  Monod,  to  proceed  with  those  weapons. 
They  went  by  the  post.     I  hope  he  received  them  ;  inquire. 

My  health  is  tolerable.  I  am  glad  you  have  got  a  comfortable  Zoar, 
and  a  quiet  resting  place  under  Miss  Perronet's  roof.  Remember  me  to 
her.  Trust,  believe,  hope,  love,  and  rejoice  in  hope,  and  pray  for  your 
affectionate  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 


FAMILIAR   LETTERS.  399 


CXIL— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Jan.  17,  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  thought  you  would  have  been  here  long  ago, 
which  prevented  my  acknowledging  the  favour  of  yours.  My  sister  has 
taken  a  little  box  where  I  am.  There  is  but  a  little  room,  with  a  chim- 
ney, beside  the  kitchen.  She  herself  lies  here  in  the  old  house.  If  you 
come,  we  shall  make  shift  for  a  little  while  in  this  country.  I  hope 
your  business  and  mine  advance,  though  slowly.  I  send  you  a  letter 
from  our  friends.  I  have  heard  from  Mr.  Ireland,  who  has  been  ill,  and 
talks  of  coming  to  meet  us. 

Lord,  meet  and  direct  us  in  all  things !  Do  not  be  dismayed ;  cast 
all  your  care  on  the  Lord,  and  God  will  appear  for  England  and  for  us. 
My  love  to  Miss  Perronet.  My  brother  and  sister  send  theirs  to  you. 
Farewell.     Yours,  &c,  J.  Fletcher. 


CXIIL— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Friday,  Feb.  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  long  to  know  how  you  do,  and  to  engage  you 
to  let  me  know  it,  I  will  tell  you  that  I  am  pretty  well,  thank  God.  I 
have  fenced  myself,  as  well  as  I  could,  against  the  wind  and  cold,  and 
have  escaped  a  relapse  into  my  rheumatic  pains.  I  try  to  finish  one  of 
my  little  things  to  carry  to  Lausanne,  and  see  you ;  but  I  do  not  get  on 
as  I  wish.  However,  I  have  done  my  work,  but  the  copyist  has  not  yet 
done  his,  nor  have  I  yet  mended  after  him.  I  have  had  no  news  from 
England  since  I  wrote  last.  How  do  your  affairs  go  on?  We  have 
been  chiefly  without  a  maid  here ;  for  my  sister  sent  off  Marianne  at 
Christmas  :  and  soon  after  she  sent  off  the  girl,  who  caught  a  bad  cold 
in  tugging  the  wood  from  one  house  to  the  other.  However,  she  is 
come  again  this  week.  Pray,  have  you  got  your  hanger?  We  have 
not  found  it  among  your  things  which  have  been  carried  here.  Mr. 
Pache,  I  suppose,  called  here  with  a  parcel  for  you. 

My  brother  and  sister  desire  to  be  remembered  to  you  ;  she  often  asks 
me  how  you  do  this  cold  winter.  No  solid  peace  for  us  but  in  the  Lord ; 
and  (blessed  be  God  !)  in  him  there  is:  I  hope  you  take  it  freely,  and 
enjoy  it  comfortably.  Peace  be  with  you  and  our  dear  friends  in  Eng- 
land !  Remember  me  to  Miss  Perronet,  and  believe  me  yours,  in  Jesus 
Christ,  J.  Fletcher. 

If  you  choose  to  come  to  Nyon,  you  know  you  may  have  a  bed  at  my 
brother's,  or  half  of  mine  here ;  for  there  is  no  other  in  the  house,  and 
my  sister  still  goes  to  lie  in  the  old  house. 


CXIV.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

March,  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  thank  you  for  the  letters  you  have  sent  me ;  1 

add,  at  the  end,  a  line  of  thanks  to  your  dear  father.     I  am  about  two 

hundred  pounds  in  debt  in  my  parish,  by  a  letter  lately  received.    I  must 

send  them  the  money  I  designed  to  lay  out  in  printing  my  little  things. 


400  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

I  should  be  glad  to  send  fifty  louis  d'ors  immediately,  could  you  by 
means  of  Miss  Perronet,  or  of  some  English  at  Lausanne,  procure  me  a 
draught  for  London.  I  would  have  the  money  paid  into  Mr.  Green- 
wood's hands,  to  be  remitted  to  Mr.  York,  at  ShrifT  Hales,  near  Shiffhal, 
Shropshire.  If  the  carrier  would  take  it,  and  give  security,  I  have* it  by 
me ;  and  would  send  it  to  you  to  Lausanne,  if  you  do  not  find  a  more 
expeditious  way.  I  think  a  bill  is  better  in  such  times  as  these.  If  you 
are  ready  to  set  out,  the  weather  is  fair ;  and  as  my  way  seems  every 
where  blocked  up  here,  I  shall  go  back  when  you  please.  Remember 
me  to  Miss  Perronet. 

Believe  in  the  Lord ;  cast  all  care  of  body,  soul,  family,  friends,  king, 
and  countrymen  upon  Him  who  cares  for  us,  and  trust  to  see  his  full 
salvation.  My  friends  desire  to  be  remembered  to  you.  I  no  more 
invite  you  to  half  of  my  bed,  unless  you  will  help  me  to  make  it ;  for 
the  little  maid  is  gone  again.  Send  me  word  how  you  do ;  and  believe 
me  yours,  J.  Fletcher. 

I  would  write  to  our  dear  friends,  but  I  fear  the  carrier  is  gone.  If 
he  is,  please  to  put  Angleterre  upon  my  letter,  and  send  by  the  post. 


CXV.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Good  Friday,  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  send  you  another  letter ;  be  so  good  as  to  put  it 
in  your  packet.  Mr.  Bouvereau  and  I  talk  of  setting  out  in  the  month 
of  May :  I  hope  you  will  not  let  us  go  without  you.  I  shall  have  time 
to  prepare  one  of  my  little  things  for  the  press,  but  I  still  am  in  the  mire 
and  clay,  and  get  on  but  little.  I  have  had  a  few  lines  from  Mr.  Ire- 
land, who  says  that  the  dissenters  try  to  stir  up  the  people  against  the 
king.  God  give  us  peace  with  and  love  to  all  men  !  Farewell  in  Jesus  ! 
The  carrier  waits ;  so  I  conclude  with  my  love  to  you  and  your  kind 
hostess.     God  bless  you  !     Pray  for  yours,  J.  Fletcher. 

Good  news !  Christ  to-day  has  slain  the  enmity,  made  reconciliation, 
and  sealed  the  new  covenant  testament,  by  which  we  are  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.     Believe,  love,  rejoice,  and  be  thankful. 


CXVL— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

July  26,  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  have  received  your  packet.  My  brother  and 
I  think,  that,  to  apply  again  at  Berne  to  ****,  would  be  wire  drawing, 
and  setting  Berne  and  Geneva  together  by  the  ears  :  that  would  require 
much  time,  trouble,  and  expense  ;  and  the  best  way  is,  now  to  agree  with 
the  co-heirs,  and  make  the  best  composition  you  can.  You  must  wait  for 
the  instructions  M.  Monod  promises  to  give  you.  It  does  not  seem  the 
co-heirs  deny  your  right.  That  question  is  not  touched  in  the  letters. 
God  deliver  us  from  the  hands  of  men  !  My  brother  joins  me  in  love  to 
you  and  Miss  Perronet.  I  do  my  little  jobs  as  fast  as  I  can,  but  seem 
stalled  as  well  as  yourself.  However,  you  should  try  to  conclude,  that 
we  may  all  set  out  in  September. 

Cast  all  your  burdens  upon  the  Lord.    Let  nothing  make  you  unoasy. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  401 

Peace  is  better  than  money.  Our  heavenly  inheritance  is  in  good  hands. 
The  New  Testament  is  in  full  force.  Jesus  keeps  possession  of  the 
estate  for  us,  and  the  people  of  Geneva  have  no  influence  before  the  great 
tribunal.  I  do  not  know  when  I  shall  go  to  Lausanne  :  however,  I  hope 
it  will  be  soon.    Farewell,  my  dear  friend  !    I  am  yours,  in  Jesus  Christ, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CXVIL— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Tuesday  3,  1780. 
My  Dear  Friend, — I  thank  you  for  your  letters ;  they  have  given  me 
much  pleasure,  as  I  see  that  you  will  at  last  end  your  affair,  and  get  ready 
to  set  out  in  the  spring,  with  Mr.  Ireland,  who  comes  with  his  family  I 
know  not  where,  I  hope  not  so  far  as  Barcelona.  I  think  he  will  spend 
the  winter  at  or  about  Avignon.  If  you  will  go  and  join  him,  I  should 
be  glad  to  do  it,  for  the  stream  under  the  house  does  not  make  it  very 
wholesome.  I  am,  however,  better  of  my  cold,  thank  God  !  My  bro- 
ther thinks,  as  well  as  myself,  that  you  may  conclude  upon  the  terms 
you  mention.  "  Better  is  a  dinner  of  herbs  with  peace,  than  a  stalled  ox 
and  noise  therewith."  I  hope  to  go  to  Lausanne  directly  after  vintage, 
to  offer  a  manuscript  to  the  censors,  to  see  if  they  will  allow  its  being 
published :  so  I  do  not  invite  you  to  share  my  damp  bed.  My  sister 
was  so  kind  as  to  look  for  another  house,  but  we  find  none  to  let  under 
a  year.  When  you  write  to  Shoreham,  send  my  duty  and  love.  Pre- 
sent it  to  Miss  Perronet  and  her  friend.  We  are  here  travellers  ;  so  we 
must  expect  some  difficulties,  and  a  good  many  inconveniences.  If  Mr. 
Ireland  goes  to  Marseilles,  you  might  go  and  see  your  cousin  there.  Lift 
up  your  heart,  and  see  by  faith  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  our  heavenly 
Kinsman  and  Brother  :  and  when  you  rise  there,  take  by  the  hand  of 
prayer  your  affectionate  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 


CXVIII.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Sept.  20,  1780. 

My  Dear  Friend, — What  are  you  doing,  and  how  do  you  do  ?  I  long 
to  know ;  I  thought  we  should  by  this  time  be  at  Ostend,  or  in  England. 
I  have  got  a  bad  cold  and  a  hoarseness,  but,  nevertheless,  I  am  ready 
to  venture  upon  the  journey.  I  send  you  a  letter.  I  write  to  the  grand- 
mother of  the  young  lady  I  was  to  see  safe  in  England.  Were  it  not 
for  this  engagement,  I  would  stay  till  next  spring.  Be  so  good  as  to 
deliver  the  letter,  and  settle  that  affair  with  the  lady.  If  you  will  set 
out,  in  case  I  do,  we  should  go  directly  to  Geneva,  and  settle  with  the 
people  there,  upon  the  most  tolerable  terms.  If  you  cannot,  you  might 
postpone  your  journey  till  the  spring,  and  go  back  with  Mr.  Ireland  who 
Gomes  over  with  his  family  to  spend  the  winter  in  France,  having  ob- 
tained leave  to  go  any  where  but  to  a  sea  port. 

The  misfortune  I  hint  at  in  my  French  letter,  is  the  mislaying  of  a 
considerable  part  of  my  manuscript.  After  a  thousand  searches,  giving  it 
up  as  lost,  I  fell  to  work  again,  waded  through  the  double  toil,  and  when 
I  had  done  last  night,  I  found  accidentally  what  I  had  mislaid.  This 
has  put  me  back  a  great  deal.     The  Lord's  will  be  done  in  all  things 

Vol.  IV.  26 


402  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

I  thank  God,  I  have  been  kept  from  fretting  on  the  occasion,  though  I 
would  not  for  a  great  deal  have  such  another  trial.  Mr.  Ireland  sent  me 
word,  the  colonies  would  return  to  the  king's  allegiance  this  autumn :  I 
am  afraid  the  two  India  fleets  taken  will  put  off  that  event  for  ever  :  that 
evil  seems  to  be  from  the  Lord  ;  so  it  will  be  a  good  thing  in  the  end. 
I  envy  you  sometimes  the  pleasure  of  being  with  Miss  Perronet.  Re- 
member me  to  her  and  to  her  friend,  and  believe  me  yours, 

J.  Fletcher. 

I  hope  you  cast  all  your  burdens  upon  the  Lord :  follow  your  sister's 
directions.  Believe  and  you  will  hope,  hope  and  you  will  love,  love  and 
all  will  be  well. 

If  you  are  short  of  money,  let  me  know  ;  and  I  shall  borrow  for  you 
and  for  me.  Do  not  be  distressed  while  you  have  a  friend  so  near.  My 
vineyard,  so  fine  last  year,  has  very  few  grapes,  and  unripe  ones,  this 
year.     But  I  have  bought  the  crop  of  a  little  corner  of  one  of  my  sisters. 


CXIX. — To  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Dec.  5,  1780. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Father  in  Christ, — You  know  better  than  I,  that 
patience  must  have  its  perfect  work,  and  that  we  are  all  called  to  bear 
our  share  of  what  remains  of  Christ's  sufferings  for  the  purifying  of  his 
members,  that  they  may  reign  with  him  after  having  suffered  with  him. 
Our  wise  and  good  God  thinks  fit  to  try  my  dear  friend,  your  son,  with 
a  want  of  appetite  and  uneasiness  in  his  bowels,  which  makes  him  often 
return  the  little  food  he  takes.  He  came  some  time  ago  here  from  Lau- 
sanne, and  we  went  to  Geneva  together,  where  he  settled  your  affair  with 
three  of  the  Geneva  co-heirs,  upon  the  same  footing  he  had  settled  with 
those  of  Chateau  d'Oex.  The  fourth  is,  they  say,  insolvable,  or  affects 
to  be  so.  They  may  possibly  refund  something  :  at  least  we  are  made 
to  hope  so.  When  my  friend  shall  be  a  little  better,  he  will  give  you  a 
more  particular  account. 

For  the  benefit  of  a  ride,  he  went  lately  to  Geneva  with  my  sister, 
who  took  him  to  Dr.  Manget,  her  physician,  whom  he  preferred  to  Dr. 
Tissot.  He  prescribed.  My  friend  being  come  home,  took  the  medi- 
cine ordered,  and  was  a  good  deal  tried  by  it.  The  physician  of  our 
town  attends  him  ;  and  we  hope,  that,  by  little  and  little,  his  stomach  will 
be  settled,  and  his  appetite  return.  He  bears  his  weakness  with  so 
much  patience  and  resignation,  that  my  sister-in-law  (who  is  an  English 
woman)  is  quite  edified. 

Blessed  be  God,  he  has  no  fever,  and  the  tightness  of  his  breast  is  not 
so  great  as  it  was  two  days  ago.  I  had  yesterday  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ire- 
land, who  will  be  to-morrow  at  Lyons  on  his  way  to  Montpelier,  where 
we  design  (please  God  to  give  us  more  health  and  strength)  to  go  and 
join  him,  to  return  all  together  early  in  the  spring.  Pray  for  us,  that  we 
may  be  directed  into  the  right  way,  by  that  kind  Providence  which 
watches  over  us.  In  the  meantime  we  sit  still  and  wait  for  the  moving 
of  the  cloud  ;  determined  to  trust  in  his  wisdom  and  mercy,  though  he 
should  slay  us:  for  we  are  persuaded  that  all  works  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  him  even  in  the  feeblest  manner,  and  wait  for  the  ful- 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  403 

ness  of  his  love.  We  join  in  love  to  Miss  Perronet,  Miss  Briggs,  Messrs. 
Wesley,  Mr.  Greenwood  and  his  dear  family,  Mr.  Staniford,  and  all 
friends :  and  patient  in  tribulation,  or  rejoicing  in  hope,  I  am,  Rev.  and 
dear  father  in  Christ,  your  affectionate  and  dutiful  son, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CXX.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Thursday,  Dec.  31,  1780 
My  Dear  Friend, — I  send  you  a  few  lines  I  received  from  our 
friend  Ireland  at  my  return  here,  where  I  came  safe  after  a  very  wet 
journey,  in  which  I  got  a  cold.  I  wish  you  a  Christian  Christmas,  with 
all  the  blessings  Christ  brought  us  from  heaven  !  I  am  easier  in  seeing 
you  in  so  quiet  a  family,  and  in  so  good  an  apartment ;  but  I  want  to 
know  how  is  your  stomach,  and  if  you  can  keep  some  food. 

Ten  thousand  thanks  to  dear  Miss  Perronet,  for  all  her  kindness  to 
me,  my  brother,  and  yourself.  I  beg  to  be  remembered  to  Mrs.  Perronet 
also.  Tell  your  cousin  that  a  notion  came  into  my  mind  the  evening  I 
left  you,  that  she  had  given  me  back,  twice,  the  crown  I  lent  her  at 
Rolle  :  I  have  the  most  treacherous  memory  in  money  matters ;  and  if 
she  is  not  absolutely  clear,  she  has  not  paid  me  twice,  I  beg  you  would 
return  her  a  crown,  which  I  shall  return  you.  God  bless  you,  and  her, 
and  all  his  people  !  Come,  my  dear  friend,  let  us  rejoice  in  God  in  the 
midst  of  all  our  little  or  great  trials  !     Farewell  in  Jesus, 

J.  Fletcher. 


CXXI.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Saturday,  Jan.  14,  1781. 

My  Dear  Friend, — This  morning  I  received  the  enclosed  :  I  wish 
it  may  contain  comfortable  news.  I  am  sorry  your  weakness  of  stomach 
presses  upon  you  still.  I  wish  you  would  consult  Dr.  Tissot.  I  have  received 
a  letter  from  Ireland  this  week,  who  says,  if  your  complaint  is  bilious, 
castor  oil  and  travelling  are  the  best  things  for  you.  He  came  from 
Bristol,  with  two  ladies,  sisters,  one  of  whom  is  in  the  second  stage  of 
consumption.  They  think  to  return  to  England  in  the  beginning  of 
March,  all  together  ;  perhaps  they  could  give  us  a  lift,  as  they  have  four 
chaises. 

Mr.  Favre  has  lately  sent  back  my  brother's  memoirs,  with  some 
directions,  according  to  which  my  brother  is  going  to  alter  some  places, 
before  he  sends  it  to  you. 

Trust  in  the  Lord,  my  dear  friend  :  the  hairs  of  your  head  are  all 
numbered.  You  are  better  than  many  lilies  and  many  sparrows,  all  of 
whom  are  cared  for  by  infinite  love  and  a  watchful  Providence.  Jesus 
is  always  near,  and  the  Divine  pharmacy,  the  treasure  of  his  grace,  is 
at  hand. 

Much  love  to  you  from  our  friends  here  :  give  mine  to  Miss  Perronet 
and  her  mother.  J.  Fletcher. 


404  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 


CXXIL—  To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 


Nyon,  Tuesday  noon,  Feb.  1,  1781. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  thank  you  for  the  extract  of  your  father's 
letter.  I  wish  you  joy  about  his  health,  both  of  soul  and  body  !  I  wish 
you  may  abundantly  share  it.  With  respect  to  me,  I  am  pretty  well, 
except  the  inconveniency  of  a  breaking  out  in  my  back.  My  rheumatic 
pain  returned  ;  I  applied  a  plaister,  which  drew  pimples.  The  pain  went 
off,  but  the  smaller  inconveniency  remains. 

Mr.  Ireland  sends  me  word,  he  thinks  to  set  out  for  England  in  the 
beginning  of  March  :  and  I  reply,  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  taking  a 
February  journey  to  come  back.  I  do  not  know  yet  how  we  shall  con- 
trive. I  ask  him  whether  he  could  take  our  boxes,  in  case  he  could 
take  us  :  for  it  would  be  disagreeable  to  leave  our  things  behind,  after 
all.  I  trust  Miss  Perronet  to  take  care  of  you.  You  could  not,,  have  a 
better  room  at  Montpelier.  I  only  beg  you  will  eat  all  you  can,  and  as 
often  as  you  can. 

Let  us  trust  in  the  Lord,  that  he  may  rule  and  overrule  all  our  little 
matters.  He  is  ever  ready  to  carry  for  us  the  heaviest  end  of  all  our 
crosses  ;  they  would  sink  us.  But  worlds  are  sands  to  his  omnipotence. 
When  you  answer,  send  a  thousand  thanks,  and  much  love  from  me  to 
all  our  dear  friends  at  Shoreham.  Remember  me  also  in  much  love  to 
Miss  P.  and  her  mother,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  friend,  your  affectionate 
friend,  J.  Fletcher 


CXXIIL— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Saturday,  Feb.  10,  1781. 

My  DeaR  Friend, — I  heartily  rejoice  the  Lord  hath  given  some 
success  to  your  long  diet,  and  you  are  a  little  better.  I  hope  the  Divine 
blessing,  travelling,  and  the  pleasure  of  going  to  our  friends  in  England, 
will  be  of  farther  service  to  you. 

Last  Wednesday  I  went  to  Geneva,  with  my  brother,  to  get  his  son 
out  of  the  scrawl ;  and  we  came  back  safe  the  same  evening.  I  saw 
Mr.  Provost,  who  told  me  that  Messrs.  Comparel  would  give  you  each 
twenty- five  louis  d'/>rs ;  so  you  will  have  seventy- five,  reserving  all 
your  right  upon  him  who  is  at  Lima.  They  will  engage  to  pay  that 
sum  by  the  first  of  June.  So  your  affair  is  ended  :  for  I  hope  you  will 
choose  that  composition,  rather  than  drive  them  to  a  bankruptcy  by  a 
law  suit.  Your  call  to  England  seems  to  be  quite  clear  now ;  nor  is 
mine  less  clear. 

My  friend  Ireland  urges  me  to  join  him.  I  will  venture  upon  a  visit 
to  the  south  of  France,  with  you,  if  you  can  bear  the  journey.  He  sup- 
poses your  affair  will  not  be  ended  this  summer ;  and  he  proposes  that 
we  should  come  and  fetch  you  this  autumn.  I  have  wrote  to  him,  that, 
if  he  can  give  you  a  place  in  his  chaise,  I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  ride, 
provided  he  does  not  drive  Jehu-like.  We  should  go  south  by  Lyons, 
and  come  back  to  Paris  by  the  heart  of  the  kingdom.  He  says  they 
(the  French)  are  as  quiet  as  if  it  was  peace.  We  shall  have  the  chance 
of  occupying  the  room  of  the  dying  lady.  If  these  things  should  break, 
we  will  go  by  the  stage,  as  you  say. 


FAMILIAR  LETTERS.  405 

I  have  received  two  letters  from  my  parish,  where  I  am  wanted  on 
particular  reasons  :  so  necessity  draws  me,  and  my  promises  drive  me. 
I  finish  to-day  my  book,  that  detained  me,  as  your  affair  detained  you ; 
and  my  sister  will  gladly  return  to  her  Gingins.  The  weather  is  mild. 
Send  me  word  if  you  will  go  to  Geneva  to  sign  your  agreement,  and 
thence  we  will  set  out  for  Montpelier. 

My  brother  has  just  received  another  letter  from  Mr.  Ireland,  urging 
my  departure.  Come  as  soon  as  you  can,  do  not  make  it  (if  possible) 
much  longer  than  a  week.  Send  me  word,  by  the  return  of  the  post, 
how  you  are,  and  when  you  can  come,  or  whether  you  will  stay  till 
next  year.  The  Lord  strengthen,  bless,  and  direct  you !  Cast  all  your 
burdens  upon  him.  Give  my  sincere  love  to  Miss  Perronet  and  Jier 
mother ;  and  believe  me  yours,  J.  Fletcher. 


CXXIV.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Nyon,  Feb.  20,  1781. 

My  Dear  Friend, — I  am  sorry  I  am  likely  to  lose  the  pleasure  of 
your  company  in  my  return  to  England.  I  had  solemnly  promised  to 
my  friend,  Mr.  Ireland,  to  go  and  join  him  at  Montpelier,  if  he  came 
over.  I  have  so  long  put  off,  that  I  cannot  well  do  it  any  longer.  If  the 
weather  were  fine,  I  might  urge  you  to  venture  with  me ;  but  as  the 
winter  sets  in,  I  dare  not  do  it.  I  think  to  set  out  next  week  by  the 
stage,  if  I  hear  of  no  fellow  traveller  to  take  a  chaise  with  me.  I  shall 
endeavour  to  go  to  Lausanne  to  see  you,  and  take  a  packet  of  letters  for 
Shoreham.     Prepare  it  against  I  call. 

I  have  received  your  portmanteau,  for  which  I  thank  you.  I  shall 
leave  my  box  here,  as  I  fear  there  would  not  be  room  for  it  in  Mr.  Ire- 
land's carriages. 

Do  not  forget  to  deduct  from  your  Chateau  D'Oex  money  all  you 
have  spent  to  get  it :  that  will  make  the  fine  much  lighter.  I  fear  the 
Geneva  people  will  fine  you  also,  if  you  do  not  come  away  as  fast  as 
you  can. 

Let  us  return  to  our  heavenly  country  and  inheritance  :  nothing  will 
draw  back  a  part  of  it,  unless  our  unbelief  and  sins  do  it :  the  Lord 
crush  them  both ! 

My  love  to  Miss  Perronet  and  her  mother.  We  all  join  here  in 
wishes  for  your  perfect  recovery ;  but  none  more  heartily  than  your  old 
obliged  friend,  J.  Fletcher. 


CXXV.— To  Mr.  W.  Perronet. 

Lyons,  April  6,  1781. 
My  Dear  Friend, — We  are  both  weak,  both  afflicted;  but  Jesus 
careth  for  us.  He  is  every  where,  and  here  he  has  all  power  to  deliver 
us,  and  he  may  do  it  by  ways  we  little  think  of.  "  As  thou  wilt,  when 
thou  wilt,  and  where  thou  wilt,"  said  Baxter :  let  us  say  the  same.  It 
was  of  the  Lord  you  did  not  come  with  me :  you  would  have  been  sick 
as  I  am.  I  am  overdone  with  riding  and  preaching.  I  preached  twice 
in  the  fields.  I  carry  home  with  me  much  weakness,  and  a  pain  in  my 
back,  which  I  fear  will  end  in  the  gravel.     The  Lord's  will  be  done.    I 


406  FAMILIAR  LETTEBS. 

know  I  am  called  to  suffer  and  die.    The  journey  tires  me  ;  but  through 
mercy  I  bear  it.     Let  us  believe  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  Jesus. 

J.  Fletcher. 
In  the  beginning  of  March,  1781,  Mr.  Fletcher  took  a  final  leave  of 
Switzerland,  and  proceeded  to  the  south  of  France,  where  he  was 
engaged  to  meet  his  friend,  Mr.  Ireland,  and  to  return  with  him  from 
thence  to  England.  Nothing  particular  is  known  of  his  journey,  except 
that  during  the  short  time  he  stopped  at  Montpelier,  he  somewhat  im- 
paired his  health  by  too  great  exertion  in  the  pulpit ;  and  on  their  arrival 
at  Paris,  his  attendance  on  a  sick  person  would  have  brought  on  him  the 
censure  of  an  intolerant  Church,  had  not  Mr.  Ireland,  who  was  mistaken 
for-  him  by  the  police  officers,  quietly  suffered  them  to  remain  in  their 
error,  until  Mr.  Fletcher,  who  was  apprized  of  his  danger,  had  proceeded 
too  far  on  his  journey  to  be  overtaken.  The  friends  afterward  joined 
each  other,  and  arrived  safely  in  England  in  the  middle  of  April,  after 
an  absence  of  three  years  and  four  months.  Calling  at  London,  Mr. 
Fletcher  preached  at  the  new  chapel,  City  Road,  slept  at  Newington, 
April  27,  and  the  next  day  set  out  for  Bristol.  He  stayed  there  only  a 
short  time,  and  then  retired  to  Mr.  Ireland's,  at  Brislington.  "  When  I 
was  informed  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  arrival  at  Brislington,"  says  Mr.  Rankin, 
"  I  rode  over  to  Mr.  Ireland's,  the  day  after,  and  had  such  an  interview 
with  him,  as  I  shall  never  forget  in  time  or  eternity.  As  I  had  not  seen 
him  for  upward  of  ten  years,  his  looks,  his  salutation,  and  address  struck 
me  with  a  mixture  of  wonder,  solemnity,  and  joy."  As  Mr.  Ireland  was 
then  confined'  by  affliction,  and  wished  to  accompany  his  friend  to 
Madeley  as  soon  as  he  should  be  able,  Mr.  Fletcher  stayed  a  few  days 
at  Brislington,  waiting  for  his  recovery,  before  he  set  out  for  his  parish. 
Upon  their  arrival  there,  it  was  his  first  care  to  inquire  into  the  spiritual 
state  of  his  dear  flock ;  but  he  did  not  find  such  cause  of  rejoicing  as  he 
had  fondly  expected. 

CXXVI. — To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perronet,  Shoreham. 

Newington,  April  28,  1781. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — I  have  brought  from  Switzerland  a  letter  from 
your  dear  son  :  I  wish  I  had  brought  him  himself;  but  the  snow  setting 
in  at  the  time  I  had  engaged  to  set  out,  he  thought  it  unadvisable  to 
come  with  me,  and  I  durst  not  urge  him  to  do  any  thing  against  his 
mind. 

I  went  to  Lausanne  to  see  him  two  days  before  my  departure  :  I  found 
him  weak  and  low  ;  but  the  frequent  vomitings  he  had  some  months  ago 
have  left  him,  and  his  appetite  returns.  He  is  very  well  taken  care  of; 
Miss  Perronet  and  her  mother  are  as  kind  to  him  as  my  dear  friends 
here  were  to  me  when  I  lay  sick  in  this  house.  He  gives  you  himself, 
probably,  a  fuller  account  of  his  health.  His  physician  hoped  the  return 
of  the  fine  weather  would  be  very  favourable  to  him.  I  would  not  have 
come  away  without  him  if  he  had  not  urged  me  to  do  it,  considering  my 
engagements  and  circumstances.  His  mind  is  quite  easy :  he  is  sweetly 
resigned  to  the  will  of  God  ;  and  my  sister-in-law  was  quite  edified  to 
see  his  meek  resignation,  while  he  lay  sick  at  her  house. 

I  leave  London  this  morning,  sorry  not  to  have  had  time  to  wait  on 


FAMILIAR    LETTERS.  40  i 

you  and  Mrs.  Perronet,  to  ask  your  blessing,  and  to  answer  any  question 
you  might  have  asked  me  concerning  my  dear  friend,  your  son.  I  shall 
write  to  him,  please  God,  as  soon  as  I  shall  be  in  Shropshire.  I  offered 
to  go  and  fetch  him  at  the  end  of  the  year,  if  he  chose  to  spend  another 
winter  in  Switzerland :  but  he  said,  he  made  no  doubt  he  should  have 
good  company  to  come  before,  if  God  permitted. 

I  hope  you  will  give  me  your  blessing,  and  grant  me  a  share  in  your 
prayers,  which  I  should  have  been  glad  to  sit  under ;  but  in  these  bodies 
we  can  be  but  in  one  place  ;  and  I  comfort  myself  with  these  words  of 
St.  Panl :  soon  "  we  shall  be  ever  with  the  Lord,"  and  with  all  his  people. 
In  that  sweet  hope  I  remain,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  son 
and  servant  in  Christ,  J.  Fletcher. 

I  desire  to  be  remembered  in  Christian  love  to  Mrs.  Perronet  and  Miss 
Briggs. 

In  Mr.  Benson's  excellent  Life  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  it  is  said  :  "  Mr.  Per. 
ronet  had  expected  to  gather  strength  as  the  spring  advanced  and  the 
weather  became  milder.  In  this,  however,  the  Lord  saw  meet,  in  a 
great  measure,  to  disappoint  his  expectations.  Spring,  and  even  sum- 
mer,  bringing  warm  weather,  came  ;  but  still  he  continued  in  a  similar 
and  even  increasing  state  of  weakness.  On  the  15th  of  May,  he  writes  : 
— '  As  to  my  health,  it  is  not  yet  restored  to  me.  It  has  pleased  God 
to  break  down  my  strength  in  my  journey,  and  to  continue  me  in  that 
weak  condition  to  this  time,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  my  friends 
and  physicians,  and  my  own  endeavours,  in  using  a  little  very  gentle 
exercise  from  time  to  time  as  I  was  able.  Whenever  I  go  out,  every 
one  stops  to  stare  at  me,  and  many  express  their  astonishment  at  the 
sight  of  such  a  spectre  ;  so  greatly  am  I  reduced  and  altered.'  On 
the  12th  of  June  following  he  seemed  to  himself  to  be  rather  gaining  a 
little  ground,  but,  says  he,  '  the  continual,  sudden,  and  severe  changes 
in  the  weather  here,  tear  me  almost  to  pieces,  and  seem  to  throw  me 
back  as  fast  as  I  recover.'  Soon  after  this,  he  removed  to  a  pleasant 
village,  called  Gimel,  between  Lausanne  and  Geneva  where  Miss  Perro- 
net's  sister  was  settled.  There  he  rode  out,  drunk  asses'  milk,  and 
breathed  the  purest  air.  <  Mrs.  Perronet  is  there,'  says  Mr.  Fletcher  to 
his  father,  «  with  her  two  daughters.  So  that  if  his  illness  should  prove 
more  grievous,  he  will  not  want  for  good  attendance  and  the  most  ten- 
der nursing.  Support  him,  dear  sir,  with  your  fatherly  exhortations. 
They  are  balm  to  his  blood  and  marrow  to  his  bones.' 

"As  the  reader  will  undoubtedly  wish  to  know  the  sequel  of  the  story 
of  this  benevolent  man,  I  shall  here  insert  an  extract  from  another  of 
his  letters.  Being  returned  to  Lausanne,  Oct.  23,  he  wrote  from  thence 
to  his  father  as  follows  : — 

CXXVIL— To  the  Rev.Vincent  Perronet. 

Honoured  and  Dear  Sir, — I  wrote  some  time  ago  by  a  private 
hand  :  but  that  is  not  always  either  the  safest  or  the  most  expeditious 
method  of  conveying  intelligence.  My  letter,  however,  contained  little 
more  than  an  account  of  my  return  from  the  mountains,  where  I  seemed 
to  have  gained  very  little  in  point  of  health  and  strength.  I  mentioned, 
likewise,  my  earnest  wishes  to  return  to  England,  in  case  it  should  please 


408  FAMILIAR  LETTERS. 

God  to  assist  me  in  the  means.  This,  I  humbly  trust,  is  in  good  mea- 
sure effected :  for  I  have  quite  unexpectedly  met  with  a  very  worthy 
gentleman,  (a  Swiss,  whom  I  formerly  knew  in  England,)  who  sets  out 
for  London  within  about  a  week  or  fortnight.  We  shall  travel  in  a 
chaise,  and  he  is  so  kind  as  to  promise  to  suit  his  mode  of  travelling  to 
my  weakness,  which  indeed  is  very  great.  We  may  possibly  be  on  the 
road  when  this  letter  reaches  you,  and  I  doubt  not  but  my  friends  will 
assist  me  with  their  prayers.  The  season  for  travelling  is  late,  it  is 
true,  especially  for  one  in  my  weak  state :  but  I  choose  this  rather  than 
venture  to  stay  another  winter  in  this  terrible  climate.  Beside,  I  con- 
sider it  as  a  providential  call  to  return  ;  and  I  have  taken  your  advice, 
to  put  what  remains  to  be  done  in  my  affairs  into  trusty  and  good  hands. 
I  am,  honoured  and  dear  sir,  your  dutiful  son,  W.  Perronet. 

"  He  soon  after  left  Switzerland,  and  with  great  pain  and  difficulty 
reached  Douay,  in  French  Flanders,  where  he  was  taken  worse  and 
died  in  peace,  Dec.  2,  1781.  A  little  time  after,  Mr.  Fletcher  wrote 
as  follows  to  his  father  : — 

CXXVIII. — To  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, — While  I  condole  with  you  about  the  death  of 
my  dear  friend  and  your  dear  son,  I  congratulate  you  about  the  resigna- 
tion and  Christian  fortitude  with  which  you,  Abraham-like,  lay  him 
upon  the  altar  of  our  heavenly  Father's  providential,  good,  and  acceptable 
will.  We  shall  one  day  see  why  he  made  your  sons  go  before  you, 
and  my  kind  physician  before  me.  About  the  time  he  died,  so  far  as  I 
can  find  by  your  kind  letter,  a  strong  concern  about  him  fell  upon  me 
by  day  and  by  night,  insomuch  that  I  could  not  help  waking  my  wife* 
to  join  me  in  praying  for  him,  and  at  once  that  concern  ceased,  nor 
have  I  since  had  any  such  spiritual  feeling ;  whence  I  concluded  that 
the  conflict  I  supposed  my  friend  to  be  in,  was  ended.  But  how  sur- 
prised was  I  to  find  it  was  by  death  !  Well,  whether  Paul  or  Apollos, 
or  life  or  death,  all  things  are  ours  through  Jesus,  who  knows  how  to 
bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  how  to  blow  us  into  the  harbour  by  a  cross 
wind,  and  even  by  a  dreadful  storm. 

If,  my  dear  friend,  your  son  has  not  quite  completed  his  affairs  in 
Switzerland,  .and  an  agent  is  necessary  there  for  that  purpose,  I  offer 
you  the  care  and  help  of  my  brother  who  was  our  counsellor,  and  who, 
I  am  sure  will  do  what  lies  in  him  to  oblige  the  father  of  him  whom  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  having  some  time  under  his  roof,  as  a  sick  monu- 
ment of  Christian  meekness  and  resignation.  I  am  but  poorly,  though 
I  serve  yet  my  Church  without  a  curate,  Mr.  Bailey  being  wanted  at 
Kingswood.  But  what  are  we  ?  Poor  mortals,  dying  in  the  midst  of  a 
world  of  dying  or  dead  men.  But  in  the  midst  of  death,  we  are  in 
Christ,  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever.  So 
prays  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  son  and  servant  in  the  Gospel, 

J.  Fletcher." 

*  He  was  then  married. 


A    DIALOGUE 


A  MINISTER  AND  ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS 


MAN'S  DEPRAVITY  AND  DANGER  IN  HIS  NATURAL  STATE. 


By  REV.  JOHN  FLETCHER, 

VICAE  OF   MADELET. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  DIALOGUE. 


I  have  found  among  my  papers  a  manuscript  of  the  late  Rev.  Mr. 
Fletcher,  entitled,  "A  Dialogue  between  a  Minister  and  one  of  his 
Parishioners,  on  Man's  Fallen  and  Lost  Estate."  It  consists  of  three 
parts,  which  are  completed  and  have  been  transcribed,  in  a  fair  and 
legible  character,  in  his  own  hand  writing.  It  was  intended,  it  seems, 
to  be  followed  by  four  more,  of  which  I  know  and  can  learn  nothing. 
Indeed,  I  cannot  now  recollect  how  I  became  possessed  of  these  :  but  sup- 
pose that  they  had  been  put  into  my  hands  by  himself,  or  into  the  hands  of 
some  friend  who  transmitted  them  to  me  to  look  over.  For  I  find  on 
the  title  page  the  following  request  and  declaration,  written  also  with  his 
own  hand,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  work  sundry  of  my  corrections 
and  alterations,  evidently  made  long  ago  : — 

"  Any  lover  of  truth,  who  will  have  patience  to  read  these  sheets, 
is  desired  to  write  on  the  white  side  his  observations,  and  to  mark,  if  he 
thinks  it  worth  his  while,  • 

"  1.  Bad  or  weak  arguments. 

"  2.  Bad  English,  tedious  turns,  vain  repetitions. 

"  3.  What  is  useless  to  the  subject,  or  too  prolix. 

"  4.   Conclusive  arguments  forgotten. 

"  N.  B.  Beside  these  three  parts,  there  are  four  more  on  the  same 
subject. 

"  The  fourth  part  contains  an  answer  to  the  plea  of  the  self-righteous 
moralist  and  formalist. 

"  The  fifth,  an  appeal  to  his  conscience  and  experience. 

"  The  sixth,  the  testimony  of  the  Church  for  the  doctrine. 

"  The  seventh,  some  objections  answered,  with  some  directions  and 
encouragements  given. 

"  The  grand  objection  that  the  author  hath  to  the  whole,  is  the  length, 
peya.  ^Si/SXiov,  jxsya  xaxov  ;  (A  great  book  is  a  great  evil.)  For  want  of 
skill  and  judgment,  he  knew  not  how  to  lop  off  luxuriant  branches 
properly,  and  requests  the  help  of  Jesus'  friends,  if  they  judge  that  by 
dint  of  amputations  and  emendations,  this  work  might  become  worth 
reading." 

I  would  observe  farther,  that  this  dialogue  was  manifestly  composed 
by  Mr.  Fletcher,  before  he  wrote  or  published  his  "  Appeal  to  Matter 
of  Fact  and  Common  Sense,"  on  the  same  subject :  and  that  it  is 
probable,  after  he  had  conceived  the  design  of  that  larger  work,  he  laid 


412  PREFACE    TO    THE  DIALOGUE. 

aside  the  intention  of  publishing  this.  Although  many  of  the  arguments 
and  sentiments,  and  even  some  of  the  expressions  here  used,  are  very 
similar  to  some  in  the  Appeal ;  yet  as  the  subject  appears  here  in  a  new 
form,  and  as  no  one  sentence  of  it,  I  believe,  is  entirely  the  same,  it 
appears  to  me,  that  it  will  both  please  and  profit  the  readers,  to  whom 
the  memory  of  that  man  of  God  is  very  dear,  and  every  thing  that 
dropped  from  his  pen  acceptable.  I  wish  I  could  also  furnish  the 
remaining  four  parts.  J.  Benson. 


A    DIALOGUE 


BETWEEN 

A  MINISTER  AND  ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS. 


PART  FIRST. 

Containing  ah  account  of  the  doctrine  to .  be  examined. 

Parishioner. — Though  I  have  hitherto  avoided  conversing  with  you 
on  religious  subjects,  I  hear  you  in  the  church,  and  am  well  acquainted 
with  the  doctrines  you  chiefly  enforce.  They  always '  appeared  to  me 
so  singular,  (to  use  no  harsher  expression,)  that  I  could  not  help  being 
greatly  prejudiced  against  you ;  but  having  at  length  reason  to  hope,  from 
the  exemplariness  of  your  life,  that  you  mean  well,  and  are  open  to 
conviction,  I  come  to  lay  my  objections  before  you,  with  the  freedom  of 
a  well  wisher  to  your  ministry,  and  the  simplicity  of  an  inquirer  after 
truth. 

Minister. — The  motive  of  your  visit  makes  it  doubly  agreeable.  One 
of  my  greatest  pleasures  is  to  converse  with  such  of  my  parishioners  as 
are  willing  to  expostulate,  or  advise  with  me  about  spiritual  things  :  but, 
alas  !  most  of  them,  through  strong  prejudice  or  false  shame,  refuse  me 
this  satisfaction  and  delight.  » 

Par. — I  never  could  prevail  with  myself  to  wait  upon  you  before  last 
Sunday  ;  as  you  was  then  reading  the  twenty- fifth  chapter  of  the  Acts, 
I  was  struck  with  the  16th  verse,  where  Festus  says,  "  that  it  was  not 
the  custom  of  the  Romans,  [who  were  but  heathens,]  to  condemn  any 
man,  before  he  had  had  his  accusers  face  to  face,  with  liberty  to  answer 
for  himself,  concerning  the  crime  laid  against  him."  And  I  concluded 
that  I  came  short  of  heathen  honesty,  in  condemning  you  as  an  enthusi- 
astic preacher,  before  I  had  given  you  an  opportunity  of  answering  for 
yourself. 

Min. — You  see  that  "  all  Scripture  is  profitable  for  reproof,  or  for 
instruction  :"  may  we  in  all  cases  apply  it  with  as  much  candour  as  you 
have  done  in  this  !  If  you  please,  then,  propose  your  objections  ;  the 
more  frank  and  open  you  are,  the  more  I  shall  account  you  an  advocate 
of  truth,  and  a  friend  to  me. 

Par. — Your  request  agrees  with  my  design ;  and  I  shall,  without 
apology,  tell  you  what  gives  me  offence  in  your  doctrine.  And  to  begin 
with  what  you  often  begin  with  yourself,  let  me  ask,  Do  you  not  go 
much  too  far  when  you  speak  of  man's  depravity  and  danger  ? 

You  say  that  we  are  all  in  a  fallen,  lost,  undone  state  by  nature,  that  our 
understanding  is  blind  in  spiritual  things,  our  reason  impaired,  our  will 
perverse,  our  conscience  defiled,  our  memory  weakened,  our  imagination 
extravagant,  our  affections  disordered,  our  members  instruments  of  ini- 
quity, and  our  life  altogether  sinful.  You  suppose  that  till  a  change  pass 
upon  us  we  remain  dead  in  sin,  under  the  curse  of  God's  broken  law,  and 
exposed  every  moment  to  eternal  destruction  of  body  and  soul.  You  repre- 


414  DIALOGUE   BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

sent  us  as  so  amazingly  helpless,  that  we  can  no  more,  without  the  power 
of  Divine  grace,  recover  ourselves  out  of  this  deplorable  state,  than  we 
can  raise  the  dead :  and,  in  short,  you  declare,  that  unless  we  are  duly 
sensible  of  these  melancholy  truths,  we  neither  can  truly  repent,  nor 
unfeignedly  embrace  the  Gospel.  Is  not  this  a  true  account  of  your 
doctrine  ? 

Min. — It  is  :  I  readily  assent  to  it. 

Par. — Believe  me,  the  oddity,  harshness,  and  uncharitableness  of 
these  tenets  disgust  the  generality  of  your  hearers,  as  well  as  myself. 
We  live  in  an  age  when  people  have  too  much  sense  to  imbibe  such 
dismal  notions,  and  too  much  wisdom  to  be  frigktened  into  godliness. 
Let  me  advise,  let  me  entreat  you  to  give  over  preaching  damnation  at 
this  rate.  Do  but  condescend  to  be  more  fashionable,  and  your  charac- 
ter will  be  less  offensive. 

Min. — I  thank  you  for  your  advice  of  becoming  fashionable.  I  will 
follow  it  as  soon  as  I  am  convinced  that  a  preacher  is  to  discard  truth, 
and  take  fashion  for  his  guide  :  but  till  then,  "  whether  you  will  hear,  or 
whether  you  will  forbear,  I  must  not  shun  to  declare  to  you  the  whole 
counsel  of  God,"  Ezek.  ii,  7  ;  Acts  xx,  27.  And  if  some  parts  of  it  do 
not  suit  your  taste,  consider  that,  as  the  best  medicines  may  be  very  un- 
palatable, so  the  most  necessary  doctrines  may  be  extremely  unpleasant. 
You  value  your  physician  for  consulting  your  health  rather  than  your 
taste  ;  blame  not  me  then  for  what  you  approve  in  him,  and  remember 
that  our  Lord  himself,  though  filled  with  "  the  meekness  of  wisdom," 
could  not  avoid  offending  "  many  of  his  disciples ;"  for  St.  John  says 
that  when  they  heard  him  "  they  murmured  and  went  back,"  with  the 
usual  complaint,  "  This  is  a  hard  saying  :  who  can  bear  it  ?"  John  vi,  60. 

Par. — If  our  Lord's  doctrine  was  disagreeable  to  the  Jews,  it  was 
true  and  salutary :  but  yours  is  generally  supposed  to  be  false  and  per- 
nicious. 

Min. — If  the  doctrine  of  our  fallen  state,  as  you  have  just  now  repre- 
sented it,  is  not  true,  and  conducive  to  spiritual  health,  I  advise  you  my- 
self to  reject  it,  though  it  were  preached  by  an  angel  from  heaven.  But, 
should  its  truth  and  importance  be  asserted  by  the  joint  testimony  of 
Scripture,  reason,  experience,  and  our  own  Church,  I  hope  that  you  will 
receive  it  as  a  good  though  unpalatable  medicine. 

Par. — Reason  and  experience  will  convince  a  candid  Deist,  and  the 
declarations  of  our  Church,  supported  by  revelation,  will  silence  the  ob- 
jections of  an  honest  Churchman :  you  may  therefore  assure  yourself, 
that  if  your  doctrine  is  confirmed  by  this  fourfold  authority,  I  shall  op- 
pose it  no  more. 

The  minister,  having  expressed  the  satisfaction  which  his  visiter's 
answer  gave  him,  and  the  pleasure  he  should  feel  in  being  directed  right 
if  he  were  wrong,  resumed  the  subject  in  the 

SECOND  PART. 

Wherein  the  apostasy  and  misery  of  man  are  proved  from  Scripture. 

Min. — Let  us  first  bring  the  doctrine  of  the  fall  to  the  touchstone  of 
Scripture  :  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony,  (says  the  prophet,)  for  if 


AND  ONE  OF   HIS  PARISHIONERS.  415 

we  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
us,"  Isa.  viii,  20. 

We  read,  Gen.  i,  26,  that  God  made  man  not  only  in  his  natural 
image,  with  life,  understanding,  and  will,  which  constitute  the  being  of 
good  or  bad  spirits :  but  also  after  his  moral  likeness,  i.  e.  "  in  right- 
eousness  and  true  holiness,"  according  to  St.  Paul's  definition  of  it,  Eph. 
iv,  24.  In  this  moral  resemblance  of  God  consists  the  well  being,  or 
Divine  life  of  good  spirits.  While  man  continued  in  it,  his  spotless  soul 
was  actuated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  as  our  bodies  are  by  our  souls,  and 
eternal  truth  itself  pronounced  him  very  good,  Gen  i,  31. 

But  how  soon — how  low  did  he  fall !  In  the  third  chapter  we  see  him 
overcome  by  the  tempter  in  disguise  :  he  wickedly  believes  the  father 
of  lies  before  the  God  of  truth  :  he  proudly  aspires  to  be  equal  with  his 
Maker ;  and,  in  order  to  it,  madly  places  appetite  on  the  throne  of  rea- 
son. Thus  unbelief,  the  besetting  sin  of  man ;  pride,  which  the  apostle 
calls  "the  condemnation  of  the  devil,"  1  Tim.  hi,  6  ;  and  sensuality,  the 
characteristic  of  the  beast,  invade  his  unguarded  soul.  And  now,  "  when 
lust  had  conceived,  it  brought  forth  sin,"  Adam  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit, 
"and  sin,  when  it  was  finished,  brought  forth  death,"  James  i,  15.  It 
instantly  quenched  the  Spirit,  put  an  end  to  the  breathings  of  prayer  and 
praise  in  man's  heart,  defaced  the  image  of  God's  moral  perfections  from 
his  breast,  "alienated  him  from  the  life  of  God,"  Eph.  iv,  18,  and  in- 
fected his  whole  nature  with  the  poisonous  seeds  of  temporal  and  eternal 
death. 

Par. — So  small  a  sin  as  that  of  tasting  some  forbidden  fruit,  could 
never  have  so  dreadful  an  effect. 

Min. — If  Adam's  transgression  were  small,  as  you  say,  I  could  put 
you  in  mind  that  the  least  spark  can  blow  up  the  greatest  ships,  or  fire 
the  largest  cities  ;  and  that  the  smallest  drop  of  poison  (for  instance,  the 
froth  of  a  mad  dog)  can  infect  the  whole  animal  frame,  and  communi- 
cate itself  to  millions  of  men  and  beasts,  by  means  of  the  smallest  bite. 

But  this  is  not  the  case  with  regard  to  that  sin,  under  which  "  the 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  until  now,"  Rom.  viii, 
22.  I  readily  grant  the  prohibition  was  small ;  but  this  made  the  sin  so 
much  the  greater :  for  it  argues  the  height  of  rebellion,  deliberately  to 
refuse  paying  so  insignificant  a  homage  to  so  great  a  Being.  Beside, 
if  you  consider  all  the  circumstances  of  our  first  parents'  disobedience, 
you  will  find  in  it  a  complication  of  some  of  the  most  heinous  crimes. 
Not  to  mention  again  unbelief,  pride,  and  sensuality :  an  unreasonable 
discontent  in  their  happy  condition,  a  wanton  squandering  away  of  the 
richest  patrimony,  a  barbarous  disregard  of  their  offspring,  a  base  in- 
gratitude for  the  highest  favours,  and  an  impious  confederacy  with  Satan 
against  the  kindest  of  benefactors,  are  some  of  the  black  ingredients  of 
what  you  call  a  small  sin,  but  might  justly  term  an  execrable  trans- 
gression. 

Par. — Suppose  Adam's  offence  was  as  great  as  you  conceive  it  to  be, 
you  should  not  conclude,  without  strong  proofs,  that  it  totally  destroyed 
God's  moral  image,  in  which  his  soul  was  at  first  created. 

Min. — The  sad  effects  which  it  had  upon  him,  are  such  proofs  as 
amount  to  a  demonstration.  Follow  the  wretch  after  the  commission  of 
his  crime,  and  you  will  find  him  proud  and  sullen,  in  the  midst  of  shame 


416  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

and  disgrace.  So  stript  is  his  soul  of  original  righteousness,  that  he 
♦  feels,  even  in  his  body,  the  shameful  consequence  of  his  spiritual  naked- 
ness, Gen.  iii,  7.  So  perverted  are  his  affections  that  he  dreads,  hates, 
and  runs  away  from  his  bountiful  Creator,  who  was  before  the  object 
of  his  warmest  love  and  purest  delight,  Gen.  iii,  8.  So  impaired  is  his 
boasted  reason,  that  he  attempts  to  hide  himself  from  Him  "  who  fills 
heaven  and  earth,  and  whose  eyes  are  in  every  place."  So  amaz- 
ingly weak  is  his  understanding,  that  he  endeavours  to  cover  his  guilt 
and  shame  with  an  apron  of  fig  leaves,  verse  7.  So  impenitent,  so  stub- 
born is  his  breast,  that  he  does  not  vouchsafe  to  plead  guilty,  or  once 
ask  forgiveness,  verse  10.  So  seared  is  his  conscience,  and  malicious 
his  heart,  that  he  tries  to  excuse  himself,  by  indirectly  accusing  his 
Maker,  and  turning  evidence  against  the  unhappy  partner  of  his  crime  : 
"  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,"  says  he,  "  she  gave  me 
of  the  tree,"  I  did  not  take  of  it  myself,  verse  11.  Do  you  see,  through 
all  his  behaviour,  the  least  remains  of  God's  moral  image  ?  For  my  part, 
I  discover  in  it  nothing  but  the  strongest  features  of  the  fiend,  with  the 
stupidity  of  one  of  the  silliest  creatures  upon  earth. 

Par. — "  The  stupidity  of  one  of  the  silliest  creatures  upon  earth !" 
What  do  you  mean  by  this  ? 

Min. — You  might  have  read  in  natural  history,  that  when  the  ostrich 
is  closely  pursued  she  hides  her  head  in  a  bush,  in  hopes  that  the  pur- 
suers will  not  see  her,  because  she  does  not  see  them.  That  creature, 
which,  Job  says,  "  God  hath  deprived  of  wisdom,"  is  wise,  if  you  com- 
pare her  to  Adam  "  hid  among  the  trees  of  the  garden ;"  for  by  this 
weak  device  she  endeavours  to  trick  only  short-sighted  man,  but  our  first 
parent  attempted  to  impose  on  the  all-seeing  God. 

Par. — You  are  excessively  severe  upon  Adam ! 

Min. — Not  so  severe  as  the  just  Judge,  who,  by  driving  him  out  of 
paradise,  deprived  him  of  a  privilege  which  the  very  beasts  enjoyed  be- 
fore the  fall.  See  the  apostate  flying  before  the  cherub's  flaming  sword ; 
and  in  what  a  miserable  condition!  In  what  a  wretched  dress!  Spi- 
ritually dead,  according  to  that  irrevocable  sentence,  "  In  the  day  that 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die," — dead  to  God, — "  dead  while  he 
lives,"  1  Tim.  v,  6  ;  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  Eph.  ii,  1  ;  he  wears 
the  badge  of  death,  in  the  skins  of  those  beasts  which  had  probably  bled 
in  death  in  his  stead,  Gen.  iii,  21.  Happy,  if  going  beyond  the  type, 
he  apprehends,  by  faith,  the  righteousness  of  "  the  Lamb  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world,"  Rev.  xiii,  8  ;  and  covers  with  that  "  best  robe," 
the  nakedness  and  shame  of  his  fallen  soul ! 

Par. — If  Adam  was  banished  out  of  paradise,  no  other  punishment 
was  inflicted  upon  him. 

Min. — You  forget  that  beside  the  spiritual  death  he  had  already  suf- 
fered, he  had  two  deaths  more  to  undergo,  the  seeds  of  which  already 
wrought  in  his  breast :  for  pain,  toil,  sorrow,  and  sickness  began  to  ripen 
his  body  for  temporal  death  ;  while  sin,  guilt,  remorse,  and  tormenting 
passions  made  him  antedate  the  horrors  of  the  "  lake  that  burns  with 
fire  and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death,"  Rev.  xxi,  8.  Happy,  if 
during  his  reprieve,  the  woman's  promised  seed  took  sin,  the  sting  of 
death,  out  of  his  heart,  and  by  regeneration  fitted  him  again  for  paradise 
and  heaven ! 


AND  ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS.  417 

Par. — You  speak  often  of  a  dreadful  curse  attending  sin,  but  I  do  not 
see  that  any  curse  seized  upon  man  after  his  offence.  God  cursed  the 
serpent  and  not  Adam,  Gen  iii,  14. 

Min. — The  Lord  had  pronounced  Adam's  curse  beforehand,  when  in 
a  prophetic  manner  he  uttered  the  sentence  already  mentioned,  "  In  the 
day  that  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die ;"  i.  e.  thou  shalt  die 
spiritually  and  be  filled  with  the  seeds  of  temporal  and  eternal  death, 
Gen.  ii,  17.  This  heaviest  of  curses  having  already  taken  place,  it 
would  have  been  needless  to  repeat  it.  And  so  far  was  God  from  re- 
versing it,  that  he  extended  an  additional  unthreatened  curse  to  all  the 
habitable  globe :  "  Cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake,  (said  he,)  in  sor- 
row shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life,"  Gen.  iii,  17.  From 
that  time  "  the  whole  creation  was  made  subject  to  vanity,  and  began  to 
groan  under  the  bondage  of  corruption,"  Rom.  viii,  21  ;  and  ever  since, 
"  thorns  and  thistles,"  the  natural  product  of  a  cursed  earth,  have  been 
lively  pictures  of  the  briers  of  sin,  which  naturally  overspread  our  apos- 
tate souls,  Gen.  iii,  18. 

To  the  "  curse  of  the  ground,"  you  may  add  "  the  sorrow  of  the 
woman  in  bringing  forth  children,"  which  may  be  considered  not  only 
as  a  peculiar  curse  upon  her  for  having  been  "  first  in  the  transgression," 
but  also  as  a  remarkable  intimation  of  the  polluted  birth  of  her  offspring, 
Ezek.  xvi,  5  :  for  if  our  first  parents  brought  a  heavy  curse  on  the  earth 
which  they  tread  upon,  how  much  heavier  one  did  they  entail  on  the 
immediate  fruit  of  their  bodies !  Having  infected  their  whole  nature, 
it  was  impossible  that  they  should  not  infect  their  remotest  posterity, 
which  they  not  only  represented,  as  kings  do  their  "subjects,  but  also 
seminally  contained,  as  an  acorn  contains  all  the  future  oaks  that  may 
grow  from  it. 

Par. — I  cannot  believe  this.  It  does  by  no  means  follow,  that  it 
Adam  ruined  himself,  he  ruined  also  his  posterity. 

Min. — The  Scripture  plainly  affirms  that  he  did.  What  says  St. 
Paul  ?  "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  and 
so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned  :  for  by  the  offence 
of  one  judgment  came  upon  all  to  condemnation,"  Rom.  v,  12,  18. 
And  so  terrible  were  the  effects  of  the  fall  on  his  posterity,  "  God  saw 
that  the  wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the  earth  and  that  every  ima- 
gination of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart,"  unrenewed  by  grace,  "  was  only 
evil,"  without  mixture  of  good,  "  and  that  continually"  without  any  in- 
terruption of  the  evil ;  insomuch  "that  it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had 
made  man,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart,"  Gen.  vi,  5. 

Par. — This  was  spoken  of  the  impious  generation  which  was  de 
stroyed  in  the  days  of  Noah. 

Min. — The  waters  of  the  flood  which  washed  that  generation  from  oft* 
the  face  of  the  earth,  could  not  wash  inbred  sin  from  the  hearts  of  the 
surviving  few;  for  the  Lord  charges  upon  them,  after  the  deluge,  what 
you  would  confine  to  the  antediluvian  world,  i.  e.  "  the  corruption  of 
the  imagination  of  man's  heart  from  his  youth,"  Gen.  viii,  21.  Noah, 
the  best  of  them  as  it  were  to  prove  the  charge  true,  "  lies  uncovered  in 
his  tent ;"  and  that  second  parent  of  mankind  makes  himself  so  vile  by 
his  drunkenness  and  nakedness,  that  he  becomes  a  laughing  stock  even 
to  his  accursed  son,  Gen.  ix,  41. 

Vol.  IV.  27 


418  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

Par. — The  prophets  who  came  after  Moses  spake  more  favourably 
of  mankind  than  he. 

Min. — Not  at  all :  they  describe  the  baseness  and  sinfulness  of  man 
as  fully  and  clearly  as  he  does.  One  of  Job's  friends  observes,  that 
"  man  is  born  like  a  wild  ass'  colt ;"  like  the  ass  whose  stupidity  is  na- 
tural ;  like  the  wild  ass  which  is  unruly  as  well  as  stupid ;  nay,  and 
like  the  wild  ass'  colt  which  is  still  more  refractory  and  blockish  than 
its  dam,  Job.  xi,  12. 

"  The  Lord  looked  down  from  heaven,"  says  David,  "  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  to  see  if  there  were  any  that  did  understand  and  seek  af- 
ter God :  they  are  all  gone  aside,  they  are  altogether  become  abominable : 
there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no  not  one,"  Psalm  xiv,  3.  And  no  won- 
der, for  St.  Paul  informs  us  that  the  "  carnal  mind,"  the  mind  of  every 
natural  man,  "is  enmity  with  God,"  Rom.  viii,  7.  Jeremiah  confirms 
the  mournful  truth,  where  he  says,  "  The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
things,  and  desperately  wicked,"  chap,  xvii,  9  ;  and  our  Lord  himself 
sets  his  seal  to  it  where  he  tells  us,  "  Out  of  the  heart,  [as  out  of  their 
natural  source,]  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders,  adulteries,  blasphemies," 
and  all  moral  evil,  Matt,  xv,  19. 

Par. — I  apprehend  that  these  scriptures  must  be  understood  of  hea- 
thens and  not  of  mankind  in  general,  much  less  of  the  people  of  God. 

Min. — Your  apprehending  this  to  be  the  case,  does  not  prove  it.  The 
words  man,  mind,  and  heart,  are  all  unlimited,  and  belong  to  every  in- 
dividual of  the  human  race  ;  and  God,  so  far  from  supposing  his  people 
better  than  others  by  nature,  complains,  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner, 
and  the  ass  his  master's  crib,  but  Israel  does  not  know,  my  people  doth 
not  consider :  it  is  a  sinful  nation,  a  nation  laden  with  iniquity,  a  seed 
of  evil  doers  :  Jacob  is  a  transgressor  from  the  womb,"  Isa.  i,  3 ;  xlviii,  8. 

Par. — This  respects  the  corrupted  state  of  the  Jews,  and  hath  no 
reference  to  Christians. 

Min. — Suffer  the  prophet  to  answer,  and  the  apostle  to  silence  your 
objection.  Isaiah  says,  in  speaking  of  those  for  whom  the  Messias 
was  wounded,  (and  I  hope  you  will  not  exclude  Christians  from  that 
number,)  "  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray,  we  have  turned  every 
one  unto  his  own  way,"  Isa.  liii,  6 ;  and  St.  Paul  adds,  "  Are  we  better 
than  they?  No,  in  no  wise,  for  we  have  before  proved,  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles,"  which  make  up  the  whole  world,  "that  they  are  all  under 
sin;  as  it  is  written,  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one."  Therefore, 
till  grace  comes,  "there  is  no  difference,  for  all  have  sinned,  and  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God.  Every  mouth  is  stopped,  and  all  the  world 
become  guilty  before  God,"  Rom.  iii,  9,  19,  22. 

Par. — God  forbid  that  there  should  be  no  natural  difference  between 
me  and  a  heathen !     The  apostle's  rule  is  not  without  exception. 

Min. — Jesus  Christ,  "the  Lamb  of  God,  without  spot  and  blemish," 
because  he  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  the  only  exception  to 
the  fatal  and  universal  rule  :  "  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh," 
John  iii,  6.  Had  there  been  any  other,  "the  man  after  God's  own 
heart,"  or  he  who  was  "  separated  of  God  from  his  mother's  womb," 
might  have  made  a  better  claim  to  it  than  you.  But  hear  David's  la- 
mentable confession :  "  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  wickedness,  and  in  sin 
hath  my  mother  conceived  me,"  Psalm  li,  5.     Hear  St.  Paul's  mournful 


AND  ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS.  419 

declaration :  "  I  know  that  in  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,"  in  my  natural 
self,  "dwelleth  no  good  thing.  I  am  carnal,  sold  under  sin.  O  wretched 
man !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?"  Rom.  vii,  18, 24. 

Par. — The  apostle  does  not  complain  here  of  his  natural  depravity, 
but  of  bad  habits  he  had  contracted  in  his  youth. 

Min. — You. affirm  this,  but  I  hope  to  prove  the  contrary.  "Touch- 
ing the  righteousness  of  the  law,  he  was  so  blameless,"  that  his  enemies 
who  "  had  known  his  manner  of  life  from  his  youth,"  could  lay  no  im- 
morality to  his  charge,  Phil,  iii,  6  ;  Acts  xxvi,  4.  Nevertheless,  tracing 
the  streams  of  his  depravity  to  their  source,  he  declares,  that  both  he  and 
the  Christians  to  whom  he  wrote,  were,  not  by  habit  or  education,  but 
"by  nature,  children  of  wrath  even  as  others,"  Eph.  ii,  3. 

Par. — You  would  make  us  believe  that  children  are  born  with  a  sin- 
ful nature,  as  young  vipers  are  with  a  venomous  one ;  but  St.  Paul  him- 
self says,  that  the  children  of  believers  are  holy,  1  Cor.  vii,  14. 

Min. — The  word  holy  often  means  consecrated  to  God,  and  set  apart 
for  his  service :  "  holy  Sabbath,  holy  vessels,  holy  garments,"  are  com- 
mon Scriptural  expressions :  in  this  sense  the  children  of  believers  are 
holy,  having  been  consecrated  to  God  from  the  womb,  by  many  prayers, 
and  dedicated  to  him  at  their  baptism.  And  if  some  are  holy  in  a  higher 
sense,  i.  e.  sanctified  by  the  Spirit,  this  is  not  owing  to  nature,  but  to 
grace  early  subduing  their  natural  corruption,  and  blessing  the  endea- 
vours of  pious  parents,  as  the  case  of  Timothy,  2  Tim.  i,  5,  and  iii,  15. 

Par.- — Our  Lord  had  more  favourable  thoughts  of  children  than  you  : 
"  Suffer  little  children,"  says  he,  "  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Now,  if  the  kingdom  of  God  be 
theirs,  how  can  they  be  naturally  depraved  as  you  suppose  ? 

Min. — The  portion  of  Scripture  you  quote  establishes  what  you  want 
to  overthrow;  for  if  infants  must  come  to  Christ,  it  follows  they  are  lost 
sinners,  through  the  depravity  of  their  nature,  though  not  yet  doubly  lost 
through  the  corruption  of  their  lives  :  otherwise  they  would  not  stand  in 
need  of  being  brought  to  the  Physician  of  souls,  who  "  came  to  seek  and 
to  save  [only]  that  which  was  lost."  And  if  our  Lord  added,  "  Of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  i.  e.  the  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
Church  of  Christ,  it  was  to  show  that  infants  are  in  as  great  want  of  the 
Gospel,  of  the  advantages  of  Church  fellowship,  and  as  welcome  to  them 
as  persons  of  riper  years. 

Par. — If  children  were  naturally  sinful,  our  Lord  would  never  have 
told  his  disciples,  "  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Min. — This  passage  refers  no  more  to  the  natural  state  of  children, 
than  that  where  Christ  says,  "  I  wUl  come  as  a  thief,"  refers  to  the  dis- 
honesty of  a  thief.  If  our  Lord  affirms  that  we  must  become  as  little 
children,  it  is  not  in  natural  sinfulness  and  foolishness  :  but  in  "  desiring 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  as  new-born  babes  desire  the  breast," 
1  Peter  ii,  11 ;  in  being  conscious  of  our  ignorance  and  helplessness; 
in  submitting  to  the  teaching  of  our  heavenly  Master,  without  unbelieving 
reasonings ;  and  in  gladly  beginning  the  spiritual  life,  as  children  begin 
the  natural  one. 

Par. — Do  you  really  think  then  that  infants  are  sinful  ? 

Min. — I  not  only  think  it,  but  am  persuaded  you  will  make  no  doubt 


420  DIALOGUE   BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

of  it  yourself,  if  you  consider  three  things  :  First,  the  providence  of  a 
just  God  who  condemns  them  to  drink  their  daily  share  of  the  cup  of 
sorrow  and  death,  which  is  the  "  wages  of  sin,"  Romans  vi,  23.  Se- 
condly, their  early  propensity  to  do  evil,  not  only  before  they  are 
taught  it,  but  also  when  it  is  expressly  forbidden.  "  They  are  froward 
even  from  their  mother's  womb,"  says  David.  "  As  soon  as  they  are 
born  they  go  astray,  and  tell  lies  as  soon  as  they  can  speak,"  Psalm 
lviii,  3.  We  have  a  third  proof  of  their  depravity  in  one  of  the  sacra- 
ments, both  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Church.  The  Lord,  "  who 
knows  what  is  in  man,"  ordered  them  to  be  circumcised  under  the  law, 
because  they  stand  in  need  of  "  the  circumcision  of  the  heart ;"  of  which 
that  in  the  flesh  was  only  an  emblem :  and  under  the  Gospel  they  are 
admitted  to  baptism,  both  because  they  want  the  sprinkling  of  Jesus' 
blood,  typified  in  that  ordinance ;  and  because  the  promise  of  the  regene- 
rating Spirit  "  belongs  to  us  and  our  children  ;"  who  therefore  stand  in 
need  of  it  on  account  of  their  original  corruption,  as  well  as  we  on 
account  of  our  actual  pollutions,  Acts  ii,  39. 

Par. — You  surely  mistake  when  you  say  that  infants  have  a  sinful 
disposition  :  what  can  look  more  innocent  and  harmless  than  a  suckling 
babe? 

Min. — If  your  argument  holds,  it  will  prove,  that  young  vipers  have 
no  mischievous  disposition,  and  sucking  lions  no  bent  to  fierceness,  be- 
cause they  are  really  very  harmless,  and  look  exceeding  pretty  in  their 
kind  :  but  you  know  that  the  apparent  harmlessness  of  those  dangerous 
creatures  is  wholly  owing  to  the  feebleness  of  their  organs,  and  their 
want  of  bodily  strength. 

Par. — You  love  to  pour  contempt  on  the  dignity  of  human  nature ;  I 
would  blush  to  compare  my  fellow  creatures  to  beasts  that  perish, — to 
vipers  and  lions,  some  of  the  worst  of  them. 

Min. — I  do  not  blush  to  follow  the  Scriptures ;  and  if  you  allow  me  to 
quote  them,  you  will  see  that  they  go  much  farther  in  this  respect  than  I 
do.  They  inform  us  that  "  man  is  like  the  beasts  that  perish,"  Psalm  xlix, 
12  ;  that  "  he  might  see  that  he  himself  is  a  beast,"  Eccles.  iii,  18  ;  and 
that  till  he  is  taught  of  God,  he  is  "  foolish  and  ignorant,"  in  spiritual 
things,  "  even  as  it  were  a  beast  before  him,"  Psalm  lxxiii,  22.  They 
send  him  to  the  ant  and  swallow  to  learn  diligence  and  wisdom  in  the 
things  that  concern  his  future  welfare,  Proverbs  vi,  6  ;  Jeremiah  viii,  7. 
They  affirm  that  he  is  more  stupid,  in  religious  matters,  than  the  ox  and 
ass  are  in  civil  affairs,  Isaiah  i,  3.  They  compare  him  to  the  lion  for 
fierceness,  Psalm  lviii,  6.  To  the  bull  for  madness,  Psalm  xxii,  12.  To 
the  fox  for  mischievous  craftiness,  Luke  xii,  32.  To  the  dog  for  base- 
ness, churlishness,  and  rage,  Mark  vii,  28  ;  Phil,  iii,  2  ;  Matt,  vii,  6. 
To  the  swine  for  brutish  sensuality,  Matt,  vii,  6.  And  to  "the  sow 
wallowing  in  the  mire,  or  the  dog. returning  to  his  vomit,"  for  execrable 
filthiness,  2  Peter  ii,  22.  In  short,  they  declare,  that  he  is  as  "  venomous 
as  the  poison  of  a  serpent,  even  like  the  deaf  adder  that  refuses  to  hear 
the  charmer's  voice,"  Psalm  lviii,  4. 

Par. — St.  James,  far  from  aspersing  the  human  race  at  this  rate,  inti- 
mates, that  men  ought  not  to  curse  one  another,  because  "they  arc 
made  after  the  similitude  of  God,"  James  iii,  9. 

Min. — This  expression  of  the  apostle  agrees  exactly  with  what  I  said 


AND  ONE   OF  HIS   PARISHIONERS.  421 

before.  In  Adam  we  were  originally  made  after  God's  moral  image ; 
and  since  the  fall  we  have  still  glorious  remains  of  his  natural  likeness  in 
our  understanding,  will,  and  the  eternal  duration  of  our  souls.  These 
grand  ruins  ought  not  only  to  make  us  avoid  cursing  each  other,  but 
should  also  induce  us  to  "  honour  all  men,"  1  Peter  ii,  17. 

Par. — And  is  it  "  honouring  all  men,"  to  say  that  they  are  all  abomi- 
nable by  nature?     Is  it  not  rather  slandering  all  men  together? 

Min. — The  expression  you  exclaim  against  is  not  mine,  but  David's, 
who  had  it  from  the  God  of  truth,  Psalm  xiv,  4.  And  I  hope  you  will 
allow  your  Maker  to  speak  a  lamentable  truth  without  being  called  to 
your  bar  as  a  slanderer.  If  a  physician,  under  pretence  of  honouring 
his  sick  prince,  obstinately  declared  him  immortal,  and  in  perfect  health, 
would  he  hereby  do  honour  either  to  him  or  his  own  judgment  ?  With- 
out waiting  for  the  obvious  answer,  I  conclude,  that  they  who  extol  the 
rectitude  of  our  sin-sick  nature,  far  from  "honouring  all  men,"  pass  a 
bitter  jest  upon  them,  and  expose  their  own  want  of  self  knowledge. 

Par. — If  this  doctrine  respecting  our  fallen  state  were  true,  our 
Saviour  would  have  preached  it ;  but  I  do  not  remember  that  he  once 
touches  upon  it  in  all  his  discourses. 

Min. — Inattention  and  prejudice  can  veil  the  plainest  truths.  Why 
did  our  Lord  so  strongly  preach  to  Nicodemus  the  necessity  of  "  a  new 
birth,"  and  to  his  disciples,  that  of  "  conversion,"  but  because  we  are  all 
"  conceived  in  sin,"  as  well  as  David ;  and  "  children  of  wrath  by 
nature,"  as  well  as  St.  Paul?  John  iii,  3  ;  Matt,  xviii,  3.  Why  did  he 
say  again  and  again,  that  "  the  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  but 
they  that  are  sick,"  if  it  were  not  to  make  us  deeply  sensible  that  the 
mortal  disease  of  sin  is  upon  us?  Matt,  xi,  12 ;  Mark  ii,  17  ;  Luke  v, 
31.  Why  did  he  invite  those  "that  travail,  and  are  heavy  laden,  to 
come  to  him  for  rest,"  if  we  have  not  all  a  burden  of  iniquity  to  part 
with  ?  Matt,  xi,  28.  Why  did  he  declare  that  he  was  "  come  to  seek 
and  save  that  which  is  lost,"  if  we  are  not  all  in  a  lost  estate  ?  Matt,  xviii, 
11.  Why  did  he  tell  his  apostles,  that  "without  him  they  could  do 
nothing ;  and  that  no  man  can  come  unto  him  except  the  Father  draw 
him,"  but  to  convince  them  and  us  of  our  total  inability  to  do  spiritual 
good  ?  John  xv,  5  ;  vi,  44.  In  short,  why  did  he  affirm,  that  "  except 
we  do  eat  his  flesh,  and  drink  his  blood,  we  have  no  life  in  us,"  John 
vi,  53;  that  "he  who  believeth  not  on  him,  is  condemned  already;" 
that  "  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him  ;"  that  "he  shall  die  in  his  sins  ?" 
Why  ?  but  because  the  most  unblamable  and  moral,  without  him,  are 
loaded  with  guilt,  and  ripe  for  destruction,  John  iii,  18,  36  ;  viii,  24; 
Mark  xvi,  16. 

Par. — It  appears,  by  these  scriptures,  that  our  Saviour  looked  upon 
all  as  helpless,  guilty  creatures ;  but  he  made  some  difference  between 
persons  of  a  decent  behaviour  and  notorious  offenders  ;  whereas,  accord- 
ing to  your  uncharitable  doctrine,  both  are  in  equal  danger  of  endless 
ruin. 

Min. — Certainly  they  are  till  they  be  converted  ;  and  the  difference 
which  our  Lord  made  confirms  the  doctrine  which  you  oppose.  There 
is  no  doubt  of  the  lost  state  of  scandalous  sinners,  for  the  Father  of  mer* 
cies  says  of  one  of  them  who  had  repented,  "  This  my  son  was  dead, 
and  is  alive  again  ;    he  was  lost,  and  is  found,"  Luke  xv,  24.     The 


422  DIALOGUE   BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

question  is,  whether  Christ  spake  more  favourably  of  those  who  depended 
upon  their  morality  and  forms  of  pioty,  that  is,  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees :  let  his  own  words  decide  it :  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil.'" 
"  Ye  serpents,  ye  generation  of  viper.?,  how  can  ye  escape  the  damna- 
tion of  hell  ?"  "  Publicans  and  harlots  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  before  you,"  John  viii,  44  ;  Matt,  xxiii,  33  ;  xxi,  31.  Thus,  in 
our  Lord's  account,  both  those  who  are  seemingly  virtuous,  and  those 
who  are  openly  vicious,  till  they  "are  in  him  new  creatures."  travel, 
though  by  different  roads,  to  the  same  mansions  of  horror  :  and  if  the 
one  way  is  more  apt  to  deceive  the  traveller  than  the  other,  it  is  that  of 
the  Pharisee. 

Par. — Shocking !  At  this  rate  the  notorious  sinner  hath  an  advan- 
tage over  persons  of  a  reputable  character.  How  do  you  account  for 
this  strange  paradox  in  our  Lord's  doctrine  1 

Min. — You  must  not  suppose  that  gross  sinners  can  be  saved  without 
conversion,  or  that  we  must  be  guilty  of  enormities  to  be  proper  subjects 
for  converting  grace.  Far  be  these  wild  notions  from  us,  as  they  were 
from  our  Saviour.  His  meaning  is,  that  those  who  depend  on  the 
imaginary  rectitude  of  their  nature,  and  the  chimerical  merit  of  their 
works,  look  at  him  with  as  much  indifference  as  a  healthy  man  looks  at 
the  physician ;  while  those  who  have  no  seeming  merit  to  cover  their 
guilt  and  depravity  with,  see  them  without  a  veil,  and  stoop  more  readily 
to  the  Saviour  of  the  lost. 

Par. — I  do  not  blame  you  for  affirming  that  all  are  sinners,  and  stand 
in  need  of  Divine  mercy  :  but  what  you  say  of  our  misery  and  danger 
in  a  state  of  nature,  is  enough  to  provoke  any  one. 

Min. — What  the  Scriptures  say  of  it  is  enough  to  provoke  any  one, 
— not  to  anger, — but  to  repentance.  O  that  it  had  that  happy  effect 
upon  us !  They  represent  the  unrenewed  man  as  "  the  troubled 
sea  when  it  cannot  rest,  whose  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt,"  Isaiah 
lvii,  20.  They  paint  him  as  either  "  weaving  the  spider's  web,"  work- 
ing out  a  useless  and  filthy  righteousness,  or  "  hatching  cockatrice  eggs, 
till  the  viper  break  out,"  contriving  vanity  or  mischief  in  his  heart,  till 
it  break  out  in  his  conversation,  Isa.  lix,  5. 

Par. — How  can  the  natural  man  be  always  sinning,  as  you  suppose 
he  is  ? 

Min. — He  is  not  always  doing  what  is  evil,  but  the  uninterrupted 
depravit}'  of  his  heart  corrupts  those  actions  which  otherwise  are  good 
or  indifferent  in  themselves  :  therefore  all  that  he  does  is  sin.  (1.)  His 
natural  actions  are  sin,  "  whether  he  eats  or  drinks,  or  does  any  thing 
else,"  he  sins,  by  not  doing  it  to  the  glory  of  God,  1  Cor.  x,  31,  compared 
with  Zechariah  vii,  6.  (2dly.)  His  civil  actions,  having  no  higher  prin- 
ciple or  end  than  self  interest  or  his  own  glory,  are  sinful :  "  The 
ploughing  of  the  wicked  is  sin,"  Prov.  xxi,  4.  (3dly.)  His  religious 
duties  are  sin,  because  he  performs  them  not  "  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"- 
John  iv,  24.  "  The  sacrifice  of  the  wicked  is  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord :  therefore,  if  he  offers  an  oblation,  it  is  as  if  he  offered  swine's 
blood ;  because  he  hath  chosen  his  own  ways,"  Prov.  xv,  8 ;  Isaiah 
lxvi,  3  ;  and  if  he  receives  the  Lord's  Supper,  "  he  eats  and  drinks  his 
own  condemnation,  not  discerning  the  Lord's  body,"  1  Cor.  xi,  29.  In 
short,  he  is  lost ;  for,  says  St.  Paul,  "  If  our  Gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to 


AND    ONE    OF   HIS    PARISHIONERS.  42S 

them  that  are  lost,  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  them  that  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ 
should  shine  unto  them,"  2  Cor.  iv,  3,  4.  Whence  you  see,  that  pre- 
vious to  our  being  savingly  acquainted  with  the  Gospel,  we  are  all, 
without  exception,  in  a  lost  estate,  and  blinded  by  Satan,  the  god  of  this 
world.  And  as  blind  Samson  did  grind  for  the  Philistines,  so  we  work 
for  our  spiritual  enemies,  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  :  "  We  are 
the  servants  of  sin,  and  yield  our  members  as  instruments  of  unrighteous- 
ness unto  sin,"  Rom.  vi,  19,  20:  "Making  provision  for  the  tlesh,  to 
fulfil  the  lusts  thereof:"  "Yea,  the  lusts  of  our  father  the  devil  we  do," 
Rom.  xiii,  14  ;  John  viii,  44. 

par, — If  the  natural  man  sins  in  all  that  he  does,  he  is  not  bound 
either  to  pray  or  work,  for  no  one  is  bound  to  sin. 

Min. — He  is  bound  to  pray  and  work,  though  he  is  not  bound  to  sin 
in  doing  either.  As  it  is  a  less  offence  to  do  one's  duty  badly  than  to 
omit  it  entirely,  of  two  evils  he  is  to  choose  the  least.  Or  rather  he 
ought,  with  the  next  breath,  to  apply  to  the  Saviour  of  the  lost  for  par- 
don and  strength  ;  and  "  He  that  justifies  the  ungodly"  will  forgive  and 
help  him  "  for  his  own  name's  sake." 

Par. — Notwithstanding  all  that  you  say  of  the  natural  man's  misery, 
he  often  thrives  in  the  world  better  than  those  who  make  much  ado  about 
their  souls. 

Min. — This  thriving  proves  an  addition  to  his  misery  ;  "  his  eyes  may 
swell  out  with  fatness,  and  he  may  do  even  what  he  lusts ;  but  how 
suddenly  will  he  perish,  and  come  to  a  fearful  end,"  if  he  become  not  a 
new  creature  !  Psalm  lxxiii,  7,  18.  So  long  as  he  remains  "  an  enemy 
in  his  mind  by  wicked  works,"  Col.  i,  21,  "  the  curse  of  the  Lord  is  in 
his  house,"  Prov.  iii,  33.  "  I  have  cursed  his  blessings,"  says  the  Lord, 
Mai.  ii,  2  :  "  his  basket  and  store  are  cursed,"  Deut.  xxviii,  17  :  "  his  table 
is  a  snare  to  him,"  Rom.  xi,  9  :  he  abuses  alike  the  rod  and  staff"  of  the 
Lord,  adversity  and  prosperity  :  as  on  one  hand  temporal  chastisements 
harden  him,  as  they  did  Pharaoh  ;  so,  on  the  other,  "  the  good  things 
he  receives  in  this  life"  make  him  venture  upon  the  next,  thoughtless  as 
the  wealthy  farmer,  and  unprepared  as  the  rich  glutton,  Luke  xii,  20 ; 
xvi,  25.  Thus  he  fearfully  evidences  the  truth  of  Solomon's  saying, 
"The  prosperity  of  fools  shall  destroy  them,"  Prov.  i,  43. 

Par. — If  the  unconverted  man  hath  the  fatal  art  of  extracting  poison 
out  of  every  dealing  of  Providence,  he  can  also  extract  a  remedy  out  of 
every  dispensation  of  Divine  grace. 

Min. — Just  the  contrary :  he  hath  the  wretched  skill  to  turn  every 
spiritual  blessing  into  a  curse.  (1.)  Does  the  Lord  send  his  "  law  as  a 
school  master  to  bring  him  to  Christ  ?"  Gal.  iii,  24.  It  is  to  him  a  dead 
letter.  Ignorant  of  its  spiritual  meaning,  he  contents  himself  with  per- 
forming the  outward  duties  it  requires,  and  like  the  Pharisees,  whose 
leaven  has  infected  his  soul,  Mark  viii,  15,  "  he  goes  about  to  establish 
his  own  righteousness,"'  by  the  law,  instead  of  fleeing,  before  it,  to 
"  Christ  who  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that 
believeth,"  Rom.  x,  2.  (2.)  Does  Jesus  bless  him  with  a  written  or 
preached  Gospel?  He  "rejects  the  counsel  of  God  against  himself;" 
and  what  should  be  "a  savour  of  life  unto  life"  unto  him,  proves  a 
"savour  of  death  unto  death,"  Luke  vii,  30  ;  2  Cor.  ii,  16.     (3.)  Christ 


424  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

himself,  "  the  precious  corner  stone  laid  in  Sion,"  for  lost  sinners  to  build 
their  hopes  upon,  becomes  to  him  "  a  stumbling  stone,  and  a  rock  of 
offence,"  1  Pet.  ii,  8  ;  Rom.  viii,  33.  He  sins  on  without  fear,  be- 
cause  "  God  is  merciful"  to  those  who  forsake  their  sin  ;  and  he  "blesses 
himself  in  his  iniquity,"  because  Christ  died  to  redeem  him  from  all 
iniquity,  Tit.  ii,  14. 

Is  it  any  wonder  then  if  "  God  is  angry  with  him  every  day,"  and 
declares  that  "  if  he  will  not  turn,  he  will  whet  his  sword ;  he  hath  bent 
his  bow,  made  it  ready,  and  prepared  for  him  the  instruments  of  death  ; 
even  the  worm  that  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  which  is  not  quenched,"  Mark 
ix,  44  ;  Psalm  vii,  12. 

Par. — You  are  very  forward  in  sentencing  people  to  eternal  death. 
God  is  more  merciful  than  you  ;  and  I  hope  none  of  us  shall  go  into 
everlasting  burnings.  It  is  barbarous  to  doom  to  unquenchable  fire  peo- 
ple who  never  were  guilty  of  any  notorious  crimes. 

Min. — If  there  be  any  barbarity  in  the  case,  I  am  not  chargeable  with 
it.  I  simply  tell  you  what  I  see  in  the  Scriptures,  and  quote  the  chapter  and 
verse  that  you  may  not  think  I  impose  my  sentiments  upon  you.  With 
regard  to  your  objection,  I  make  no  doubt  but  the  righteous  Judge  will 
punish  those  sinners,  whose  iniquities  have  peculiar  aggravations,  with 
torments  peculiarly  aggravated :  but  though  the  unconverted  man's 
sins  should  not  have  been  of  the  scandalous  sort,  his  doom  will  be  most 
fearful. 

Par. — This  requires  a  solid  proof,  and  you  produce  only  a  bare 
assertion. 

Min. — Every  wilful  sin  (and  the  natural  man  commits  some  such 
daily)  hath  in  it  the  principle  of  all  iniquity ;  viz.  the  contempt  of  that 
sovereign  authority  which  is  equally  stamped  upon  all  the  commandments 
of  God.  You  know  that,  even  according  to  the  civil  law,  he  who  gen- 
teelly robs  a  traveller  of  one  piece  of  silver,  forfeits  his  life,  as  well  as 
he  who  barbarously  murders  him  and  carries  off  a  thousand  pieces  of 
gold  ;  because  both  equally  break  the  law  which  forbids  robbery,  though 
one  does  it  with  less  horrible  circumstances  than  the  other. 

Par. — But  shall  we  say  the  law  of  God  is  upon  the  same  plan  as  (he 
law  of  the  land,  in  this  respect  1 

Min. — Yes,  exactly,  as  to  the  tenor  of  it,  it  is  :  "  The  soul  that  sin- 
neth,"  and  not  the  soul  that  committeth  a  crime  of  such  or  such  a  black- 
ness, "  it  shall  die,"  Ezek.  viii,  3.  "  The  wages  of  sin,"  whether  it  be 
scandalous  or  fashionable,  "  is  death,"  Rom.  vi,  23  ;  "  for  the  wrath  of 
God  is  revealed  from  heaven,  against  all  unrighteousness  of  men,"  and 
not  only  against  offences  of  the  grosser  kind,  as  you  fondly  suppose, 
Rom.  i,  18.  The  Scriptures  agree  that  "they  are  cursed  who  do  err," 
more  or  less,  "  from  God's  commandments,"  Psalm  cxix,  21 ;  that  "  cursed 
is  every  one  who  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  are  written  in  the 
book  of  the  law  to  do  them,"  Gal.  iii,  10  ;  and  that  "  whosoever  shall 
keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offend  in  one  point,  is  guilty  of  all,"  James 
ii,  10. 

Par. — The  passages  you  quote  are  very  express  ;  but  I  hope  the  curse 
which  they  mention  is  not  so  terrible  as  you  imagine. 

Min. — "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God," 
Heb.  x,  31.     "Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire,"  to  unbelievers,  Heb.  xii, 


AND   ONE   OF  HIS   PARISHIONERS.  425 

29  :  he  declares,  by  his  servants,  that  "  they  all  shall  be  damned  that 
believe  not  the  truth,  but  have  pleasure  in  unrighteousness  ;"  that  "  the 
wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  people  that  forget  God ;" 
that  "  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  those  that  know  him  not,  and  obey  not  his  Gospel ;" 
that  "  they  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power ;"  and  lastly,  that 
the  fearful  curse  will  be  fixed,  for  ever,  by  Christ  the  Judge  of  all,  who 
will  say  to  the  unconverted,  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlast- 
ing fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,"  2  Thess.  ii,  12 ;  Psalm 
ix,  17  ;   2  Thess.  i,  8 ;  Matt,  xxv,  41. 

Thus  you  see  that  it  is  not  ministers  who  condemn  impenitent  sinners 
to  eternal  death,  but  God'§  unchangeable  law,  which  passes  sentence 
upon  them  in  this  world,  and  the  loving  Jesus  himself,  who  will  ratify 
and  execute  it  in  the  world  to  come.  Nor  is  there  any  other  place  of 
refuge  from  this  dreadful  curse,  but  the  shadow  of  the  Saviour's  wings, 
who  vouchsafes  to  "  redeem  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a 
curse  for  us,"  Gal.  hi,  13. 

Here  the  minister  ceased  to  speak,  and  his  opponent,  instead  of  mak- 
ing a  quick  reply,  sat  pensive  some  moments,  as  if  he  were  at  a  loss  to 
find  new  objections ;  but  soon  recovering  himself,  he  began  the  third 
part,  in  which  the  fall  and  misery  of  man  are  proved  from  reason. 

PART  HI. 
In  which  the  apostasy  and  misery  of  man  are  proved  from  reason. 

.  Par. — I  confess  you  have  silenced  me  by  Scripture  :  but  does  reason 
agree  here  with  revelation  ?  Many  say  that  the  doctrine  of  original  sin 
is  "  original  nonsense." 

Min. — It  is  easy  to  cavil  against,  but  difficult  to  overturn  the  truth. 
If  the  oracles  of  God  maintain  this  doctrine,  reason  is  not  against  it. 
Sound  reason  is  for  it,  as  I  hope  to  prove  by  a  variety  of  rational  argu- 
ments. 

First  Argument. — Reason  tells  us  that  some  mystery  of  iniquity 
lies  hid  under  the  shocking  circumstances  of  the  labour  of  women  and 
birth  of  children ;  and  that  if  our  nature  were  not  sinful,  the  gracious 
God  could  not,  in  justice,  suffer  millions  of  infants,  who  never  actually 
sinned,  to  go  through  the  miseries  of  a  lingering  life,  and  the  agonies  of 
an  untimely  death. 

Par. — Your  argument  would  seem  to  me  unanswerable  if  it  did  not 
prove  too  much  ;  but  it  unhappily  proves  that  beasts  also  are  sinful,  for 
they  are  brought  forth  with  sorrow,  and  end  a  toilsome  life  by  a  painful 
death,  as  well  as  the  children  of  men. 

Min. — Your  objection,  far  from  overturning  my  argument,  gives  me 
an  opportunity  of  strengthening  it  by  three  considerations. 

1.  Search  the  whole  earth,  and  you  will  not  find  in  it  one  species  of 
creatures  that  brings  forth  its  young  ones,  in  general,  with  half  the  pangs 
and  dangers  wherewith  women  bring  forth  their  children ;  and  is  not 
this  a  call  to  look  for  the  cause  of  this  evil  where  it  is  most  sen- 
sibly felt  ? 

2.  The  curse  of  fallen  man  having  seized  upon  the  whole  creation, 


426  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

caused  a  general  degeneracy  in  every  species  of  living  creatures.  The 
majesty  of  the  lion  sunk  into  cruelty,  and  the  courage  of  the  tiger  into 
fierceness.  All  the  ranks  of  milder  animals  were  stamped  with  dulness, 
wildness,  or  untractableness,  and  this  fatal  change  made  them  hasten  to 
their  dissolution.  Remember,  therefore,  that  it  is  only  in  consequence 
of  our  curse  rebounding  upon  beasts,  and  causing  them  to  degenerate 
from  their  original  perfection,  that  toil  follows,  and  death  overtakes 
them. 

3.  Though  this  degeneracy  cannot  be  called  sinfulness  in  beasts,  it 
can  in  man,  not  only  because  it  came  from  him,  and  is  much  stronger 
in  him ;  but  also  because  he  is  naturally  a  moral  agent ;  whereas  beasts 
are  not.  Therefore,  the  degeneracy,  sufferings,  and  death  of  beasts 
prove  the  depravity  and  misery  of  man,  as  strongly  as  the  effect  proves 
the  existence  of  its  cause. 

Par. — You  surprise  me  in  affirming  that  the  death  of  beasts  is  a  con- 
sequence  of  their  degeneracy,  and  their  degeneracy  a  consequence  of 
our  curse  and  sinfulness :  I  thought  that  beasts  would  have  died  even  in 
paradise. 

Min. — This  thought  seems  to  want  both  the  sanction  of  reason  and 
that  of  revelation  :  reason  dictates  that  as  a  wise  artist  will  never  make 
a  watch  to  get  it  bruised  in  pieces  under  the  smith's  hammer ;  so  the 
wise  God  never  originally  made  an  animal  for  the  stroke  of  death :  and 
revelation  informs  us,  that  "  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and 
death  by  sin  ;"  and  that  "  by  one  man's  offence,  death  reigned  by  one," 
Romans  v,  12,  16.  As  therefore  no  creature  would  have  died,  if  man 
had  not  brought  sin  and  death  into  the  world,  so  the  death  of  every 
creature  proves  the  sinfulness  of  man  ;  and  if  even  the  death  of  an 
insect  proves  this,  how  much  more  man's  own  death  ! 

Par. — The  force  of  your  argument  depends,  in  great  measure,  on  a 
pretended  degeneracy  of  beasts,  which  I  am  not  bound  to  admit  upon  your 
bare  assertion. 

Min. — You  may  safely  admit  it  upon  the  following  proofs  : — 

1.  Reason  tells  us  that  the  bad  properties  of  beasts  never  came  from 
a  good  God :  and  as  beasts  were  not  created  with  them,  it  necessarily 
follows  that  they  have  degenerated. 

2.  Moses  confirms  this,  when  he  says,  that  "  God  saw  every  thing 
that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very  good  :"  but  the  cruelty  of 
tigers,  and  the  poison  of  serpents,  are  not  good  at  all :  therefore  tigers 
were  not  cruel,  nor  asps  venomous,  when  they  came  out  of  their 
Creator's  hands. 

3.  We  read  that  God  "  gave  Adam  dominion  over  every  living  thing 
that  moveth  upon  the  earth  ;  and  brought  every  beast  of  the  field  to  him, 
to  see  what  he  would  call  them,"  Genesis  i,  26  ;  ii,  19.  But  had  they 
been  wild,  untractable,  and  ravenous  as  they  are  now,  far  from  govern- 
ing them,  or  staying  to  give  them  names,  he  would  have  wished  for  the 
swiftness  of  the  hind  to  run  out  of  paradise,  before  they  had  torn  him  in 
pieces. 

4.  Isaiah,  describing  the  paradisiacal  state  of  the  earth,  after  the 
restitution  of  all  things,  informs  us  that  "  the  wolf  shall  [again]  dwell 
with  the  lamb,  the  leopard  lie  down  with  the  kid,  and  the  calf  with  the 
lion,  which  shall  eat  straw  [or  grass]  like  the  ox."     He  adds,  that  "  the 


AND    ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS.  427 

sucking  child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the  weaned  child  put 
his  hand  on  the  cockatrice's  den ;"  and  that  "  they  shall  not  hurt  nor 
destroy  in  all  God's  holy  mountain,"  Isaiah  xi,  6,  &c.  In  this  picture 
of  the  restitution,  we  clearly  see  what  the  animal  creation  once  was,  by 
what  it  will  be  when  it  is  restored  to  its  original  state ;  and  we  may 
well  conclude  from  this,  that  if  beasts  themselves  must  undergo  a  change, 
it  is  not  contrary  to  reason  to  affirm,  that  man  must  also  be  bom  again, 
that  is,  be  totally  changed. 

5.  St.  Paul  confirms  Isaiah's  prophecy  of  the  restitution  of  the  animal 
world,  when  he  assures  us,  that  the  creature  degenerated,  or,  as  he 
expresses  it,  was  "  made  subject  to  vanity,"  but  not  without  hope  of 
recovery  ;  for,  adds  he,  "  it  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption, into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God,"  Romans  viii,  21, 
compared  with  Psalm  civ,  30,  and  Acts  hi,  21. 

par. — You  have  so  cleared  your  first  argument  from  my  objections, 
that  I  desire  to  hear  a  few  more  of  your  rational  proofs  of  our  depravity 
and  misery. 

Min. — Second  Argument. — Our  vicious  inclinations,  which  too 
often  lead  us  out  of  the  path  of  duty,  in  spite  of  all  the  remonstrances 
of  conscience  ;  and  our  sensual  appetites,  which  impel  us  forward  in  the 
ways  of  sin,  notwithstanding  the  clearest  dictates  of  reason,  prove  that 
human  nature  hath  suffered  as  great  a  revolution  as  these  realms  did, 
when  a  king  was  seen  bleeding  on  the  scaffold,  and  a  usurper  placed  in 
the  seat  of  majesty. 

Third  Argument. — The  universal  corruption  of  the  morals  of  man- 
kind, and  the  innumerable  crimes  committed  in  all  parts  and  ages  of  the 
world,  notwithstanding  the  restraint  of  human  and  Divine  laws,  are  such 
bitter  fruits  as  could  never  universally  grow  without  a  bitter  root :  and 
unprejudiced  reason  tells  us  that  this  root  can  be  no  other  than  our 
natural  depravity. 

par. — I  apprehend  you  give  way  to  prejudice  yourself:  we  can 
easily  account  for  the  corruption  of  mankind,  from  a  particular  consti- 
tution, bad  education,  or  ill  example  :  there  is  no  need  of  supposing  it 
natural. 

Min. — I  grant  that  a  peculiar  habit  of  body,  and  a  bad  education,  or 
ill  example,  will,  like  rich  soil  and  rank  manure,  cause  the  weeds  of 
natural  corruption  to  shoot  the  higher  :  but,  that  we  bring  the  seeds  of  it 
into  the  world  with  us,  is  evident,  from  the  wilfulness,  selfishness,  greedi- 
ness, anger,  revenge,  or  obstinacy,  which  little  children  betray,  before 
they  can  take  notice  of  ill  examples,  understand  bad  counsels,  or  be  at 
all  wrought  upon  by  youthful  temptations :  and  these  vices  break  out 
even  in  the  presence  of  the  most  pious  parents,  who  too  often  complain 
that  the  evil  propensities  of  their  children  baffle  the  force  of  the  earliest 
precepts  and  best  examples. 

Par, — You  are  very  apt  to  make  the  worst  of  a  bad  matter.  Im- 
morality is  not  so  general  as  you  suppose.  Thousands,  I  hope,  live 
free  from  bad  inclinations  and  bad  practices. 

Min, — None  live  so  exemplarily  as  God's  children ;  and  none  are  so 
ready  to  acknowledge,  with  the  prophet,  "the  deceitfulness  of  our 
desperately  wicked  heart,"  Jeremiah  xvii,  9.  As  they  see  by  the  light 
of  Divine  grace,  "  the  abominations  that"  every  man  hath  "  portrayed 


428  DIALOGUE   BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

in  the  dark  chambers  of  his  imagery,"  Ezekiel  viii,  10,  12,  they  can 
say  with  David,  that  "  their  heart  shovveth  them  the  wickedness  of  the 
ungodly,"  Psalm  xxxvi,  1:  and,  discovering  their  natural  depravity 
more  clearly,  they  lament  it  also  more  deeply  than  the  rest  of  mankind. 
See  Jeremiah  ix,  1. 

2„  The  more  you  are  acquainted  with  yourself,  with  the  history  of  the 
dead,  and  the  transactions  of  the  living  ;  the  more  you  will  be  persuaded 
that  the  distemper  is  universal,  affecting  all  ranks  of  people,  in  every 
age  and  country,  and  working,  more  or  less,  through  all  sorts  of  consti-  ■ 
tutions. 

3.  Some,  it  is  true,  boast  of  their  harmlessness,  and  the  goodness  of 
their  hearts :  they  suppose  they  have  no  vice,  because  they  live  out- 
wardly  in  none ;  they  fancy  that  the  tree  of.  sin  is  dead,  because  it  is 
stripped  of  its  leaves,  and  the  fruit  does  not  appear ;  they  imagine  that 
the  fountain  of  corruption  is  dried  up,  because  the  main  stream  runs 
under  ground,  or  in  a  new  channel :  but  experience  and  time  will  con- 
vince them  that  their  innocence  is  only  like  the  seeming  harmlessness 
of  Paul's  viper ;  as  soon  as  the  fire  of  temptation  comes  near  enough  to 
stir  it,  it  will  unexpectedly  bite,  if  grace  do  not  interpose,  even  to  eternal 
death. 

This  melancholy  truth  is  confirmed  by  striking  examples.  The 
apostles,  after  they  had  "  left  all  to  follow  Jesus,"  needed  to  take  heed  of 
such  beastly  sins  as  "  surfeiting  and  drunkenness,"  Luke  xxi,  34.  Peter, 
the  oldest  of  them,  after  the  strongest  protestations  of  fidelity,  lied,  cursed, 
swore,  and  denied  his  Lord.  And  good-natured  Hazael  was  at  last 
guilty  of  that  barbarity,  the  bare  mention  of  which  made  him  say,  "Am 
la  dog  that  I  should  do  this  thing?"  2  Kings  viii,  12.  So  true  is  So- 
lomon's saying,  "  that  he  that  trusteth  his  own  heart  is  a  fool !"  Prov. 
xxviii,  26.  So  just  is  that  observation  of  David,  "  The  children  of  men 
are  deceitful  upon  the  weights,  they  are  altogether  lighter  than  vanity 
itself!"  Psalm  lxii,  9. 

Par. — If  all  the  children  of  Adam  are  naturally  depraved,  their  de- 
pravity must  be  equal,  for  the  same  cause  will  produce  the  same  effect : 
but  as  this  is  not  the  case,  our  depravity  cannot  be  natural. 

Min. — «  They  are  altogether  become  abominable,"  says  David,  Psalm 
xiv,  4.  But  they  do  not  all  remain  so.  The  renewing  grace  of  God 
makes  a  real  difference  in  those  who  receive  it :  "  For  if  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature,"  2  Cor.  v,  17.  With  regard  to  the  harm- 
lessness, for  which  some  of  the  unregenerate  are  remarkable,  it  is  not 
owing,  I  am  afraid,  to  a  better  nature,  but  to  a  happier  constitution,  a 
cooler  blood,  a  stricter  education,  or  a  greater  measure  of  restraining 
grace :  perhaps  also  to  the  want  of  natural  boldness,  and  of  a  fair  op- 
portunity, or  suitable  temptation  to  sin.  As  for  the  seeming  virtues  of 
the  unconverted,  a  little  attention  will  show  you  that  they  spring  from 
real  vices.  The  fear  of  contempt,  the  desire  of  praise  and  popularity, 
or,  it  may  be,  secret  envy,  excite  the  voluptuous  to  generous  actions : 
the  thirst  of  money,  or  of  a  title,  stirs  up  the  indolent  to  industry  and 
diligence  :  cowardice,  or  the  love  of  pleasure,  keeps  the  ambitious  loyal 
and  quiet ;  and  while  ostentation  makes  the  miser  or  spendthrift  charita- 
ble, self  righteousness  renders  the  Pharisee  religious.  But  the  richest 
spring  of  the  natural  man's  morality,  if  he  is  moral  at  all,  is  a  sense  of 


AND   ONE   OF  HIS   PARISHIONERS.  429 

decency,  a  particular  regard  for  his  character,  a  desire  to  make  a  figure 
by  his  goodness  among  his  fellow  creatures  ;  or,  at  most,  the  impious 
conceit  of  making  amends  for  his  sins,  purchasing  heaven  by  his  works, 
and  so  becoming  his  own  saviour.  By  these  antichristian  motives,  his 
depravity  is  confined  to  his  heart,  as  a  wild  beast  is  confined  to  his  den 
by  the  light  of  the  sun  :  but,  as  the  couching  lion  is  a  lion  still,  though  he 
appears  quiet  as  a  lamb,  so  the  natural  man  remains  abominable,  though 
he  seems  as  moral  as  a  Christian.  Our  Lord  confirms  this  by  com- 
paring  him  to  a  "  whited  sepulchre,  which  indeed  appears  beautiful  out- 
wa»dly,  but  within  is  full  of  dead  men's  bones,  and  of  all  uncleanness," 
Matt,  xxiii,  27. 

Par. — If  we  are  all  depraved,  and  have  brought  this  depravity  with 
us  into  the  world,  it  is  as  natural  to  us  as  a  black  complexion  to  the 
Ethiopians  ;  nor  can  we  be  blamed  for  not  being  virtuous,  with  any  more 
justice  than  a  negro  for  not  being  white. 

Min. — Your  objection  hath  more  subtilty  than  strength.  Though  we 
cannot  help  our  being  born  corrupted,  we  can  often  choose  whether  we 
will  let  our  natural  corruption  break  out  into  external  sins,  or  not ;  and 
we  may  use  or  neglect  those  means  which  God  hath  appointed,  under 
Christ,  to  remedy  it. 

2.  A  moral  depravity  which  we  have  increased  ourselves,  by  the  wil- 
ful commission  of  sins  which  were  avoidable,  leaves  us  as  accountable 
for  it  as  an  Ethiopian  would  be  for  his  blackness,  if  he  contrived  to  bathe 
in  ink  daily. 

3.  Suppose  a  negro  were  credibly  informed  that  his  natural  com- 
plexion  would  cost  him  his  life,  and  that  nothing  in  the  world  could 
change  it  but  a  liquid  made  with  his  prince's  blood ;  and  suppose,  that 
being  presented  with  the  precious  wash,  he  were  obstinately  to  reject  it, 
and  roll  himself  in  a  heap  of  soot,  would  he  not  be  justly  punished  for 
remaining  black,  suppose  he  were  excusable  for  being  born  so  1  This  is 
exactly  the  case  of  every  natural  man  :  he  wilfully  rejects  the  blood  of 
Christ,  and  obstinately  wallows  in  the  filth  of  sin.  Therefore  "  the 
wrath  of  God  [justly]  abideth  on  him,"  John  iii,  36. 

Par. — Your  answers  to  my  objections  are  satisfactory  :  return,  I  pray 
you,  to  your  rational  proofs  of  our  apostasy. 

Min. — Fourth  Argument. — The  present  disordered  ruinous  state  of 
the  globe  shows,  to  an  impartial  inquirer,  that  its  chief  inhabitant  is  dis- 
graced by  the  God  of  nature  and  providence.  Murder  and  battle,  plagues 
and  famine,  lightning  and  thunder,  burning  heat  and  piercing  cold,  cities 
and  mountains  on  fire,  together  with  storms,  inundations,  and  earthquakes, 
concur  to  make  this  earth  a  vast  prison  for  rebels,  who  are  already  "tied 
and  bound  with  the  chain  of  their  sins,"  a  boundless  scaffold  for  their 
execution,  an  immense  "  field  of  blood,"  and,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
expression,  the  charnel  house  of  the  universe. 

Fifth  Argument. — Reason  agrees  with  Scripture  in  deciding  that 
man,  as  the  noblest  creature  upon  earth,  should,  "  according  to  the  fitness 
of  things,  bear  rule  over  all  the  rest."  But  "how  is  the  crown  fallen 
from  his  head  !"  Worms  lodge  within  his  bowels  even  before  his  death  ; 
and  insects  too  base  to  be  named,  but  not  too  base  to  humble  a  proud 
apostate,  prey  upon  his  flesh,  and  feast  on  his  blood,  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave.     And  would  the  wise,  gracious,  and  just  Governor  of  the 


43U  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

world,  suffer  despicable  vermin  (to  say  nothing  of  savage  beasts)  thus  to 
rebel  against  man,  if  man  were  not  himself  a  rebel  against  God? 

Sixth  Argument. — Reason  discovers  that  the  effect  cannot  use 
higher  than  the  cause,  and  that  light  will  as  soon  spring  from  darkness 
as  a  pure,  heavenly  nature  from  an  earthly,  sensual  one.  Our  first  pa- 
rents having  infected  their  souls  and  bodies,  by  taking  the  poison  of  sin, 
and  the  seeds  of  death,  could  not,  without  a  miracle,  transmit  to  their 
offspring  a  better  nature  than  they  now  had  themselves.  It  would  be 
irrational  to  expect  wholesome  streams  from  a  corrupted  fountain ;  and 
Job,  after  inquiring,  "  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?" 
rationally  answers,  "  Not  one." 

Par.  — Your  last  argument,  strong  as  you  may  think  it,  is  inconclusive : 
you  do  not  consider  that  the  body,  being  only  organized  matter,  is  as 
incapable  of  sinning  as  a  corpse,  because  matter  is  not  susceptible  of 
moral  defilement :  and  you  forget  that  our  Lord  affirms,  even  "  adulteries 
proceed  out  of  the  heart,"  or  soul,  which  each  of  us  had  immediately 
from  God.  Therefore,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  we  should  be  born  in 
sin  :  unless  you  can  believe  it  possible  for  a  holy  God  to  create  sinful 
souls,  or  for  a  good  God  to  create  pure  spirits,  in  order  to  send  them  into 
impure  bodies,  that  they  may  be  defiled  by  the  contact.  The  last  of 
these  notions  is  not  less  repugnant  to  philosophy,  than  the  first  is  to 
divinity,  for  if  a  dung  hill  cannot  defile  the  light  of  the  sun,  much  less  can 
matter  defile  a  spirit. 

Min. — Your  subtle  objection  is  entirely  founded  on  the  odd  notion  that 
children  derive  nothing  from  their  parents  but  a  body  ;  and  that  their 
soul  comes  immediately  from  God,  who  continually  creates  and  emits 
spirits  into  bodies,  at  the  beck  of  every  fornicator  and  adulterer ;  but 
that  this  is  a  mistake,  appears  from  the  following  considerations : — 

1.  It  is  said  that  "  God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work" 
of  creation,  Gen.  ii,  3  :  but  upon  this  scheme  he  is  hourly  creating  new 
souls. 

2.  All  living  creatures,  "  after  their  kind,"  received  power  to  propa- 
gate their  species  in  its  whole  nature  ;  and  it  does  not  appear  why  beasts 
should  be  more  privileged  than  man  in  this  respect. 

3.  When  God  blessed  our  first  parents,  and  bade  them  "  be  fruitful 
and  multiply,"  he  addressed  himself  to  the  soul  as  well  as  to  the  body, 
which,  without  the  soul,  can  neither  receive  nor  execute  a  command. 
Therefore,  by  the  force  of  the  Divine  blessing  and  appointment,  the 
whole  man  can  multiply,  and  the  soul  may  light  the  flame  of  life,  under 
proper  circumstances,  as  one  taper  can  light  another. 

4.  All  agree,  that,  under  God,  we  receive  life  from  our  parents  ;  and  if 
life,  then  certainly  our  spirit,  which  is  the  principle  of  life,  and  without 
which  the  body  is  nothing  but  a  lump  of  refined  clay,  Gen.  xlvi,  26. 

5.  The  regeneration  of  our  souls  is  insisted  upon,  by  our  Lord,  as 
absolutely  necessary ;  and  if  they  are  to  be  regenerated,  it  follows,  that 
they  were  first  generated,  John  iii,  6  ;  Ephesians  iv,  23. 

6.  Lastly.  The  Scripture  informs  us  that  fallen  "Adam  begat  a  son 
in  his  own  likeness,  and  after  his  image,"  Genesis  v,  3  :  but  had  he 
generated  only  a  body  without  a  soul,  he  would  have  been  the  father  of 
a  corpse,  and  not  of  a  man  ;  for  what  is  man  but  an  embodied  spirit  ? 

Par. — What  you  advance  would  carry  great  weight,  if  it  were  not 


AND   ONE   OF  HIS  PAEISHIONERS.  431 

written,  that  "  God  is  the  Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,"  and  that 
"  the  spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it."  From  these  passages  I  always 
concluded  that  the  soul  is  not  propagated,  but  immediately  created. 

Min. — Give  me  leave  to  retort,  that  it  is  also  written,  that  Job  and 
David  "  were  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  and  fashioned  by  the 
hands  of  God  in  their  mother's  womb,"  Job  x,  8  ;  Psalm  cxxxix,  4, 
&c ;  and  that  "  we  are  the  offspring  of  Him  who  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men,"  Acts  xvii,  26,  28.  If  you  think  that  these  scriptures 
prove  that  Job,  David,  and  "  all  nations  of  men"  had  their  bodies  from 
God,  without  the  instrumentality  of  any  parents,  I  will  agree,  that  the 
passages  you  quote  prove  also  that  we  have  our  souls  immediately  from 
God.  Nevertheless,  I  do  not  deny  that  the  Lord  is  peculiarly  "the 
Father  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,"  because  "  he  breathed  into  Adam's 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life,"  and  gave  him  the  spirit  by  which  he  became 
immediately,  and  every  other  man  mediately,  a  living  soul,  Gen.  ii,  7. 

Par. — This  hypothesis  affects,  I  am  afraid,  the  doctrine  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul ;  for  if  the  spirit  is  generated  with  the  body,  it  will 
also  perish  with  it. 

Min. — 1.  Chaff  is,  in  some  respects,  to  the  wheat  what  the  body  is 
to  the  soul ;  it  is  formed,  and  subsists  awhile  with  it :  but  would  you 
conclude  from  thence  that  the  wheat  cannot  subsist  when  the  chaff  is 
destroyed  1  You  know  the  contrary,  though  wheat  and  chaff  are 
material  substances,  growing  from  the  same  clod.  How  much  more 
can  the  soul  subsist,  in  a  separate  state,  after  the  corruption  of  the  body, 
seeing  it  is  of  a  nature  so  diametrically  opposite  to  flesh  and  blood  ! 
That  essential,  vital  breath,  which  came  from  heaven, — from  God  him- 
self, cannot  then  be  destroyed  by  the  fall  of  a  little  dust  of  the  earth  that 
clogs  it  for  awhile. 

2.  The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  no  more  affected,  nor  the  nature  of 
a  spirit  impaired,  by  spiritual  traduction,  than  the  eternity  of  God  the 
Father  is  affected  by  the  generation  of  his  "only  begotten  Son," 
Hebrews  i,  5 ;  John  i,  18  ;  or  his  glorious  Godhead  impaired  by  the 
continual  emanations  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  Psalm  civ,  30  ;   1  John  v,  18. 

3.  So  far  is  dissolution  from  being  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
propagation  of  our  souls,  that  it  would  not  so  much  as  have  followed  the 
generation  of  our  bodies,  if  Adam  had  not  brought  sin  and  death  into  tne 
world.  Yea,  the  beasts  themselves,  as  I  proved  just  now,  enjoyed,  in 
the  paradisiacal  state,  the  power  of  propagating  their  species,  together 
with  immortality. 

Par. — Now  that  you  have  proved  the  traduction  of  human  souls,  what 
inference  do  you  draw  from  it  ? 

Min. — A  very  remarkable  one  :  viz.  that  according  to  the  previous 
appointment  of  God,  and  the  law  of  our  nature,  Genesis  i,  28,  "  Adam 
begat  a  son,"  with  whatsoever  was  essential  to  his  own  wretched  like- 
ness and  fallen  image,  Genesis  v,  3  ;  that  is  to  say,  with  a  body  tainted 
all  over  with  mortality,  and  a  soul  polluted  and  infected  with  sin.  Thus 
your  objections  are  answered,  and  the  propagation  of  sin  and  death  are, 
not  only  Scriptnrally,  but  rationally  and  philosophically  accounted  for. 

Par. — If  Adam  repented  and  became  holy,  as  it  is  supposed  he  did, 
he  could  not  impart  a  sinful  nature  to  his  posterity,  for  our  Lord  tells  us 
that  "  a  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit." 


432  DIALOGUE  BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

Min. — Your  objection  can  be  answered  various  ways.  1.  The 
holiness  which  Adam  regained  was  not  free  from  mixtures  of  corruption. 

2.  Imperfect  as  it  was,  it  could  not  be  attained  by  any  of  the  children 
of  men,  in  any  other  way  than  that  in  which  Adam  himself,  and  Abel 
his  son  got  it,  viz.  by  faith  in  the  promised  seed,  Hebrews  xi,  4. 

3.  As  a  tree,  naturally  growing  from  the  kernel  of  the  best  apple,  can 
produce  nothing  but  mere  crabs,  till  it  is  ingrafted ;  so  the  children  of 
the  best  parents  can  have,  by  nature,  nothing  but  sinful  dispositions,  till 
grace  ingrafts  holy  ones. 

4.  Lastly:  good  men  beget  their  children  as  men,  not  as  good  men; 
they  cannot  impart  to  their  children  what  they  never  receive  from  their 
parents  ;  therefore,  by  generation  all  are  naturally  "  children  of  wrath  ;" 
when  any  become  "  children  of  light,"  it  is  supernaturally  by  regenera- 
tion. And  then  they  "  are  not  born  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God,"  John  i,  13. 

Par. — It  seems  to  me  both  absurd  and  unjust,  that  we  should  be  born 
in  sin,  because  Adam  chose  to  sin  :  by  what  law  are  we  bound  to  suffer 
for  the  faults  of  another  ?  We  had  no  hand  in  our  first  parents'  trans- 
gression, why  should  the  consequences  of  it  fall  so  heavy  upon  us  ? 

JMin. — You  do  not  think  parallel  cases  either  absurd  or  unjust. 
Adam  was  the  general  head,  representative,  and  father  of  mankind,  and 
we  suffer  for  his  rebellion — as  justly  as  the  children  of  a  bankrupt  suffer 
for  their  parent's  imprudence,  or  those  of  a  traitor  for  their  father's 
treason, — as  naturally  as  subjects  suffer  for  the  public  faults  of  their 
prince, — as  necessarily  as  the  offspring  of  one  who  hath  ruined  his  con- 
stitution by  intemperance,  partakes  of  the  parent's  enfeebled  habit  of 
body, — and  as  unavoidably  as  an  unborn  child  shares  the  fate  of  its 
desperate  mother,  when  she  hath  poisoned  herself. 

2.  As  we  are  all  seminally  contained  in  the  loins  of  Adam,  it  would 
have  been  as  impossible  to  save  us  from  the  defilement  of  sin,  as  to  pre- , 
serve  part  of  your  blood  free  from  all  infection,  if  you  were  dying  or 
dead  of  a  fever. 

3.  If  Adam  had  stood,  and  the  happy  consequences  of  his  obedience 
had  reached  down  to  you,  you  would  not  have  thought  it  unjust  to  enjoy 
them ;  yet,  as  he  fell,  it  is  reasonable  that  you  should  submit  to  the  sad 
alternative. 

4.  Did  God  appoint,  for  our  representative  and  head,  the  first  Adam, 
who  ruined  us  without  our  fault  ?  He  hath  also  graciously  appointed  the 
second  Adam,  Jesus  Christ,  who  redeemed  us  without  any  merit  on  our 
part :  it  ill  becomes,  therefore,  those  who  talk  of  salvation  by  the  cross 
of  the  Son  of  God  to  speak  against  the  doctrine  of  our  natural  depravity 
through  the  fall  of  Adam  :  for,  if  the  one  be  rational,  the  other  can  never 
be  absurd. 

5.  If  any  perish  now,  it  is  by  their  own  choice,  for  "  there  is  help 
laid  on  one  mighty  to  save,"  Psalm  lxxxix,  19.  "  The  soul  that  sinneth," 
(unto  death,)  by  rejecting,  to  the  end,  the  life  offered  in  Jesus,  "it  shall 
die"  eternally,  and  only  that  soul :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it,  "  The  son  shall  not  [finally]  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father," 
Ezekiel  xviii,  20. 

6.  Do  sin  and  misery  abound  without  our  choice  by  the  fall  of  Adam, 
grace  and  glory  abound  much  more  by  the  free,  unsought  redemption 


AND   ONE  OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS.  433 

that  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  Romans  v,  20 ;  and  "  it  must  be  owing  to  our 
own  perverseness  and  our  own  negligence,"  says  the  ingenious  Mr. 
Hervev,  "if  we  do  not  lew  a  tax  upon  our  loss,  and  rise  even  by 
our  fall." 

Par. — Did  not  God  foresee  Adam's  sin,  and  its  fatal  consequences? 
And  if  he  foresaw  them,  why  did  he  not,  as  the  wise  Governor  of  the 
world,  prevent  them  all  together? 

Min. — It  is  not  right  for  creatures  who  cannot  account  for  the  most 
common  things  in  the  natural  world,  such  as  the  colour  of  the  grass,  or 
that  of  flowers,  to  call  their  Creator  to  the  bar  for  his  transactions  intne 
moral  world.  That  God  permitted  sin  to  enter  into  the  world,  we  know 
by  sad  experience ;  and  that  he  does  all  things  in  wisdom,  we  are  no 
less  certain  ;  therefore  we  are  sure  that  wisdom  subscribed  the  awful 
permission,  and  till  he  unfold  to  us  the  mysteries  of  his  providence,  a 
modest  inquirer  will,  I  apprehend,  be  satisfied  with  the  following 
reflections  : — 

1.  God  made  man  in  his  natural  image,  part  of  which  consists  in 
liberty  of  choice  ;  and  if  God's  making  a  free  agent  is  not  against  his 
wisdom,  the  wrong  choice  or  sin  of  a  free  agent  is  no  impeachment  of 
that  Divine  attribute. 

2.  God,  it  is  true,  might  have  made  man  as  the  good  angels  are 
now ;  but  then  they  would  not  have  been  men,  but  angels  :  and  he  was 
no  more  bound  to  do  it,  than  to  make  all  his  creatures  of  a  size,  or  all 
horses  men.  On  the  contrary,  a  variety  in  the  works  of  creation  be- 
comes  "  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God." 

3.  He  did  all  that  a  wise  and  good  ruler  of  rational  creatures  could 
do  to  prevent  sin.  (1.)  He  gave  to  Adam  a  strong  propensity  to 
obedience.  (2.)  He  forbad  sin.  (3.)  He  enforced  the  prohibition  by 
the  fearful  threatening  of  present  death.  (4.)  He  promised  to  crown 
his  continuance  in  duty  with  eternal  life,  Rom.  x,  5.  To  have  gone 
farther,  would  have  been  as  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  a  moral 
agent,  and  that  of  the  Divine  law,  as  the  confining  or  chaining  down 
every  one  who  may  turn  thief,  is  contrary  to  the  liberty  of  Englishmen, 
and  the  laws  of  the  realm.     Perhaps  also, 

4.  God  permitted,  not  ordered  sin,  because  he  both  would  and  could 
overrule  it  to  the  glorious  display  of  several  of  his  attributes,  which 
must  otherwise  have  remained  unknown  to,  and  unglorified  by  his 
creatures :  such  as  his  boundless  mercy,  his  wonderful  patience,  his 
inflexible  justice,  and  admirable  wisdom  in  bringing  good  out  of  evil. 

5.  As  those  who  never  knew  what  sickness  and  want  are,  do  not 
half  value  the  blessings  of  health  and  plenty,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  God 
saw  it  expedient  to  suffer,  not  procure,  the  apostasy  and  misery  of  this 
world  ;  or,  (to  use  a  Scriptural  expression,)  to  permit  the  loss  of  his 
hundredth  sheep,  that  the  ninety-nine  who  never  were  lost  might  be 
more  sensible  of,  and  thankful  for  preserving  grace.  And  lest  there 
should  be  any  reason  to  impeach  his  goodness,  he  sent  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  to  take  the  curse  of  the  law  upon  him,  to  destroy  the  works  of 
the  devil,  and,  as  "  a  good  Shepherd,  to  bring  back  the  lost  sheep,"  the 
world  that  had  strayed  from  the  path  of  pious  obedience,  Luke  xv. 

6.  Lastly.  The  contrast  between  sin  and  holiness,  between  earthly 
misery  and  heavenly  bliss,  will  heighten  to  all  eternitv  the  beauty  of 

Vol.  IV.  28 


434  DIALOGUE   BETWEEN  A  MINISTER 

holiness,  and  the  joys  of  the  blessed:  so  that  the  wickedness  and 
wretchedness  of  this  earth,  which  is  but  a  point  with  regard  to  the 
universe,  when  they  shall  have  been  overruled  by  Divine  wisdom, 
mercy,  justice,  and  power,  will  answer  the  end  of  shades  properly 
thrown  into  a  piece  of  painting,  or  that  of  night  tempering  the  day  of 
paradise.  They  will  make  the  light  of  God's  perfections  appear  un- 
speakably brighter,  and  the  day  of  heaven  shine  infinitely  more  glorious. 

Par. — In  answering  my  objection  you  start  another,  which  you  will 
not  easily  solve.  If  sin  will  answer  the  end  of  shades  in  a  picture,  it 
wfll  have  its  use,  and  I  do  not  see  why  we  should  be  punished  at  all  for 
what  will  set  off'  the  Divine  perfections,  and  in  the  end  redound  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

Mm.- — It  is  sin  properly  pardoned,  or  justly  punished,  not  sin  commit- 
ted with  impunity,  which  will  answer  this  end.  Rebellion  is  always 
abominable  in  itself;  nevertheless,  a  wise  king  overrules  it  to  good  'pur- 
poses ;  a  pardon  granted  to  penitent  rebels  attaches  them  for  ever  to  their 
merciful  prince,  and  endears  him  to  all  his  faithful  subjects ;  and  at  the 
same  time,  the  public  execution  of  the  stubborn  reflects  praise  on  the 
steadiness  of  his  government,  and  makes  all  stand  in  awe  of  his  justice. 

Par. — I  do  not  deny  that  sin  deserves  some  punishment ;  but  I  cannot 
see  how  it  is  consistent  with  justice  to  say,  as  you  do,  that  God  will 
punish  the  sins  of  a  short  life  with  the  torments  of  a  boundless  eternity. 
Reason  discovers  no  sort  of  proportion  between  the  offence  and  the 
punishment ;  and  I  do  not  wonder  if  some  of  our  neighbours  believe,  on 
that  account,  that  hell  is  an  engine  contrived  by  crafty  priests  and  rulers 
to  keep  the  superstitious  and  vulgar  in  awe. 

Min. — I  answer,  1.  That  though  short-sighted  reason  sees  no  uniting 
power  between  the  loadstone  and  iron,  it  is  matter  of  fact  that  the 
mineral  attracts  the  metal,  therefore  there  are  realities  above  the  reach 
of  reason  in  the  material  world  :  how  much  more  in  the  spiritual ! 

2.  You  are  tempted  to  disbelieve  the  existence  of  a  state  or  place  of 
misery,  called  hell,  because  you  advert  not  to  the  strong  intimations  of 
it  which  Providence  gives  you  daily.  Millions  of  beasts,  which  never 
sinned,  go  through  a  hell  of  toil,  pain,  and  misery,  because  the  curse  of 
sinful  man  rebounds  to  them  here  !  You  see  this  continually,  and  yet 
you  question  whether  there  will  be  a  hell  for  impenitent  sinners  hereafter. 
Is  this  reasonable  ? 

3.  God  is  all  holiness  and  happiness  in  himself;  and  unconverted 
sinners,  being  the  reverse  of  holiness,  must  of  course  be  the  reverse  of 
happiness  also  :  therefore,  so  long  as  they  remain  unholy,  they  must 
remain  miserable :  and  what  is  hell  but  complete  misery  ? 

4.  Every  unbeliever  hath  already  the  ingredients  of  this  misery  in  his 
own  breast.  What  are  the  chains  of  sin,  the  tumults  of  unruly  appetites, 
the  gnawings  of  fretful  tempers,  the  uproars  of  turbulent  passions,  the 
disappointment  of  sanguine  hopes,  the  gripings  of  covetousness,  the 
burnings  of  lust,  the  stings  of  an  evil  conscience,  together  with  a  guilty 
shame  for  what  is  past,  and  foreboding  fears  of  what  is  to  come  ?  What 
are  all  these  plagues  which  the  unconverted  feel  from  time  to  time,  but 
sensible  proofs, — proofs  which  they  carry  in  their  own  breast,  that  there 
is  a  hell  for  the  ungodly? 

5.  The  dread  of  various  torments  after  death,  hath  been  in  all  ages 


AND   ONE   OF  HIS  PARISHIONERS.  435 

the  strongest  bulwark  against  the  overflowings  of  secret  ungodliness. 
The  world  cannot  be  ruled  without  this  fear  ;  and  were  it  imaginary,  it 
would  follow  that  God  (shocking  to  think  !)  keeps  mortals  in  awe  by  a 
he ;  and  that  Christ,  who  is  the  truth  itself,  spoke  falsehood  when  he 
said,  "  These  shall  go  into  everlasting  punishment,"  Matt,  xxv,  46. 

Par. — You  prove  the  reality  of  a  state  of  misery  for  the  wicked,  but 
prudently  avoid  answering  what  I  said  of  the  disproportion  there  is  be- 
tween momentary  sins  and  eternal  torments. 

Mm. — That  part  of  your  objection  will  fall  also,  if  you  let  the  follow 
ing  arguments  have  their  proper  weight  on  your  mind. 

1.  God,  who  rewards  the  godly  with  endless  glory,  may  justly  punish 
the  wicked  with  endless  ruin.  Death  must  be  in  the  balance  with  life, 
eternal  misery  with  eternal  happiness,  or  else  there  is  no  proportion  be- 
tween the  punishment  threatened,  and  the  reward  promised. 

2.  A  rebel  who  hath  stabbed  an  earthly  prince  but  once,  and  deeply 
repents  of  his  crime,  is  mercifully  dealt  with,  if  he  be  imprisoned  for 
life,  were  he  to  live  a  thousand  years.  An  impenitent  sinner  hath  risen 
against  the  majesty  of  Heaven  a  million  of  times,  and  "  crucified  the 
Prince  of  life  afresh,"  for  it  may  be  ten,  twenty,  forty  years :  what  is  more, 
he  goes  on  still  in  his  rebellion ;  and  his  talk  of  repenting  to-morrow 
is  only  a  contrivance  to  sin  with  more  cheerfulness  to-day.  Now  if  he 
die  in  this  state,  shall  God  be  unjust  in  condemning  him  for  life  to  the 
prison  of  hell,  and  punishing  with  infinite  wo  sins  committed  against  an 
infinite  Majesty, — sins  from  which  he  should  have  been  deterred  by 
considerations  of  infinite  force, — in  short,  sins  in  which  he  would  have 
lived  for  ever,  had  not  death  interposed  ? 

3.  When  a  distemper  rages  with  an  immense  violence,  the  remedy 
ought  to  have  an  immense  force.  But,  dreadful  as  the  threatenings  of 
eternal  punishments  are,  they  prove  not  half  dreadful  enough  to  deter 
sinners  from  their  iniquity.  Therefore,  it  does  not  become  us  to  com- 
plain that  God's  severity  toward  the  impenitent  is  too  great,  when  our 
conversation  shows,  that  it  is  too  little  to  bring  us  to  repentance  and  godly 
fear. 

4.  If  a  man  breaks  his  leg  by  a  fall,  and  obstinately  refuses  to  have 
it  set,  in  the  nature  of  things  he  must  feel  the  consequence  of  his  obsti- 
nacy till  he  drops  his  lame  body  into  the  grave  ;  but  as  a  stubborn  sinner 
cannot  drop  at  death  his  immortal  soul,  which  is  his  very  self,  he  must, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  bear  the  consequences  of  his  stubbornness  for 
ever. 

5.  God  does  not  punish  sinners,  who  die  impenitent,  barely  for  the 
momentary  acts  of  their  past  sins,  but  chiefly  for  the  habit  of  them,  which 
is  eternal.  As  a  wolf  who  hath  no  lambs  to  tear  remains  a  wolf,  and 
may  justly  be  chained  or  killed ;  so  the  rich  glutton,  who  hath  not  "  a 
drop  of  water  to  cool  his  tongue,"  remains  a  glutton,  and  is  justly  shut 
up  in  hell,  which  is  nothing  but  the  prison  and  death  of  an  immortal  soul. 

6.  Add  to  this  that  the  sinful  habits  of  the  impenitent  will  eternally 
produce  sinful  acts  of  rage,  revenge,  malice,  despair,  and  blasphemy  ; 
nor  will  any  one  say,  that  uninterrupted  acts  of  sin  do  not  deserve  un- 
interrupted strokes  of  punishment ;  or  that  it  is  not  highly  agreeable, 
both  to  reason  and  justice,  that  the  line  of  Divine  vengeance  should  ex- 
tend as  far  as  that  of  human  insolence,  that  is,  to  all  eternity. 


436  A  DIALOGUE,  ETC. 

7.  Lastly.  If  you  consider  the  inflexible  justice  of  God,  as  seizing 
upon  the  holy  Jesus,  whose  purity,  majesty,  and  power  were  infinite ; 
and  remember  how  it  forced  a  bloody  sweat  from  all  his  pores,  the  most 
amazing  complaints  from  his  lips,  and  at  last  his  very  breath  from  his 
tortured  body,  you  will  ask  yourself,  "  If  these  things  are  done  in  the 
green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry?"  Luke  xxiii,  31.  If  stern 
justice  pursued  "  the  Prince  of  life  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross,"  what  will  it  not  do  to  a  sinful  worm,  who  not  only  rebelled  all 
his  life  against  the  infinite  goodness,  holiness,  and  majesty  of  his  Creator, 
but  trampled  under  foot,  to  the  last,  the  free  offers  of  infinite  glory,  to 
the  last  did  despite  to  the  Spirit  of  grace,  and  rejected,  to  the  last,  an 
interest  in  the  infinite  merits  of  the  Redeemer's  blood  7 

Par. — You  have  so  cleared  my  difficulties,  and  answered  my  ob- 
jections, that  I  begin  to  think  reason  is  on  your  side,  as  well  as 
Scripture. 

Min. — As  you  are  candid  enough  to  acknowledge  the  impression  that 
lational  truths  make  on  your  mind,  I  beg  you  will  be  patient  enough  to 
consider  one  more  argument  in  favour  of  the  doctrine  of  our  sinfulness, 
danger,  and  misery,  in  a  state  of  nature.  I  hope  it  will  weigh  so  much 
the  more  with  you  because  I  have  it  from  your  own  mouth.  Did  I  not 
hear  you  this  very  day  call  Jesus  "  Saviour  ?"  Can  you  deny  it  ? 

Par. — Deny  it ! — God  forbid  !  Shall  I  be  ashamed  to  confess  that  he 
came  to  die  for  us,  and  to  save  us  from  hell  and  everlasting  ? 

Min. — Enough,  sir.  You  have  granted  me  more  than  I  want  to  con- 
vince a  man  of  sense.  If  Christ  died  for  us,  reason  tells  us  that  death  is 
our  desert.  If  he  came  to  save  us  from  hell,  it  is  plain  that  he  saw  us 
in  a  damnable  state  :  unless  you  will  charge  him  with  the  unparalleled 
folly  of  coming  from  heaven  to  save,  from  their  sins,  people  that  were 
very  good,  and  bleeding  to  death  to  save  from  hell  people  who  were  in 
no  danger  of  going  there. 

Par. — I  never  saw  things  in  this  light !  But  now  that  Christ  hath 
died  for  us,  all  danger  is  over,  the  bitterness  of  eternal  death  is  past. 

Min. — Yes,*for  those  who  are  savingly  interested  in  his  merit :  and 
who  these  are  the  apostle  tells  us.  "  They  that  are  Christ's,"  says  he, 
"  have  crucified  the  flesh,  with  its  affections  and  lusts  ;"  for  "  if  any  man 
be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature,"  Gal.  v,  24 ;  2  Cor.  v,  17.  And 
these  will  readily  acknowledge,  that  "  in  them  [as  considered  out  of 
Christ]  dwells  no  good  thing,  and  that  they  are  by  nature  children  of 
wrath  even  as  others,"  Rom.  vii,  18  ;  Eph.  ii,  3.  As  for  the  rest  of 
mankind,  far  from  being  out  of  danger,  our  Lord  tells  us  himself,  that 
"  the  wrath  of  God  abides  on  them,  and  that  they  are  condemned  already," 
John  hi,  18,  36. 

Here  the  parishioner,  unable  to  stand  his  ground  any  longer  on  the 
field  of  reason,  attempted  to  make  as  honourable  a  retreat  as  he  could : 
and  that  he  might  not  seem  to  have  lost  the  day,  he  erected  a  new  battery 
against  the  doctrine  of  our  corrupted  and  lost  state,  which  introduced  the 
fourth  part  of  the  dialogue. 

Ccetera  desuni. 


A    VINDICATION 


THE  REV.  MR.  WESLEY'S  "CALM  ADDRESS  TO  OUR 
AMERICAN  COLONIES:" 


m  THKEE  LETTEKS  TO  ME.  CALEB  EVANS. 


By  REV.  JOHN  FLETCHER, 

VICAR  OF  MADELEY,  BAXOP. 


NOTICE  BY  THE  AMERICAN  EDITOR. 


The  following  tracts  of  Mr.  Fletcher  were  written  at  a  time  of  great  political 
excitement.  And  though  we  can  by  no  means  accord  to  the  sentiments  advanced 
in  them,  nor  justify  the  strong  denunciations  against  the  Americans,  yet  we  can 
find  an  apology  for  their  author  in  that  love  of  country  which  is  natural  to  every 
genuine  patriot,  and  that  abhorrence  of  civil  commotion  with  which  the  bosom  of 
every  Christian  is  pervaded.  Both  Wesley  and  Fletcher  thought  the  American 
people  did  wrong  in  taking  up  arms  against  the  mother  country ;  and  being  true 
loyal  subjects,  they  considered  it  their  duty  to  vindicate  the  cause  of  their  king 
and  country,  and  to  denounce  the  colonists  as  rebels. 

Mr.  Wesley  lived  to  see  and  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God  in  our  independence 
as  a  nation ;  and  to  assist  in  establishing  a  Church  in  this  country  which  recog- 
nized our  independence  and  national  sovereignty  ;  and  we  his  followers  have  had 
the  happiness  to  witness  with  pious  gratitude  the  blessed  efFects  of  that  ecclesi- 
astical economy  in  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  throughout  this  free 
and  happy  land. 

Notwithstanding  the  objectionable  features  of  the  following  tracts,  considered 
in  a  political  point  of  view,  in  republishing  a  complete  edition  of  Mr.  Fletcher's 
Works,  they  could  not  consistently  be  omitted  nor  abridged ;  and  we  presume 
that  every  admirer  of  this  pious  and  excellent  author,  would  wish  to  read  all  he 
has  written,  reserving  to  himself  the  liberty  of  determining  on  what  is  just  and 
true,  according  to  the  light  of  Scripture  and  reason.  Infallibility  in  all  things  is 
what  no  man  claims,  for  either  Wesley  or  Fletcher,  however  much  he  may  ad- 
mire them  as  ministers  of  the  sanctuary  ;  and  we  must  confess  tbat  we  very  much 
prefer  following  them  as  divines  than  as  leaders  in  political  science.  In  the  for- 
mer character  they  moved  and  shone  in  their  own  appropriate  sphere ;  while  in 
the  latter  they  exhibited  those  eccentricities  which  indicated  that  they  had  wan- 
dered a  little  from  their  wonted  course.  We  make  these  remarks  to  show  that  in 
publishing  the  following  patriotic  and  spirited  addresses,  we  neither  subscribe  to 
the  sentiments  expressed,  nor  withdraw  our  charity  and  veneration  for  the  man 
who  thus  dared  to  utter  his  thoughts  in  defence  of  what  he  considered  the  rights 
of  his  king  and  country.  Should  political  convulsions  ever  threaten  to  shake  our 
own  country,  and  to  prostrate  our  happy  constitution,  we  should  rejoice  to  find  a 
mind  equally  pious  and  ardent,  engaged  from  the  same  conscientious  feeling  of 
duty,  in  their  preservation,  though  we  might  wish  him  a  more  successful  issue  of 
his  labours. 

New- York,  May  23,  1833. 


PREFACE 
TO  A  VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 


It  will  probably  seem  strange  that  clergymen  should  meddle  with  a 
controversy  which  has  hitherto  been  considered  as  altogether  political. 
But  the  reader's  surprise,  in  this  respect,  will  probably  cease,  if  he  give 
himself  the  trouble  to  read  these  letters.  He  will  then  see  that  the 
American  controversy  is  closely  connected  with  Christianity  in  general, 
and  with  Protestantism  in  particular  ;  and  that,  of  consequence,  it  is  of 
a  religious  as  well  as  of  a  civil  nature. 

Is  it  not  granted,  on  all  sides,  that  the  Gospel  leads  to  the  practice  of 
strict  morality  ?  Is  it  not  an  important  branch  of  such  morality  "  to 
honour  and  obey  the  king  ;"  to  extend  that  honour  and  obedience,  in  a 
Scriptural  and  constitutional  manner,  to  "  all  that  are  put  in  authority 
under  him  ;  to  submit  ourselves  to  all  our  governors  ;  to  order  ourselves 
lowly  and  reverently  to  all  our  betters  ;  to  hurt  nobody  by  word  or  deed, 
and  to  be  true  and  just  in  all  our  dealings;"  give  every  one  his  due, 
"  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due,  and  custom  to  whom  custom  ?"  Do 
we  not  teach  this  doctrine  to  our  children,  when  we  instruct  them  in  the 
first  principles  of  Christianity  ?  If  divinity,  therefore,  can  cast  light 
upon  the  question  which  divides  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  is  it 
impertinent  in  divines  to  hold  out  the  light  of  their  science,  and  peaceably 
to  use  what  the  apostle  calls  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  that  the  material 
sword,  unjustly  drawn  by  those  who  are  in  the  wrong,  may  be  sheathed, 
and  that  a  speedy  end  may  be  put  to  the  effusion  of  Christian  blood  ? 

Another  reason  influences  the  author  to  write  upon  the  question  which 
is  now  so  warmly  agitated  in  England, — so  dreadfully  debated  in 
America.  Many  of  the  colonists  are  as  pious  as  they  are  brave ;  and 
while  their  undaunted  fortitude  makes  them  scorn  to  bow  under  a  hostile 
arm,  which  shoots  the  deadly  lightning  of  war,  their  humble  piety  may 
dispose  them  (or  some  of  them)  to  regard  a  friendly  hand  which  holds 
out  an  olive  branch,  a  Bible,  and  the  articles  of  religion  drawn  by  their 
favourite  reformer.  Had  more  care  been  taken  to  inform  their  judg- 
ment, and  to  work  upon  their  consciences,  by  addressing  them,  not  only 
as  subjects,  but  as  free  men,  brethren,  and  Protestants,  it  is  probable 
that  numbers  of  them  would  never  have  so  strongly  embraced  the  un- 
scriptural  principles  which  now  influence  their  conduct. 

Should  it  be  said  that  it  is  too  late  now  to  use  spiritual  weapons  with 
the  colonists,  I  reply,  that  this  objection  bears  too  hard  upon  their  can- 


440  PREFACE   TO  A  VINDICATION,  ETC. 

dour ;  it  can  never  be  too  late  to  hold  out  plain  Scripture  and  solid 
arguments  to  judicious  Protestants.  It  is  only  to  Papists  strongly  pre- 
judiced, or  to  those  who  relapse  into  popish  obstinacy,  that  the  light  of 
God's  word,  and  of  sound  reason,  can  come  too  late.  Beside,  the  mis- 
takes which  have  armed  the  provincials  against  Great  Britain,  begin  to 
work  in  the  breasts  of  many  good  men  among  us  :  witness  the  principles 
of  Americanus.  Now,  therefore,  is  the  time  to  keep  these  well-meaning 
men  from  going  to  the  same  extremes  to  which  the  colonists  are  gone : 
now  is  the  time  to  prevent  others,  whose  judgment  is  yet  cool  and  sober, 
from  drinking  hi  errors  by  which  such  numbers  are  intoxicated. 


A  VINDICATION,  &c 


LETTER  I. 

The  doctrine  of  taxation,  maintained  by  the  author  of  the  Calm  Address,  is 
rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitutional. 

Reverend  Sir, — Thankful  for  the  religious  and  civil  liberty  which  1 
enjoy  as  a  subject  of  Great  Britain  ;  persuaded  that  many  warm,  well- 
meaning  men  mistake  an  unreasonable  opposition  to  the  king  and  the 
minister,  for  true  patriotism  ;  sensible  of  the  sad  consequences  of  national 
misunderstandings ;  ardently  wishing  that  all  things  may  be  so  ordered 
and  settled  upon  the  best  and  surest  foundation,  (which,  if  I  mistake  not, 
are  reason,  Scripture,  and  our  excellent  constitution,)  that  peace  and 
harmony  may,  for  all  generations,  be  established  between  Great  Britain 
and  her  flourishing  colonies ;  and  desirous  to  inspire  you,  sir,  and  my 
dissatisfied,  dissenting  brethren,  with  the  same  loyal  sentiments,  I  take 
the  pen  to  expostulate  with  you  about  the  system  of  politics  which  you 
recommend  to  the  public  in  your  "  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weslev, 
occasioned  by  his  Calm  Address  to  the  American  Colonies." 

It  is  at  this  time  peculiarly  needful  to  throw  fight  upon  the  question 
debated  between  Mr.  Wesley  and  you ;  for  if  you  are  in  the  right,  the 
sovereign  is  a  tyrant ;  taxing  the  colonists  is  robbery ;  and  enforcing 
such  taxation  by  the  sword  is  murder.  We  cannot  hold  up  the  hands 
of  our  soldiers  by  prayer,  without  committing  sin :  nor  can  they  fight 
with  Christian  courage,  which  is  inseparable  from  a  good  conscience,  if 
they  suspect  that  they  are  sent  to  rob  good  men  of  their  properties, 
liberties,  and  lives. 

Mr.  Wesley  asserts,  "  That  the  supreme  power  in  England  has  a 
legal  right  of  laying  any  tax  [I  would  say  any  proportionable  tax]  upon 
the  American  colonies,  for  any  end  beneficial  to  the  whole  empire,  with 
or  mthout  their  consent."  And  you  reply,  "  If  the  Americans  are  indeed 
subject  to  such  a  power  as  this,  their  condition  differs  not  from  that  of 
the  most  abject  slaves  in  the  universe." 

Sir,  I  venture  to  assert  that  you  are  mistaken,  and  that  Mr.  Wesley's 
proposition  is  rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitutional.  And,  promising 
you  to  show  in  another  letter  the  absurdity  of  your  proposition,  I  enter 
upon  the  proof  of  my  assertion,  by  an  appeal  to  reason,  Scripture,  and 
your  own  letter.  In  following  this  method,  I  shall  address  you  as  a 
man,  a  divine,  and  a  controvertist.     First,  as  a  man : — 

Does  not  your  mistake  spring  from  your  inattention  to  the  nature  of 
civil  government  ?  You  represent  the  power  which  the  king  and  par- 
liament claim  of  disposing  of  some  of  the  money  of  the  colonists  without 
their  consent,  as  an  encroachment  upon  British  liberty ;  as  an  unjust, 
tyrannical  pretension ;  nay,  as  a  species  of  "  robbery."  But  did  you 
never  consider,  sir,  that  in  the  nature  of  things  our  sovereign  in  England, 
(I  mean  by  this  word  the  king  and  his  parliament,   irst  jointly  making 


442  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

laws  not  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God,  whose  supreme  dominion  must 
always  be  submitted  to  by  all  created  lawgivers ;  and  secondly,  executing 
the  laws  which  they  have  made,  by  imparting  to  magistrates  and  other 
officers  of  justice  a  sufficient  power  to  put  them  in  force  ;)  did  you  never 
consider,  I  say,  that  our  sovereign,  whether  we  have  a  vote  for  parlia- 
ment men  or  not,  has  both  a  right  and  a  power  to  dispose,  not  only  of 
our  money,  but  also  of  our  liberties  and  lives ;  so  far  as  that  disposal 
may  answer  ends  agreeable  to  the  law  of  God,  beneficial  to  the  peace 
of  society,  and  conducive  to  the  general  good  ?  If  this  political  doctrine 
be  explained,  you  will,  I  am  persuaded,  assent  to  it,  as  an  indubitable 
truth. 

Could  the  sovereign  rule  and  protect  us,  if  he  had  not  this  right  and 
this  power  ?  I  injure  your  property,  or,  what  is  worse,  your  reputation. 
You  sue  me  for  damages ;  but  how  can  the  sovereign  act  the  part  of 
protector  of  your  property  and  good  name,  if  he  cannot  command  my 
property,  and  take  from  me  by  force  what  I  unjustly  detain  from  you,  and 
what  may  make  you  satisfaction  for  the  injury  done  to  your  character  ? 
And  suppose  you  had  wronged  me,  how  could  the  sovereign  protect  me 
if  he  could  not  dispose  of  your  property  without  your  consent  ? 

This  is  exactly  the  case  with  respect  to  liberty.  If  you  stop  me  on 
the  road,  and  unjustly  deprive  me  of  the  liberty  of  going  about  my  busi- 
ness, can  the  sovereign  protect  me,  unless  he  has  a  right  of  depriving 
you  of  your  lawless  liberty,  that  I  may  quietly  enjoy  my  lawful  liberty  ? 
And  does  not  equity  demand,  that  if  I  am  the  petty  tyrant,  who  pretend 
to  the  liberty  of  tar-feathering  you,  the  sovereign  should  have  the  same 
power  of  protecting  you,  by  binding  me  to  my  good  behaviour,  or  by 
ordering  me  to  the  stocks  or  to  jail  ? 

This  power  extends  to  life  as  well  as  liberty.  I  demand  your  money 
or  your  life.  How  can  the  sovereign  secure  you  more  effectually  than 
by  taking  my  life  for  having  attempted  to  take  yours  ?  By  the  rule  of 
reciprocation,  if  you  endeavour  to  take  away  my  life,  I  cannot  be  pro 
tected ;  and  if  you  murder  me,  my  blood  cannot  be  properly  avenged, 
unless  the  sovereign  has  power  to  put  you  to  death.  Hence  it  is,  that 
prosecutions  for  capital  offences  are  carried  on  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
who  is  the  head  of  the  legislative  power,  and  who,  as  he  insists  (in  his 
capacity  of  lawgiver  and  protector  of  his  subjects)  upon  the  infliction  of 
capital  punishments,  has  also  the  royal  prerogative  of  pardoning  crimi- 
nals condemned  to  die. 

Come  we  now  to  taxes.  If  the  sovereign  rules  and  protects  his  subjects ; 
and  if  it  is  his  office  to  avert  the  dangers  which  threatened  them,  and  to  see 
that  justice  be  done  to  the  oppressed ;  be  has  his  noble,  I  had  almost  said 
his  Divine  business ;  and  he  has  a  right  to  live  by  his  business :  yea,  to 
live  in  a  manner  which  may  answer  to  the  importance  and  dignity  of 
his  business.  Hence  it  follows,  that  he  is  not  only  as  much  entitled  to 
a  royal  sustenance  from  his  subjects,  as  a  school  master  is  entitled  to  a 
school  master's  maintenance  from  his  scholars  ;  or  a  minister  to  a  pas- 
toral supply  from  his  flock  ;  but  that  his  right  is  so  much  the  more  con- 
spicuous as  his  rank  is  higher  than  theirs.  Now  this  royal  sustenance 
chiefly  arises  from  custom  and  taxes.  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  to  deny 
proper  taxes  to  the  sovereign  who  protects  and  defends  us,  is,  at  least, 
as  gross  an  act  of  injustice,  as  to  reap  the  benefit  of  a  lawyer's  study,  a 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS.  443 

physician's  attendance,  a  nurse's  care,  and  a  master's  instructions,  and 
then  to  cheat  them  of  the  emolument  which  such  study,  attendance,  care, 
and  instructions  reasonably  entitle  them  to.     This  is  not  all. 

In  a  vast  empire,  where  the  sovereign  uses  thousands  of  officers  to 
keep  the  peace  and  administer  justice,  there  is  absolute  need  of  a  great 
revenue  for  the  maintenance  of  those  officers  ;  and  the  collecting  of  this 
revenue  is  the  employment  of  thousands  more.  If  the  state  is  in  danger 
from  external  or  internal  foes ;  a  sufficient  force  in  constant  readiness 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  suppress  seditions,  quell  rebellions,  obtain 
restitutions,  prevent  invasions,  and  hinder  encroachments.  Hence  the 
need  of  a  navy,  an  army,  a  militia.  Hence  the  need  of  sea  ports,  docks, 
fortifications,  garrisons,  convoys,  fleets  of  observation,  ministers  at  foreign 
courts,  arms,  artillery,  ammunition,  magazines,  and  warlike  stores  with- 
out  end :  hence,  in  short,  prodigious  expenses.  Now,  as  all  these  ex- 
penses are  incurred  for  the  protection  and  dignity  of  the  whole  empire, 
do  not  reason  and  conscience  dictate,  (1.)  That  all  those  who  share  in 
the  protection  and  dignity  of  the  empire  should  contribute  in  due  propor- 
tion toward  defraying  the  national  expense:  (2.)  That,  of  consequence, 
the  supreme  power  has  *an  indubitable  right  of  laying  moderate  taxes 
upon  the  subjects  for  any  end  beneficial  to  the  whole  empire  :  (3.)  That 
subjects  have  absolutely  no  right  to  complain  of  taxation,  unless  they  are 
taxed  exorbitantly,  or  without  due  proportion  :  (4.)  That  if  colonies  of 
subjects,  settled  by  a  grant  from  the  sovereign,  within  the  limits  of  the 
empire,  have  been  spared  in  their  state  of  infancy,  either  to  encourage 
their  growth,  or  because  the  revenue,  which  might  have  arisen  from 
taxing  them  at  first,  would  hardly  have  defrayed  the  expense  of  raising 
taxes ;  it  by  no  means  follows  that,  when  such  colonies  have  gathered 
strength,  and  are  as  well  able  to  bear  a  share  in  the  national  burden  as 
the  mother  country,  they  should  still  be  excused  :  and  lastly,  that  to  say, 
"  You  shall  not  tax  me  without  my  consent,"  is  as  improper  a  speech 
from  a  subject  to  his  sovereign  as  to  say,  "You  shall  not  protect  the 
empire  without  my  consent ;  if  I  steal,  you  shall  not  send  me  to  jail  with- 
out my  consent ;  if  I  raise  a  rebellion,  you  shall  not  hang  me  unless  I 
give  you  leave ;  you  shall  not  dispose  of  my  property  without  my  per- 
mission ;  although  (by  the  by)  I  will  dispose  of  the  property  of  my  fellow 
subjects,  not  only  without  their  permission,  but  also  in  full  opposition  to 
your  authority :  an  absurd,  unjust  disposition  this,  which  too  many  of 
the  Bostonian  patriots  evidenced  when  they  imperiously  disposed  of  the 
cargo  of  our  ships,  forcibly  threw  the  goods  of  our  merchants  into  the 
sea,  to  the  amount  of  many  thousand  pounds,  and  set  all  America  in  a 
flame,  as  soon  as  the  sovereign  insisted  that  the  port, of  Boston  should  be 
shut  up,  till  the  perpetrators  of  this  daring  act  were  delivered  to  justice, 
or,  at  least,  till  satisfaction  was  made  to  his  oppressed  subjects,  whose 
ships  have  been  boarded  in  a  piratical  manner,  and  whose  property  has 
been  feloniously  destroyed,  when  they  quietly  traded  under  the  sanction  of 
English  laws,  and  the  protection  of  the  British  flag  ;  trusting  to  the  faith 
of  Christians  ;  depending  on  Protestant  usage  in  the  harbour  of  a  Protest- 
*ant  city ;  expecting  brotherly  love,  or  at  least  common  honesty,  from  the 
sons  of  pious  Englishmen ;  little  thinking — but  enough  of  this  black  scene : 
may  it  be  palliated  by  a  speedy  restitution,  and  a  lasting  repentance  ! 

I  hope,  sir,  that  the  preceding  remarks,  which  naturally  flow  from  the 


444  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

principles  of  reason  and  humanity,  recommend  themselves  to  your  con- 
science  ;  and  having  thus  addressed  you  as  a  rational  creature,  I  take 
the  liberty  to  address  you  next  as  a  Christian ;  yea,  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  As  such,  you  will  not  wonder  at  my  producing  a 
passage  or  two  from  the  venerable  book,  which  ought  to  be  the  rule  of 
our  conduct,  sermons,  and  publications.  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to 
the  higher  powers.  For  there  is  no  power  but  of  God  :  the  powers  that 
be  are  ordained  of  God.  Whosoever,  therefore,  [in  lawful  things,]  re- 
sisteth  the  power,  [which  Providence  calls  him  to  obey,]  resisteth  the 
odinance  of  God ;  and  they  that  resist  shall  receive  to  themselves  con- 
demnation, &c.  Wherefore  ye  must  needs  be  subject  not  only  for  wrath, 
but  also  for  conscience'  sake.  For,  for  this  cause,  pay  you  tribute  [that 
is,  taxes]  also,  &c.  Render,  therefore,  to  all  their  dues ;  tribute  to  whom 
tribute  is  due,  custom  to  whom  custom,"  Rom.  xiii,  1,  &c. 

I  need  not  remind  you,  reverend  sir,  that  our  Lord  himself  scrupu- 
lously followed  this  doctrine  ;  setting  us  an  example  that  we  should  fol- 
low his  steps.  For  although  no  Jew  had  a  representative  in  the  Roman 
senate  ;  although  the  emperor  of  Rome  had  not  half  the  right  of  taxing 
the  Jews  which  our  Protestant  king  has  of  taxing  the  colonists,  who  are 
his  natural  subjects ;  although  none  of  that  emperor's  predecessors  had 
made  the  Jews  a  grant  of  their  country ;  although  Christ  could  have 
insisted  on  being  exempted,  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  King  of  kings ; 
yea,  although  he  could  have  pleaded  absolute  indigence  as  the  Son  of 
man  :  yea,  rather  than  set  a  pattern  which  Christians  might  have  abused 
in  after  ages,  he  unveiled  his  Godhead ;  his  omniscience  searched  the 
depth  of  the  sea,  his  omnipotence  inverted  the  course  of  nature :  he 
called  the  animal  creation  to  his  assistance :  he  wrought  a  miracle  to 
pay  his  tax.  And  to  whom  ?  To  a  foreign  power  ;  to  a  heathen  prince ; 
to  a  bloody  tyrant ;  to  Tiberius,  who  was  the  third  of  the  Cesars. 

Nor  was  our  Lord's  doctrine  less  loyal  than  his  practice.  His  words 
are  as  strong  as  those  of  St.  Paul :  "  The  Herodians  said  to  him,  Mas- 
ter, we  know  that  thou  teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth,  &c.  Tell  us, 
therefore,  what  thinkest  thou  ?  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Cesar,  or 
not?  But  Jesus  perceived  their  wickedness,  and  said,  Why  tempt  ye  me, 
ye  hypocrites?  Show  me  the  tribute  money.  And  they  brought  to  him 
a  penny.  And  he  said  to  them,  Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription  ? 
They  say  to  him,  Cesar's.  Then  saith  he  unto  them,  Render  therefore 
unto  Cesar  the  things  which  are  Cesar's,"  Matt,  xxii,  16,  &c. 

Permit  me,  sir,  to  clothe  this  Christian  doctrine  in  language  adapted 
to  our  controversy.  The  colonists  ask  you,  Shall  we  pay,  to  the  king 
and  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  taxes  which  they  have  laid  upon  us 
without  our  consent?  You  answer,  Show  me  some  of  your  lawful  money 
newly  coined,  that  I  may  see  who  rules  and  protects  you  now.  They 
bring  to  you  a  guinea,  with  a  royal  head  on  one  side,  and  the  British 
arms  on  the  other.  You  say  to  them,  Whose  is  this  image  and  super- 
scription ?  They  reply,  King  George's  ;  and  they  read  this  motto, 
"  George  III,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  Great  Britain,"  &c.  Now, 
reverend  sir,  unless  you  will  coin  new  money,  together  with  a  new  Gos-' 
pel,  as  you  regard  the  word  and  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  you  are 
bound  to  answer  the  colonists  as  he  answered  the  Herodians  :  and,  in 
this  case,  instead  of  imposing  upon  them  the  Antinomian  paradoxes  of 


VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  445 

your  letter,  and  throwing  oil  upon  the  flame  of  revolt,  you  will  say, 
"  Render,  therefore,  to  George  III,"  as  head  of  the  legislative  protective 
power  of  Great  Britain,  "  the  things  which  are  his ;"  that  is,  pay  to 
him,  by  his  officers,  the  reasonable  taxes  which  are  laid  upon  you ;  for 
in  so  doing  you  only  give  him  his  due.  You  owe  him  obedience  and 
taxes,  as  your  supreme  governor  and  protector.  Hence  it  appears  that 
Mr.  Wesley  only  unfolds  our  Lord's  doctrine,  when  he  says,  "  The  re- 
ception of  any  law  draws  after  it,  by  a  chain  which  cannot  be  broken, 
the  necessity  of  admitting  taxation."  The  primary  right  of  taxation  is 
inseparable  from  the  supreme  power,  and  if  our  respective  parishes  at 
home,  and  our  colonies  abroad,  have  a  right  to  cess  themselves,  with 
respect  to  their  private  expenses ;  it  is  only  a  delegated,  subordinate 
right,  which  by  no  means  exempts  them  from  the  taxes  laid  upon  them 
to  defray  the  general  expense  of  the  government.  And,  therefore,  to 
pretend  that  parish  rates,  and  colony  rates,  ought  to  supersede  taxation 
by  the  sovereign  in  a  body  political,  is  as  absurd  as  to  affirm  that  the 
pulses  in  the  human  body  ought  to  supersede  the  vital  motion,  or  capital 
beating  of  the  heart. 

Having  expostulated  with  you  as  with  a  conscientious  man  and  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  permit  me,  sir,  to  address  you,  thirdly,  as  a  con- 
sistent writer.  You  give  us  to  understand  that  the  act  of  parliament, 
by  which  the  colonists  are  taxed,  is  an  unconstitutional  act ;  because  the 
colonists,  as  inheriting  the  privileges  of  Britons,  cannot  be  constitution- 
ally taxed  by  a  parliament  to  which  they  are  not  allowed  to  send  repre- 
sentatives. But  do  you  not,  in  your  very  letter  to  Mr.  W.,  overthrow 
this  grand  plea  1  Do  you  not  grant  the  very  truth,  on  which  he  rests  his 
doctrine  of  the  constitutional  reasonableness  of  the  taxation  you  represent 
as  tyrannical  ?  Undoubtedly  you  do  :  for,  considering  that  many  large 
towns,  as  Birmingham,  &c,  send  no  representative  to  parliament,  when 
the  hill  called  Old  Sarum  sends  two  ;  and  that  myriads  of  men,  who  have 
their  fortune  in  ready  money,  in  goods,  in  trade,  or  in  the  stocks,  have 
no  right  to  vote  for  parliament  men,  because  they  have  no  freehold  ; 
when  a  poor  man,  who  has  a  mortgaged  freehold  on  which  he  starves, 
has  a  right  to  choose  his  representative ;  considering  this,  I  say,  you 
tell  Mr.  W.,  "  In  England — the  people  are  by  no  means  equally  rep- 
resented." 

We  thank  you,  sir,  for  this  concession,  which  (by  the  by)  you  could 
not  help  making.  You  grant  then  that  the  constitution  allows  of  unequal 
representation ;  since  it  allows  that  some  towns,  and  some  men,  shall 
send  representatives  to  parliament,  when  other  towns  and  other  men  are 
not  permitted  to  send  any.  And  in  granting  this,  you  indirectly  grant 
that  Boston  may  be  constitutionally  taxed  without  a  peculiar  representa- 
tive, as  well  as  Birmingham  ;  and  that  the  rich  merchants  of  Boston 
may  be  as  legally  taxed,  as  the  rich  merchants  of  Birmingham,  who  are 
not  entitled  to  a  vote.  Now,  sir,  if  the  constitution  allows  of  unequal 
representation,  and  if  the  taxation  of  myriads  of  men,  who  send  no 
representatives  to  the  house  of  commons,  is  constitutional,  I  ask,  in  the 
name  of  consistency,  why  do  you  represent  such  taxation  as  unconstitu. 
tional  with  respect  to  the  colonists  ? 

You  reply:  "This  is  an  acknowledged  defect  of  the  constitution." 
So,  sir,  your  zeal  for  the  constitution  throws  off  the  mask,  and  you 


446  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

impeach  the  constitution !  Might  you  not  have  said  at  once,  The  par- 
liament may  indeed  constitutionally  tax  the  colonists,  for  it  taxes  millions 
of  Britons  who  have  no  vote  for  parliament  men  ;  hut  the  constitution  is 
defective,  and  we  patriots,  we  friends  of  the  constitution,  will  avowedly 
find  fault  with  the  constitution  till  we  can  find  an  opportunity  of  casting 
it  into  a, new  mould?  And  what  this  mould  is,  which,  I  fear,  rash 
patriots  are  getting  ready  as  fast  as  they  can,  and  into  which  they  hope 
to  cast  the  inflamed  minds  of  the  populace,  you,  sir,  help  us  to  guess, 
where  you  say,  "  It  is  glaringly  evident,"  (to  such  good  friends  of  the 
constitution  as  you  are,)  "  it  is  glaringly  evident,  that  there  is  not  a  man 
in  England,  who  is  able  to  boil  a  pot,  in  ever  so  despicable  a  hovel,  but 
may,  if  he  pleases,  have  a  voice  in  the  disposal  of  his  property."  That 
is,  in  laying  on  or  taking  oft*  taxes,  or  (which  comes  to  the  same)  in 
making  and  repealing  laws.  Sir,  I  would  no  more  encourage  a  tyran- 
nical unonarch,  and  an  oppressive  parliament,  than  you :  but  supposing 
our  mild  king  were  a  tyrant,  and  his  parliament,  consisted  of  three  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  little  tyrants,  would  it  not  be  better,  upon  the  whole, 
to  be  ruled  by  four  hundred  tyrants,  than  to  be  at  the  mercy  of  four  hun- 
dred thousand  ?  If  you  calmly  weigh  this  question,  I  am  persuaded,  sir, 
that  your  prejudices  will  subside.  In  the  meantime  remember,  that  if 
you  are  right  as  a  patriot,  you  are  wrong  not  only  as  a  man  and  a 
Christian,  but  also  as  a  controvertist ;  and  that,  whether  the  constitution 
is  defective  or  not,  and  whether  you  can  mend  it  or  not,  you  have 
granted  that  unequal  representation  is  constitutional,  and  of  consequence 
that  the  taxation  of  myriads  of  Britons  in  England,  and  sons  of  Britons 
in  America,  who  send  no  representatives  to  parliament,  is  perfectly 
agreeable  to  the  constitution. 

You  strengthen  your  cause  by  quoting  a  French  and  an  English 
judge.  As  Mr.  Wesley  has  taken  particular  notice  of  these  quotations 
in  the  last  edition  of  his  Address,  I  shall  only  transcribe  his  answers. 
You  write,  "  All  the  inhabitants,"  &c,  says  Montesquieu,  speaking  of 
the  English  constitution,  "  ought  to  have  a  right  of  voting  at  the  election 
of  a  representative,  except  such  as  are  so  mean  as  to  be  deemed  to  have 
no  will  of  their  own."  Nay,  (answers  Mr.  W.,)  "  If  all  have  a  right  to 
vote  that  have  a  will  of  their  own,  certainly  this  right  belongs  to  every 
.man,  woman,  and  child  in  England.  A  man  has  a  will  of  his  own, 
whether  he  be  twenty  or  thirty  years  old,  and  whether  he  have  forty 
pence  or  forty  shillings  a  year." 

One  quotation  more.  Judge  Blackstone  says,  "  In  a  free  state,  every 
man,  who  is  supposed  to  be  a  free  agent,  ought  in  some  measure  to  be 
his  own  governor  ;  therefore  one  branch  at  least  of  the  legislative  power 
should  reside  in  the  whole  body  of  the  people."  Mr.  Wesley  answers: 
"  But  who  are  the  whole  body  of  the  people  ?  According  to  him,  every 
free  agent.  Then  the  argument  proves  too  much  ;  for  are  not  women 
free  agents  1  Yea,  and  poor  as  well  as  rich  men  ?  According  to  this 
argument,  there  is  no  free  state  under  the  sun."  From  these  just  answers 
it  is  evident  that  your  scheme  drives  at  putting  the  legislative  power  in 
every  body's  hands,  that  is,  at  crowning  king  mob. 

To  conclude  :  Upon  the  force  of  the  preceding  arguments,  I  ask,  first, 
Is  not  the  demand  of  proportionable  moderate  taxes,  which  the  sovereign 
of  Great  Britain  has  upon  our  wealthy  fellow  subjects  settled  in  the 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS.  447 

British  dominions  on  the  continent,  both  rational,  Scriptural,  and  consti- 
tutional?  Rational,  as  being  founded  upon  a  reasonable,  self-evident 
right,  flowing  from  the  nature  and  fitness  of  things,  and  acknowledged 
by  every  civilized  nation  under  heaven  1  Scriptural,  as  being  supported 
by  the  explicit  commands  of  St.  Paul,  and  Christ  himself?  And  consti- 
tutional, since  the  constitution  enjoins  that  millions  of  Britons  at  home, 
who  have  no  voice  at  elections,  or  are  represented  by  men  whom  they 
voted  against ;  and  that  myriads  of  Britons  abroad,  whether  they  are 
freeholders  or  not,  (and  some  of  them  are  not  only  freeholders,  but  mem- 
bers of  parliament  also,)  shall  be  all  taxed  without  their  consent  1 

I  flatter  myself,  sir,  that  this  appeal  to  your  conscience,  your  Bible, 
and  your  legal  patriotism,  will  soften  your  prejudices,  and  prepare  your 
mind  for  my  next  letter.  In  the  meantime  I  earnestly  recommend  to 
your  thankful  admiration,  the  excellence  of  the  British  government, 
which  equally  guards  ©ur  properties,  liberties,  and  lives,  against  the 
tyranny  of  unjust,  arbitrary,  or  cruel  monarchs  ;  and  against  the 
ferocity  of  that  Cerberus,  that  hydra,  that  Briareus,  that  many. headed 
monster,  a  mob  of  ungrateful,  uneasy,  restless  men,  who  despise  do- 
minion ;  speak  evil  of  dignities ;  give  to  illiberal  behaviour,  scurrilous 
insolence,  and  disloyalty  unmasked,  the  perverted  name  of  patriotism ; 
commit  enormities  under  pretence  of  redressing  grievances ;  and  set  up 
the  ensign  of  devastation  wherever  they  erect  their  standard  of  lawless 
liberty.  Hoping,  sir,  that  a  panic  fear  of  a  virtuous  king,  a  lawful 
parliament,  and  a  conscientious  minister,  whose  crime  is  only  that  of 
making  a  constitutional  stand  against  the  boisterous  overflowings  of  civil 
Antinomianism  ;  hoping,  I  say,  that  such  an  absurd  fear  will  never  hurry 
you  into  groundless  discontent,  and  unguarded  publications ;  entreating 
you  to  take  no  step  which  may  countenance  King  Mob,  his  merciless 
minister,  Rapine,  and  his  riotous  parliament  summoned  from  the  "most 
despicable  hovels ;"  requesting  you  to  exalt  our  Divine  Lawgiver,  who 
sums  up  his  law  of  liberty  in  these  precious  statutes,  "  Render  to  Cesar 
the  things  which  are  Cesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  which  are  God's. 
A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  you  love  one  another,  as  I 
have  loved  you  ;"  wishing  you,  sir,  all  Scriptural  success  in  the  Gospel, 
which  says,  "  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's 
sake ;  whether  it  be  to  the  king,  as  supreme,  or  unto  governors,  as  unto 
them  that  are  sent  by  him  for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,  and  for  the 
praise  of  them  that  do  well :"  ardently  praying  that  when  the  governors, 
generals,  and  forces  going  to  America,  shall  land  there,  our  disobedient 
fellow  subjects  may  be  found  doing  well,  that  is,  penitently  submitting 
themselves  to  their  sovereign,  that  the  threatened  punishment  may  be 
turned  into  deserved  praise  :  and  begging  you  would  take  in  good  part 
the  freedom  of  this  well-meant  expostulation,  I  declare  that  I  am  as  much 
in  love  with  liberty  as  with  loyalty ;  and  that  I  write  a  heart- felt  truth, 
when  I  subscribe  myself,  reverend  sir,  your  affectionate  fellow  labourer 
in  the  Gospel,  a  republican  by  birth  and  education,  and  a  subject  of  Great 
Britain  by  love  of  liberty  and  free  choice, 

J.  Fletcher. 

Madeley,  Nov.  15,  1775. 


448  VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 


LETTER  II. 

The  doctrine  of  Americanus  is  highly  unconstitutional,  and  draws  after 
it  a  long  train  of  absurd  consequences. 

Reverend  Sir, — I  hope  I  have  proved,  in  my  first  letter,  that  Mr. 
Wesley's  doctrine  of  government  is  rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitu- 
tional ;  and  that  a  right  of  taxing  subjects,  with  or  without  their  consent, 
is  an  inseparable  appendage  of  supreme  government.  I  shall  now  at- 
tempt  to  prove  that  your  doctrine  of  liberty,  and  taxation  only  with  our 
own  consent,  is  absurd  and  unconstitutional ;  and  that,  while  you  try  to 
break  the  lawful  yoke  of  civil  government  laid  on  the  colonists,  you  doc- 
trinally  bind  the  greatest  part  of  the  English  with  chains  of  the  most 
abject  slavery,  and  fix  a  ridiculous  charge  of  robbery  on  the  king  and 
parliament,  for  taxing  some  millions  of  Britons,  who  are  no  more  repre- 
sented in  parliament  than  the  foreigners  who  sojourn  in  England,  or  the 
English  who  live  abroad. 

Permit  me  to  state  the  question  more  particularly  than  I  have  done  in 
my  former  letter.  Mr.  Wesley  thinks  that  the  colonists  are  mistaken 
when  they  consider  themselves  as  put  on  a  level  with  slaves,  because 
they  are  taxed  by  a  parliament  in  which  they  have  no  representatives 
of  their  own  choosing:  I  say,  of  their  own  choosing,  because  I  appre- 
hend that,  as  all  the  freeholders  and  voting  burgesses  in  Great  Britain 
virtually  represent  the  commonalty  of  all  the  British  empire,*  and  as 
such  freeholders,  &c,  virtually  represent  all  that  commonalty,  whether 
it  be  made  up  of  voters  or  non-voters,  of  .poor  men  or  men  of  property, 
of  men  at  home,  at  sea,  or  on  the  continent ;  so  the  house  of  commons 
virtually  represents  all  the  freeholders  and  voting  burgesses  in  Great 
Britain ;  whether  they  voted  or  not  at  the  last  election,  or  whether  they 
voted  for  or  against  the  sitting  members. 

With  an  eye  to  this  virtual  representation,  which  draws  after  it  a  pas- 
sive submission  to  taxation,  Mr.  W.  asks,  "  Am  I  and  two  millions  of 
Englishmen,"  who  have  no  right  to  vote  for  representatives  in  parlia 
ment,  "  made  slaves,  because  we  are  taxed  without  our  own  consent?" 
You. reply,  "Yes,  sir,  if  you  are  taxed  without  your  own  consent,  you 
are  a  slave."  You  consider  such  taxation  as  "the  very  quintessence  of 
slavery;"  you  declare  that  if  the  Americans  submit  to  it,  "their  condi- 
tion differs  not  from  that  of  the  most  abject  slaves  in  the  universe  :"  and 
you  insinuate  that  whoever  attempts  to  tax  them  otherwise  than  by  their 
direct  representatives,  "attempts  an  injury;  whoever  does  it,  commits  a 
robbery  ;  he  throws  down  the  distinction  between  liberty  and  slavery. 
Taxation  and  representation  [you  mean  direct  representation]  are  coeval 
with,  and  essential  to  this  constitution."  But  when  you  publish  such 
assertions,  which  justify  the  armed  colonists,  and  represent  the  majority 
in  parliament  as  a  gang  of  robbers,  does  not  an  enthusiastic  warmth  for 
lawless  liberty  carry  you  beyond  the  bounds  of  calm  reflection  ?    And 

*  Mr.  Fletcher  added  in  a  parenthesis  here  "  except  Ireland,  which  being  a 
kingdom  by  itself,  and  no  English  colony,  coins  its  own  money,  and  has  its  pe- 
culiar parliament."  As  Ireland  is  now  incorporated  with  Great  Britain  in  one 
empire,  and  sends  representatives  to  the  British  parliament,  that  clause  is  here 
omitted. 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS.  449 

are  you  aware  of  the  stab  which  you  give  the  constitution  ;  and  of  the 
insult  which  you  offer,  not  only  to  your  superiors,  but  also  to  millions 
of  your  worthy  countrymen,  whom  you  absurdly  stigmatize  as  some  of 
the  "  most  abject  slaves  in  the  universe  ?" 

Probably  not  one  in  five  of  our  husbandmen,  sailors,  soldiers,  me- 
chanics, day  labourers,  and  hired  servants,  are  freeholders,  or  voting 
burgesses.  And  must  four  out  of  five,  in  these  numerous  classes  of  free- 
born  Englishmen,  wear  the  badge  of  the  most  abject  slavery,  in  com- 
pliance with  your  chimerical  notions  of  liberty  ?  We  are  not  allowed  to 
vote  so  long  as  we  are  minors ;  and  must  also  all  our  blooming  young 
men,  from  seventeen  years  of  age  to  twenty-one,  be  considered  as  "  most 
abject  slaves  ?"  You  may  say,  indeed,  that  they  are  represented  by  their 
parents  or  guardians  :  but  what  if  these  guardians  or  parents  have  no 
vote  themselves  ?  Beside,  if  minors  can  be  thus  represented,  why  should 
not  our  colonies  be  represented  in  the  same  manner  by  the  mother 
country,  which  has  so  tenderly  nursed,  and  so  carefully  protected  them 
from  their  infancy  ?  To  return.  If  the  wives  of  freeholders  are  sup- 
posed to  vote  by  their  husbands,  what  must  we  say  of  those  who  have 
buried  their  husbands?  Have  all  widows  buried  their  liberty  with  the 
partners  of  their  beds  ?  A  freeholder  has  seven  children ;  he  leaves  his 
freehold  to  his  eldest  son  ;  and  because  he  cannot  leave  a  freehold  to  all, 
will  you  reproach  him  as  the  father  of  six  abject  slaves  ?  Another  free- 
holder, to  pay  his  debts,  is  obliged  to  sell  his  freehold,  and  of  consequence 
his  right  of  taxing  himself.  Does  he  sell  his  liberty  with  his  freehold, 
and  "  involve  himself  in  absolute  slavery  ?"  The  general  election  comes 
on  :  a  young  gentleman  wants  a  kw  months  of  the  age  which  the  law- 
requires  in  a  voter :  and  of  consequence  he  cannot  yet  choose  his  own 
representative  ;  must  he  continue  a  slave  till  the  next  election  ?  A  knight, 
disapproved  by  most  voters  in  the  county,  offers  to  represent  them  ;  thev 
try  in  vain  to  get  some  other  gentleman  to  oppose  him ;  and  the  candi- 
date whom  they  tacitly  object  to,  sits  in  the  house  chiefly  for  want  of  a 
competitor.  Is  their  liberty  at  all  affected  by  this  kind  of  involuntary 
representation,  which  draws  after  it  a  kind  of  involuntary  taxation  ? — 
At  the  next  election,  perhaps,  the  opposition  runs  high  between  several 
candidates  ;  one  has  (I  suppose)  two  thousand  votes;  another,  one  thou- 
sand nine  hundred ;  and  a  third,  one  thousand  seven  hundred.  The 
first  is  elected :  two  thousand  freeholders  are  taxed  by  a  representative 
of  their  own  choosing,  and  three  thousand  six  hundred  voters  go  home 
disappointed  of  their  choice,  and  having  the  mortification  of  being  taxed 
by  a  man  whom  they  did  not  vote  into  parliament  ;  nay,  by  a  man  whom 
they  opposed  with  all  their  might.  Their  choice  is  perhaps  equally  frus- 
trated with  regard  to  the  other  knight  of  the  shire.  Now,  are  these 
three  thousand  six  hundred  voters  in.  any  degree  reduced  to  a  state  of 
slavery,  till  they  can  have  an  opportunity  of  being  represented  according 
to  their  minds  ?  Again  :  a  free-born  Englishman  is  possessed  of  a  house, 
which  he  lets  for  thirty-eight  shillings  a  year ;  for  want  of  two  shillings 
more  in  his  yearly  income  he  is  no  freeholder  :  and,  like  the  colonists, 
he  is  taxed  without  his  consent ;  is  he  "  an  abject  slave"  on  this  account? 
Wild  patriotism  answers  in  the  affirmative  ;  but  impartial  men  smile  and 
say,  What !  is  British  liberty  so  mean  a  blessing  as  to  depend  upon  a 
couple  of  shillings  ?  Could  a  Jew  make  it  turn  on  a  hinge  more  con- 
Vol.  IV.  29 


450  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

temptible  than  this  ?  O,  sir,  what  a  low  price  does  your  system  indirectly 
fix  upon  a  jewel,  on  which  you  seem  to  set  so  immense  a  value ! 

Once  more :  during  the  last  election,  myriads  of  Englishmen  were 
abroad,  some  upon  their  travels  for  their  health,  and  others  upon  civil, 
military,  or  mercantile  business ;  nor  had  they  any  more  share  in  the 
choice  of  the  members  of  parliament  who  now  tax  them,  than  the  Ame- 
rican colonists  ;  and  will  you  aver,  sir,  that  if  all  these  Englishmen  were 
collected,  they  might  constitutionally  reform  the  constitution,  and  tax 
themselves  by  a  congress  composed  of  men  who  stimulate,  them  to  dis- 
content ?  Will  you  assert,  that  such  a  congress  would  do  well  to  make 
laws  in  opposition  to  the  statutes  of  the  king  and  parliament  1  And  would 
you  call  the  members  of  such  a  congress  loyal  subjects,  if  they  raised 
an  army  to  drive  the  king's  forces  out  of  his  own  dominions ;  yea,  out 
of  those  very  provinces  where  they  hold  their  land  by  gracious  grants  of 
the  crown  ;  where  they  have  acquired  their  wealth  under  the  protection 
of  the  mother  country ;  and  where  the  sovereign's  forces,  which  they 
now  endeavour  to  cut  off,  have  kindly  fought  their  battles. 

To  come  nearer  to  the  point ;  some  years  ago,  Lord  Clive,  member 
for  Shrewsbury,  went  to  the  East  Indies ;  and  Lord  Pigot,  member  for 
Bridgenorth,  is  now  gone  thither.  Their  estates  are  immensely  large ; 
yet  in  consequence  of  their  leaving  England,  the  former  lord  was,  and 
the  latter  is,  taxed  without  his  consent.  And  will  you  stand  to  your 
absurd  doctrine,  sir,  and  infer,  that  the  burgesses  of  Shrewsbury  were, 
and  that  those  of  Bridgenorth  are,  reduced  to  a  partial,  temporary  state 
of  slavery,  by  the  emigration  of  one  of  their  representatives ;  and  that 
Lord  Clive  was,  and  Lord  Pigot  now  is,  an  absolute  slave ;  because,  in 
consequence  of  their  emigration,  the  former  was,  and  the  latter  is,  taxed 
without  his  consent  ?  If  you  say  that  Lord  Clive  came  back  to  England, 
and  that  Lord  Pigot  may  return  and  tax  himself  if  he  please  ;  I  reply, 
this  is  exactly  the  case  with  the  colonists.  By  emigration  they  are  pre- 
vented from  sharing  in  the  legislative  power  of  the  parliament.  But  let 
them  come  back,  if  they  have  set  their  hearts  upon  legislative  honours. 
The  mother  countiy  and  the  parliament  house  are  as  open  to  them  as  to 
any  free-born  Englishman.  They  may  purchase  freeholds,  they  may 
be  made  burgesses  of  corporate  towns,  they  may  be  chosen  members 
of  the  house  of  commons  ;  and  some  of  them,  if  I  mistake  not,  sit  already 
there.  The  colonists  are  then  on  a  level  not  only  with  Britons  in  gene- 
ral, but  with  all  members  of  parliament  who  are  abroad.  And  therefore 
to  demand  superior  privileges,  is  to  demand  rights  which  no  Britons  have, 
and  which  the  members  of  parliament  who  go  out  of  Great  Britain  never 
thought  of,  our  British  nabobs  not  excepted. 

•  As  mountains  rise  upon  mountains  among  the  Alps,  so  absurdities  rise 
upon  absurdities  in  your  system :  take  some  more  instances  of  it. — 
If  we  believe  you,  sir,  he  is  an  abject  slave  who  is  taxed  without  his 
consent.  Hence  follows  another  absurdity.  The  day  that  a  bill  for  an 
additional  land  tax  to  subdue  the  colonies  passes,  the  knights  of  a  large 
shire  are  absent ;  the  one,  I  suppose,  is  kept  from  the  house  by  illness, 
and  the  other  is  called  into  the  country  by  business  or  pleasure  :  neither 
votes  for  the  bill.  Now,  sir,  are  they  and  the  county  they  represent 
made  slaves  by  being  taxed  without  their  consent  ?  If  you  reply,  that 
their  not  opposing  the  bill  implies  that  they  consent  to  it ;  I  answer,  the 


VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  451 

inference  is  not  just.  I  did  not  oppose  the  last  murder  which  was  com- 
mitted  in  the  county,  but  you  will  wrong  me,  if  you  infer  that  I  con- 
sented to  it.  Many  clergymen  will  not  dppose  your  letter,  who,  never- 
theless, reprobate  the  doctrine  it  contains. 

But,  granting  that  your  inferences  are  just,  I  press  you  closer,  and 
point  out  two  knights  (suppose  the  members  for  Middlesex)  who  oppose 
the  bill  with  all  their  might :  and  yet  the  bill  passes.  Now,  sir,  if  your 
scheme  of  liberty  be  right,  it  follows  that  our  great  patriots  and  the  little 
patriots  whom  they  represent,  are  abject  slaves ;  for  they  are  evidently 
taxed,  not  only  without  their  consent,  but  against  their  warmest  opposi- 
tion ;  seeing  they  are  additionally  taxed  to  bring  their  mistaken  friends 
to  reason.  How  excessively  absurd  then  is  your  scheme,  sir,  since  it 
not  only  puts  the  badge  of  the  most  abject  slavery  upon  all  the  Britons 
who  are  not  electors,  but  also  upon  all  the  electors  and  members  of  par- 
liament who  call  themselves  patriots  with  as  much  confidence  as  some 
mistaken  divines  call  themselves  orthodox  ! 

You  reply,  "  In  all  collective  bodies  the  determinations  of  the  majority 
of  that  body  are  always  considered  as  the  determinations  of  the  whole 
body ;  and  every  man  who  enters  into  society  implicitly  consents  it 
should  be  so."  Mr.  W.  and  I,  sir,  thank  you  for  this  concession.  If 
you  and  the  colonists  stand  to  it,  you  will  throw  down  your  pen,  and 
they  their  arms.  For  every  body  knows  that  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies  make  a  collective,  political  body,  called  the  British  empire  : 
and  you  declare  that,  "  in  all"  such  bodies,  "  the  determinations  of  the 
majority  are  always  considered  as  the  determinations  of  the  whole 
body."  Now,  sir,  if  you  do  but  allow  that  Great  Britain  is  the  majoritv 
of  the  British  empire,  and  you  cannot  reasonably  deny  it,  considering 
the  glory,  wealth,  fame,  and  invincible  navy  of  the  mother  country,  to- 
gether with  the  grant  she  made  to  the  colonies  of  the  large  provinces, 
which  they  hold  under  her,  as  cottagers  hold  their  gardens  and  habita- 
tions under  the  lord  of  the  manor,  who  gave  them  leave  to  enclose  and 
build  upon  a  part  of  the  waste  within  the  limits  of  his  jurisdiction ;  if 
you  do  but  allow,  I  say,  that  Great  Britain  is  the  majority  of  the  British 
empire,  according  to  your  own  concession  the  determinations  of  Great 
Britain  are  always  to  be  considered  as  the  determinations  of  the  whole 
British  empire  :  and  every  colony  "  implicitly  consents  it  should  be  so." 
But  the  American  colonies  have  not  only  implicitly  consented  it  should 
be  so ;  they  have  also  done  it  explicitly,  by  humbly  thanking  the  king 
for  their  charters,  one  of  which  says,  in  express  terms,  you  are  exempt 
from  paying  taxes  to  the  king  for  seven  years  ;  plainly  implying,  says 
Mr.  W.  with  great  truth,  that  after  those  seven  years  they  were  to  pay 
taxes  like  other  subjects,  if  the  sovereign  taxed  them ;  and  if  the  king 
and  parliament  have  allowed  them  a  longer  time,  it  is  absurd  and  wicked 
to  draw  from  this  indulgence  a  plea  to  palliate  a  notorious  breach  of 
trust.  As  for  the  charter  of  Pennsylvania,  it  says  in  express  terms  that 
they  are  liable  to  taxation  by  the  parliament,  and  therefore  their  rising 
against  such  taxation  is  ingratitude,  perverseness,  and  a  notorious  breach 
of  charter. 

One  more  remark  upon  your  important  concession.  If  you  grant 
that  the  minority  in  parliament  has  implicitly  and  passively  consented  to 
the  measures  of  the  majority,  though  very  much  against  their  will,  wit 


452  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM   ADDRESS. 

ness  their  warm  petitions,  protestations,  remonstrances,  &c,  do  you  not 
abundantly  grant  this  leading  proposition  of  Mr.  Wesley's  Address,  in  a 
thousand  cases,  "  Any  other  than  this  kind  of  consent  the  condition  of 
civil  life  does  not  allow  ?"  Thus  (so  great  is  the  force  of  truth  !)  after 
all  your  outcry  against  your  opponent,  you  yourself  lay  down  his  grand 
principle :  you  come  back  to  the  very  point  whence  he  started,  and  are 
reduced  to  the  mortifying  necessity  of  maintaining  that  our  English 
patriots,  so  called,  are  some  of  the  most  abject  slaves  in  the  universe  ; 
or  that  our  American  colonies  are  some  of  the  most  unreasonable  colo- 
nies in  the  world,  since  they  take  up  arms  to  oppose  a  legislative  body 
to  which  they  have  consented,  not  only  implicitly  and  passively,  as  the 
minority  does  to  the  majority  in  parliament,  but  explicitly  and  actively: 
witness  the  charter  of  the  colony  in  which  the  congress  is  assembled, 
and  the  constant  submission  which  for  many  years  the  colonists  paid  to 
the  British  laws ;  supreme  laws  these,  according  to  which  they  have 
suffered  their  lives,  and  the  liberty  of  their  persons,  to  be  disposed  of; 
though  they  had  no  more  hand  in  actually  making  those  laws,  than  the 
great  Mogul ;  most  of  them  having  been  made  long  before  any  living 
Englishman  drew  his  breath. 

To  show  that  taxation  and  your  narrow  ideas  of  representation  are 
inseparable  according  to  the  constitution,  to  Monsieur  Montesquieu's 
erroneous  account  of  the  British  constitution  you  add  the  bare  assertior 
of  Lord  Camden  and  Lord  Chatham.  But  permit  me  to  observe,  sir 
that  all  the  Frenchmen  and  English  lords  in  the  world,  can  never  over 
throw  a  doctrine  which,  as  I  have  proved  in  my  first  letter,  stands  0.1 
falls  with  reason,  Scripture,  and  matter  of  fact. 

If  your  noble  auxiliaries,  to  whom  you  join  Mr.  Locke,  mean  an  indi- 
rect representation,  we  readily  assent  to  your  assertion :  and  we  reply, 
that  in  this  sense  the  taxation  of  the  colonists  is  not  separated  from 
representation  ;  for  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain  are  indirectly  repre- 
sented by  Great  Britain,  as  the  children  of  electors  are  indirectly  repre- 
sented by  their  fathers ;  as  the  non-voters  at  elections  are  indirectly 
represented  by  the  voters,  and  as  the  electors  who  are  at  sea,  or  on  the 
continent,  are  indirectly  represented  by  those  who  are  in  the  island. 
But  if  those  lords  mean  a  direct  representation,  they  are  desired  to  show 
how  all  the  myriads  of  men,  non-voters  in  Great  Britain,  to  say  nothing 
of  minors,  widows,  maidens,  bed  ridden  or  imprisoned  burgesses,  and 
absent  freeholders,  are  directly  represented  in  the  parliament  which  now 
taxes  them,  if  (through* a  variety  of  insurmountable  obstacles)  they 
neither  did,  nor  could,  vote  for  a  representative  at  the  last  election. 

Till  you,  sir,  or  the  lords  who  patronize  your  system,  have  removed 
this  difficulty  out  of  the  way  of  your  patriotism,  you  will  allow  us  to 
think  that  you  deal  in  irrational,  unscriptural,  and  unconstitutional  para- 
doxes, when,  speaking  of  taxation  and  direct  representation,  you  say, 
"  God  has  joined  them  :  no  British  parliament  can  separate  them  :  to 
endeavour  to  do  it,  is  to  stab  our  vitals." 

When  you  have  rashly  charged  nonsense  upon  God,  you  may  well 
indirectly  charge  robbery  upon  the  sovereign  :  accordingly  your  patri 
otism  mounts  the  rostrum,  and  makes  this  convincing  speech  :  "  Mv 
position  is  this,  I  repeat  it,  I  will  maintain  it  to  the  last  hour :  taxation 
and  representation  are  inseparable :  this  position  is  founded  upon  the 


VINDICATION  OP  THE  CAXM  ADDRESS.  453 

law  of  nature  :  it  is  more  ;  it  is  an  eternal  law  of  nature."  I  grant  it, 
sir,  if  by  nature  you  mean  the  fallen  nature  of  the  men  who  say,  "  With 
our  tongue  will  we  prevail ;  our  lips  are  our  own  :  who  is  Lord  over 
us  ?"  Psalm  xii,  4.  But  you  go  on :  "  Whatsoever  is  a  man's  own,  is 
absolutely  his  own  :  no  man  has  a  right  to  take  it  from  him  without  his 
consent,  either  expressed  by  himself  or  his  representative."  Nay,  you 
grow  so  warm  as  to  say,  "  Whoever  attempts  to  do  it,  [that  is, 
agieeably  to  the  context,  whoever  attempts  to  tax  a  man,  who  has  not 
consented  to  the  tax,  either  personally  or  by  his  direct  representative,] 
attempts  an  injury :  whoever  does  it,  [and  the  sovereign  has  done  it,] 
commits  a  robbery."  What  a  speech !  God  save  the  king  from  such 
severe  judges  as  you  are  ! 

Nothing  can  be  more  erroneous,  sir,  than  the  principle  on  which  you 
found  your  bold,  though  indirect  indictment :  "  Whatsoever  is  a  man's 
own,  is  absolutely  Ms  own.''''  I  do  not  scruple  to  assert  that  this  principle 
is  detestable,  as  being  unscriptural,  irrational,  and  highly  unconstitutional. 
1.  Unscriptural.  For  the  Scriptures  teach  us  that  God  is  the  first  and 
grand  proprietor  of  all  things ;  that  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
him  ;  and  that,  for  the  ends  mentioned  in  my  first  letter,  he  delegates 
his  dominion  and  authority  to  kings  and  magistrates.  Hence  it  is,  that 
both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  those  who  make  and  enforce  laws 
are  called  gods,  and  that  St.  Paul  declares,  "  He  that  resisteth  the  power, 
resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God."  To  say,  therefore,  that  what  we  have 
is  absolutely  our  own,  is  to  shake  off'  the  yoke  of  God's  supreme  do- 
minion, and  of  the  delegated  dominion  of  kings,  lawgivers,  and  magis- 
trates, who  are  his  lieutenants  and  representatives. 

2.  Your  principle  is  irrational :  for,  if  whatever  a  man  has,  "  is 
absolutely  his  own,"  it  follows  that  non-voters  and' foreigners,  who  never 
consented  to  our  laws,  either  personally  or  by  appointing  their  repre- 
sentatives, can  never  be  taxed,  imprisoned,  or  hanged,  unless  they  first 
sign  the  warrants  by  which  their  property,  liberty,  and  life,  is  legally 
disposed  of.  And  if  to  dispose  of  their  property  by  taxation  is  robbery, 
by  the  same  rule  we  may  say,  that  to  dispose  of  their  liberty  and  life  by 
legal  warrants  which  they  may  have  not  indorsed,  is  inhospitable 
tyranny  and  downright  murder. 

3.  Your  principle  is  highly  unconstitutional.  But  few,  comparatively, 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  have  a  share  in  the  legislative  power ; 
nevertheless,  the  properties,  liberties,  and  lives  of  all,  are  disposed  of 
according  to  law.  The  constitution  allows  it ;  the  constitution  enjoins 
it.  And  yet  you  tell  us,  that  disposing  of  the  property  of  non-voters  is 
unconstitutional,  and  that  to  lay  taxes  upon  them  is  to  commit  robbery. 
Now,  sir,  if  you  are  right,  the  government  robs  two  hundred  and  twelve 
families  in  my  parish  only.  With  two  of  my  neighbours  I  have  just 
calculated  the  number  of  housekeepers  in  our  little  district :  upon  a 
moderate  computation  we  find  seventy-eight  freeholders  in  two  hundred 
and  ninety  families.  Hence  it  follows,  that  two  hundred  and  twelve 
families,  out  of  two  hundred  and  ninety,  have  no  share  in  legislation, 
either  personally,  or  by  sending  any  representative  to  parliament.  And 
yet  all  these  families  are  taxed  :  the  masters  of  some  of  them,  who  live 
upon  large  farms,  for  which  they  pay  the  land  tax,  pay  more  to  the 
government  than  most  freeholders.     To  say  nothing  of  the  land  tax  and 


454  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

highway  money,  they  are  all  taxed  in  most  of  the  articles  which  they 
use  in  housekeeping.  The  tea  and  sugar  they  drink  in  the  morning,  the 
salt  they  eat  at  noon,  the  candle  they  burn  at  night,  the  shoes  they  wear 
all  the  day,  are  taxed ;  their  tobacco,  snuff,  gin,  ale,  and  rum,  great 
articles  with  too  many  of  them,  are  all  taxed  :  thus,  according  to  your 
unconstitutional  doctrine,  they  are  robbed  from  morning  till  night.  The 
freeholders,  officers  of  excise,  and  collectors  of  taxes,  are  little  robbers, 
and  the  king  and  his  parliament  the  great  robbers.  Did  ever  any  patriot 
pour  more  contempt  upon  the  constitution  than  you  inadvertently  do  ? 
If  you  could  proselyte  me  to  your  patriotism,  sir,  I  would  no  more  cele- 
brate the  fifth  of  November  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving.  I  would  wish 
success  to  any  man  who  would  venture  his  neck  in  order  to  blow  up  the 
den  of  thieves,  with  all  the  robbers  who  assemble  therein. 

You  insinuate  that  these  two  hundred  and  twelve  non-voters  are  "  able 
to  purchase  a  freehold  if  they  choose  it,"  and  to  become  voters  for  them- 
selves and  their  families.  But  you  are  mistaken,  sir  ;  I  know  my  parish 
better  than  you  do.  Some  of  the  housekeepers  I  mention  could  not  vote 
on  account  of  their  sex,  though  they  should  have  twenty  estates;  and 
most  of  the  rest  would  find  it,  through  their  poverty,  much  more  difficult 
to  purchase  a  freehold,  than  most  of  our  American  patriots. 

You  answer,  if  this  be  the  case,  their  "  property  must  be  so  small, 
that  it  can  be  of  no  consequence  to  them  who  has  the  granting  of  it." 
But  I  argue  in  a  quite  contrary  manner :  for,  if  my  poor  parishioners 
have  little  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  by  every  dictate  of  common  sense, 
it  is  of  the  greatest  consequence  to  them,  not  to  be  robbed  of  that  little. 
Those  who  have  blood  to  spare,  may  trust  their  arm  in  the  hands  of 
almost  any  surgeon ;  but  those,  whose  veins  are  already  drained,  are 
deeply  interested  in  the  choice  of  him  who  is  to  let  out  the  precious  drops 
which  they  can  so  ill  part  with.  The  parting  with  a  couple  of  shillings, 
or  the  losing  of  two  days'  work  in  mending  the  highways,  is  more  to  a 
poor  man  who  has  a  large  family,  than  the  losing  of  £2000  is  to  a  man 
of  fortune.  Taxes  are  never  felt  by  the  rich  ;  because  they  pay  them 
out  of  their  superfluous  abundance  :  whereas  the  poor  part  with  some  of 
the  necessaries  of  life,  whenever  they  part  with  a  penny.  Beside,  the 
poor,  not  being  able  to  buy  meat,  live  chiefly  upon  bread,  which  is  the 
cheapest  food.  They  eat  a  pound  of  it,  where  the  rich  eat  an  ounce. 
Therefore,  when  our  wealthy  legislators  raise  the  price  of  bread,  by 
allowing  a  bounty  for  the  exportation  of  corn,  or  by  forbidding  the  im- 
portation, or  permitting  the  distilling  of  it,  they  reap  the  principal  benefit, 
and  the  poor  bear  the  principal  burden.  You  advance,  then,  a  monstrous 
paradox,  when  you  insinuate  that  legislation  "  can  be  of  no  consequence" 
to  the  poor  ;  for  the  capital  branch  of  legislation,  which  raises  or  sinks 
the  price  of  corn,  chiefly  concerns  the  lowest  class  of  mankind,  by  whom 
corn  is  chiefly  consumed. 

This  is  not  all.  The  legislative  power  disposes  of  our  life,  and  loco- 
motive liberty,  as  well  as  of  our  property.  I  have  seen  some  free-born 
Englishmen,  who  never  had  any  share  in  legislation,  put  in  the  stocks, 
or  sent  to  jail :  I  have  seen  others  loaded  with  irons,  ready  for  transpor- 
tation :  and  others  with  a  rope  about  their  neck,  ready  for  the  gallows. 
Now,  as  the  poor  are  as  much  concerned  in  the  disposal  of  their  loco- 
motive liberty  and  life  as  the  rich,  do  you  not  betray  gross  partiality, 


VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  455 

sir,  when  you  represent  the  poor  as  persons  who  may  be  doomed  to 
abject  slavery,  which  your  system  supposes  to  be  inseparably  connected 
with  our  having  no  share  in  the  legislature  ?  Indigence  and  slavery  are 
not  naturally  connected.  The  poor  Indians  are  as  jealous  of  their  liberty 
as  you.  And  when  the  Lacedemonians  and  the  Romans  were  in  the 
lowest  circumstances,  they  valued  their  liberty  most. 

It  is  true,  you  insinuate  that  all  who  cannot  purchase  a  freehold  are 
not  absolutely  obliged  to  remain  slaves ;  because  a  place  in  the  legisla- 
ture is  a  "  privilege  extended  in  a  few  boroughs  to  every  one  that  boils 
a  pot."  But  does  not  this  very  argument  pour  fresh  contempt  upon  your 
notions  of  slavery  and  liberty  1  Does  it  not  make  English  liberty,  or 
abject  slavery,  to  turn  upon  the  boiling  or  not  boiling  of  a  pot  1  How- 
ever, suppose  that  all  who  are  not  able  to  purchase  freeholds  could 
avoid  slavery  by  crowding  with  their  families  into  the  few  boroughs  you 
mention ;  which  many  colonists  could  do  with  greater  ease  than  thou- 
sands of  Britons :  or,  supposing  this  peculiar  privilege  were  extended  to 
all  the  pot  boilers  in  Great  Britain,  would  you  mend  the  constitution  by 
these  means  1  No  :  you  would  only  avoid  one  inconveniency  by  running 
upon  another  ;  for  the  rich  would  justly  complain  of  a  levelling  scheme 
which  would  allow  every  starving  cottager  to  have  as  good  a  right  of 
granting  their  property,  as  they  have  themselves. 

Again  :  if  Britons,  and  sons  of  Britons,  must  be  "  equally  represent- 
ed," with  respect  to  the  disposal  of  their  property,  in  order  to  be  free 
men  ;  have  not  the  rich  a  right  to  make  a  congress,  and  to  enact,  that, 
as  the  man  who  has  forty  shillings  a  year  in  land,  has  one  vote  ;  so  he 
who  has  twice  forty  shillings,  should  have  two  votes  ;  and  he  who  has 
ten  thousand  pounds  a  year,  should  have  five  thousand  votes  :  by  which 
means  he  might  return  himself  member  for  any  poor  borough  in  the 
kingdom  ?  On  the  other  hand,  will  the  poor  not  have  as  good  a  right  to 
rise  in  their  turn,  and  to  form  another  congress,  under  pretence  that  rich 
men  have  but  one  body,  and  one  life,  any  more  than  the  poor  :  and 
therefore  it  is  unreasonable  that  the  rich  should  have  so  much  greater  a 
part  in  legislation  than  they  ?  Nor  will  the  mischief  stop  here  :  the  wise 
and  experienced  will  rise  also,  and  urge,  it  is  absurd  that  a  young  man, 
or  a  fool,  should  have  as  great  a  share  in  the  legislature  as  a  wise, 
aged  man  ;  and  they  will  insist  on  having  votes  according  to  their  wis- 
dom and  years;  nor  will  their  claim  be,  in  my  judgment,  the  most 
unreasonable.  . 

This  is  not  all.  Every  little  market  town,  and  every  ancient  village, 
will  insist  on  sending  two  representatives  to  parliament,  as'well  as  Wen- 
lock  and  Old  Sarum.  By  the  rule  of  proportion,  large  towns,  cities, 
and  populous  counties  will  claim  a  right  of  sending  a  number  of  mem- 
bers so  much  greater,  as  they  are  larger  than  Cornish  boroughs,  and 
more  populous  than  Huntingdonshire.  Thus  we  shall  have  an  army  of 
parliament  men,  who,  like  the  Polish  nobility  at  their  diets,  will  not  be 
able  to  hear  one  another  speak,  and  will  be  more  ready  to  draw  the 
sword,  than  to  make  laws.  And  if  such  a  parliament  is  to  be  chosen 
every  year,  as  you  intimate  it  should,  the  nation  will  spend  half  her  time 
in  raising  armies  of  pot  boilers,  to  raise  another  army  of  lawgivers. 

From  these,  and  many  such  inconveniences,  it  appears,  sir,  that  your 
scheme  of  equal  representation  is  absurd  and  impossible ;  and  that,  be . 


45b  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM   ADDRESS. 

fore  5  ou  can  bring  it  to  bear,  you  must  first  get  all  Britons  to  be  equally 
wise,  rich,  noble,  learned,  experienced,  and  diligent.  Secondly,  you 
must  take  all  of  one  age  and  sex  :  and  thirdly,  you  must  contrive  to 
make  them  all  live  in  th ;  same  place,  and  at  the  same  time.  If  you 
consider  the  difficulty  of  such  a  task,  I  flatter  myself,  sir,  that  you  will 
be  less  ready  to  find  fault  with  the  constitution,  and  to  make  the  inju- 
dicious wish  for  a  revolution  productive  of  equal  representation,  that  is, 
of  an  absolute  impossibility.  Much  less  will  you  persuade  injudicious 
patriots,  that  the  king  and  the  majority  in  parliament  "  commit  robbery," 
and  "  stab  our  vitals,"  when  they  tax  the  colonists,  as  they  do  two  out  of 
three  of  their  subjects  in  England,  that  is,  without  a  direct  representation. 

You  try,  indeed,  to  obviate  this  difficulty,  by  intimating  that  the  vast 
body  of  free-born  Englishmen,  who  have  no  right  to  choose  their  repre- 
sentatives, or  who,  through  absence,  cannot  exercise  their  right,  may 
"  consent  to  the  disposal  of  their  property,  because  they  have  always 
this  security,  that  those  who  take  an  active  part  in  the  disposal  of  their 
property,  must,  at  the  same  time,  dispose  of  an  equal  proportion  of  their 
own."  Whereas,  "  the  American  can  have  no  voice  in  the  disposal  of 
his  property ;  and  what  is  worse,  those  who  are  to  have  the  power  of 
disposing  of  it  are  under  every  possible  temptation  to  abuse  that  power, 
because  every  shilling  they  take  out  of  the  pocket  of  an  American,  is  so 
much  saved  in  their  own." 

As  this  is  your  capital  argument,  I  shall  give  it  a  full  answer.  (1.)  It 
is  improbable  that  our  lawgivers  would  save  a  dirty  shilling  in  their 
pockets,  by  oppressively  taking  one  out  of  an  American's  pocket.  If  I 
am  rightly  informed,  they  are  so  far  from  abusing  their  power  in  this 
respect,  that  when  they  take  sixpence  for  the  use  of  government  out 
of  an  American's  pocket,  they  take  sixteen  shillings  out  of  their  own. — 
(2.)  Our  excellent  constitution  obviates  your  ungenerous  suspicion,  by 
ordering  that  the  legislators,  who  compose  the  lower  house  of  parliament, 
shall  all  be  men  of  fortune,  raised  by  their  circumstances  above  the 
felonious  trick  you  speak  of.  (3.)  You  mistake,  when  you  say  that 
"  the  American  can  have  no  voice  in  the  disposal  of  his  property  ;"  for 
as  many  of  the  colonists  as  choose  to  purchase  a  freehold  in  England, 
may  become  electors ;  and  as  many  as  have  a  sufficient  fortune,  may 
become  candidates  at  the  next  election.  You  speak  yourself  of  your 
"  late  American  candidate,  who  was  a  friend  to  America."  If  I  mistake 
not,  we  have  American  members  in  the  house ;  and  the  papers  inform 

us  that Sayer,  Esq.,  who  is  a  native  of  Boston,  claims  a  seat  in  the 

parliament ;  and,  if  he  obtain  it,  he  will  not  only  represent  his  borough, 
but  also,  in  connection  with  his  fellow  members,  he  will  represent  the 
commonalty  of  all  the  British  empire.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  minority  in 
parliament,  though  they  are  not  the  special  representatives  of  the  colo- 
nists, plead  their  cause  so  warmly,  even  against  the  privileges  of  the 
electors  whom  they  particularly  represent.  (4.)  Supposing  these  Ame- 
rican members  have  no  estates  bevond  the  Atlantic ;  are  there  not  several 
members  in  both  houses  of  parliament  who  have  a  large — a  very  large 
property  in  America ;  and  who,  when  they  tax  the  colonists,  take  far 
more  money  out  of  their  own  pockets,  than  they  probably  do  out  of  the 
pockeis  of  Messrs.  Adams  and  Hancock?  (5.)  If  the  colonists  were 
afraid  of  being  taxed  more  heavily  than  the  rule  of  proportion  allows. 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS.  45  1 

should  they  not  have  humbly  requested  the  parliament,  that  before  they 
were  taxed  at  all,  their  jealousies  might  be  removed  by  an  act  drawn  up 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  set  bounds  to  their  taxes,  in  proportion  to  the 
bounds  which  are  set  to  their  commercial  privileges  ?  And  would  not  our 
lawgivers  have  granted  them  so  reasonable  a  request  ?  But,  to  rise  ab- 
solutely against  all  taxation  by  act  of  parliament,  merely  because  it  is 
taxation  by  the  legislative  power  of  Great  Britain ;  to  destroy  the  pro- 
perty of  our  fellow  subjects,  by  raising  riotous  mobs  against  them  ;  and  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  sovereign  to  defend  such  proceedings,  argues,  in 
my  judgment,  a  temper  which  you  may  call  patriotism,  but  looks  too  much 
like  the  sin  forbidden  in  Rom.  xiii,  2.  Lastly.  If  pleadingthat  our  superiors 
may  abuse  their  power  over  us,  were  a  sufficient  reason  to  shake  off  the 
yoke  of  lawful  authority ;  all  apprentices  (though  ever  so  well  used) 
might  directly  emancipate  themselves ;  for  they  might  adopt  your  argu- 
ment, and  say,  My  master,  indeed,  uses  me  well ;  but  "  he  is  under 
every  possible  temptation  to  starve  me  ;"  since  every  meal  which  he  will 
save  in  denying  me  proper  food,  will  be  a  meal  saved  for  himself  or  his 
own  children ;  and  therefore  I  will  cut  and  carve  for  myself,  or  I  will 
acknowledge  him  as  a  master  no  more. 

I  shall  be  less  prolix  in  my  answer  to  the  rest  of  your  arguments. — 
You  appeal  to  the  Irish,  who  are  taxed  by  their  own  parliament.*  But 
their  case  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  colonists ;  for  Ireland  was 
annexed  to  the  dominions  of  the  king  of  England,  not  as  a  colony  or  a 
kingdom  naturally  and  originally  subjected  to  England,  but  as  a  sister 
kingdom ;  and  as  such,  she  has  enjoyed  the  supreme  power  of  making 
her  own  laws,  and  (in  part)  of  coining  her  own  money.  This  was  the 
case  with  Scotland  also ;  and  therefore  the  Scots  were  allowed  to  send 
a  number  of  representatives  to  both  houses  of  parliament,  when  the  two 
kingdoms  were  united  into  one.  Not  so  the  colonies.  They  never  were 
on  a  level  with  England  ;  they  never  had  supreme  dominion  ;  they  were 
always  the  subjects  of  the  king  and  parliament  of  England,  who  granted 
them  the  territories  they  enjoy ;  and  therefore,  for  them  to  demand,  in 
opposition  to  their  charters,  rights  superior  to  those  of  the  Britons,  who 
settle  abroad  under  the  protection  of  Great  Britain ;  and  for  them  to 
claim  the  prerogatives  of  sister  kingdoms,  is  as  great  a  stretch  of  lawless 
liberty,  as  for  chartered  corporations  in  England,  or  for  the  English 
settled  in  Minorca,  Jamaica,  Gibraltar,  Bengal,  &c,  to  claim  the  preroga- 
tives of  supreme  governments,  and  the  privileges  of  the  kingdoms  which 
were  joined  by  mutual  agreement  to  the  crown  of  England. 

You  likewise  appeal  to  the  palatinate  of  Chester,  whose  inhabitants 
pleaded,  "  that  the  English  parliament  had  no  right  to  tax  them  ;  that 
they  had  a  parliament  of  their  own,"  &c.  But,  granting  that  the  par- 
liament of  that  palatinate  was  once  as  independent  on  the  English  par- 
liament as  the  palatinate  in  Germany,  can  you,  without  absurdity,  infer 
from  thence,  that  the  colonists  are  so  1  Permit  me  to  make  you  sensible 
of  the  inconclusiveness  of  your  argument,  by  bringing  it  to  light,  thus  : 
"  The  palatinate  of  Chester  was  formerly  independent  on  the  parliament 
of  England  :  they  could  produce  grants  or  charters  to  demonstrate,  that 
they  had  a  parliament  of  their  own,  and  the  prerogative  of  making  their 

*  N.  B.  This  was  written  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1775,  or  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1776. 


458  VINDICATION  OV  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 

own  laws ;  and  therefore  the  colonies,  which  have  no  such  grants  and 
charters ;  the  colonies  which  have  always  been  subject  to  the  English 
parliament ;  the  colonies,  whose  grants  directly  or  indirectly  mention 
subjection  to  the  English  parliament,  shall  not  be  subject  to  the  English 
parliament."  If  Mr.  W.  had  advanced  such  an  argument  as  this,  you 
might  have  as  reasonably  complained  that  he  deals  in  "  childish  quirks," 
as  you  now  do  without  reason ;  for  common  sense  dictates,  that  it  is  as 
absurd  to  conclude,  that  the  peculiar  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  palatinate 
of  Chester  ought  to  be  granted  to  all  the  colonies,  as  it  is  to  infer 
that  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  house  of  commons  belong  to  every 
corporation  in  the  kingdom. 

To  this  refutation  of  your  arguments  permit  me  to  add  a  remark  upon 
your  answer  to  Mr.  W.'s  most  striking  plea.  You  are  sensible  of  the 
advantage  which  he  has  over  you,  where  he  appeals  to  the  express  terms 
of  the  charters  granted  to  the  colonists.  You  know  that  .honest  men 
dare  not  go  from  their  bargain ;  and  that  a  charter  is  nothing  but  a 
solemn  bargain  committed  to  writing,  whereby  the  sovereign  makes  such 
and  such  grants  to  such  subjects,  upon  such  and  such  terms  :  and  you 
Know,  that  if  the  subjects  accept  the  grants,  they  agree  to  the  terms  on 
which  these  grants  are  made.  Mr.  W.  says,  "  Remember  your  last 
charter,  that  of  Pennsylvania,  says,  in  express  terms,  you  are  liable  to 
taxation."  Here,  sir,  you  seem  embarrassed  ;  and,  to  get  off  as  well  as 
you  can,  you  tell  us  that  the  clause  of  the  charter  which  Mr.  W.  appeals 
to,  "  was  never  understood  to  mean  a  power  of  internal  taxation  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue ;  but  merely  the  laying  on  of  such  duties 
as  might  be  necessary  solely  for  the  regulation  of  trade."  But  your 
mistake  was  lately  demonstrated  before  the  house  of  lords,  by  the  testi- 
mony of  Governor  Penn.  Lord  Denbigh  asked  him  at  the  bar  of  the 
house,  if  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  charter  of  Pennsylvania  ?  He 
replied,  "  that  he  had  read  the  charter,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  contents."  Lord  Denbigh  asked,  "  if  he  did  not  know  there  was  a 
clause  which  specifically  subjected  the  colony  to  taxation  by  the  British 
legislature  ?"  and  he  answered,  "  He  was  well  apprized  there  was  such  a 
clause."  Now,  sir,  as  you  are  so  evidently  mistaken  in  your  account  of 
the  charter  of  Pennsylvania,  you  will  permit  me  to  think,  that  you  give 
us  as  fabulous  an  account  of  the  charter  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  when 
you  say,  you  are  credibly  informed  that  the  exemption  from  taxes  for 
seven  years,  which  was  granted  to  the  colonists  of  that  province,  "  had 
no  reference  to  what  we  commonly  mean  by  taxes,  but  to"  something, 
which  you  call  "  quit-rents."  An  odd  criticism  this,  which  I  should  imi- 
tate, if  I  insinuated,  that  when  the  apostle  charges  us  to  pay  custom,  he 
does  not  mean,  that  we  should  pay  what  we  commonly  understand  by 
custom ;  but  only  that  tenants  should  pay  their  rent.  From  this  speci- 
men, it  is  easy  to  determine  who  have  most  reason  to  complain  of 
"  mutilated  charters,"  the  patriots  or  the  parliament. 

Having  so  long  pleaded  the  cause  of  my  sovereign  and  my  country,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  bestow  a  few  paragraphs  upon  my  friend.  You  say 
to  him,  "It  is  fallacious  to  the  last  degree,  and  unworthy  of  a  man  of 
integrity  and  candour  to  insinuate,  as  you  are  pleased  to  do,  that  the 
people  have  ceded  to  the  king  and  parliament  the  power  of  disposing, 
without  their  consent,  of  both  their  lives,  liberties,  and  properties."     I 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS.  459 

shall  make  no  remark,  reverend  sir,  on  the  Christian  courtesy  of  this 
address.     We,  who  pass  for  abject  slaves,  expect  such  liberal  hints  from 
you  patriots ;  and  to  tell  you  the  truth,  we  think  ^t  an  honour  to  share 
them  with  our  king,  and  our  legislature.     But  may  not  I  ask  a  few  ques- 
tions, which  will  throw  some  light  upon  Mr.  W.'s  remark  ?    When  did 
all  the  freeholders,  who  have  estates  from  fifty  to  ninety -nine  pounds  a 
year,  consent  to  be  deprived  of  the  liberty  to  carry  a  gun,  and  to  shoot 
a  hare  on  their  own  land?    When  did  all  the  Quakers  consent  to' pay 
tithes,  for  the  non-payment  of  which  their  property  is  forcibly  taken  from 
them  according  to  act  of  parliament,  t6  the  amount  of  several  thousand 
pounds  a  year  ?    When  did  all  the  clergy,  who  lately  petitioned  the  par- 
liament for  the  repeal  of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  consent  that  the  act 
which  orders  subscription  to  these  articles,  should  continue  in  force'? 
When  did  all  the  freeholders  in  Middlesex  consent  to  be  additionally 
.axed,  in  order  to  enforce  the  taxation  of  the  colonists  ?     When  did  all 
our  blustering  gentlemen  consent  to  be  sent  to  the  house  of  correction, 
or  to  pay  five  shillings  eveiy  time  they  demean  themselves  by  profane 
cursing  or  swearing  ?    When  did  all  the  dissenters  consent  to  the  law 
which  obliges  them  to  conform  to  the  Church  of  England,  if  they  will 
have  places  under  the  government  ?   And,  to  sum  up  all  in  one  question, 
When  did  one  half  of  the  lords,  who  distinguish  themselves  by  their  vio- 
lent opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  government,  consent  that  their 
liberty,  estate,  title,  and  life  should  be  forfeited,  if  they  should  assist  their 
fellow  patriots  who  take  up  arms  against  the  king  and  parliament?  If  you 
give  me  a  satisfactory  answer  to  these  queries,  I  will  give  you  leave  to 
reflect  on  my  friend's  integrity  for  his  assertion.     But  remember,  sir, 
that  if  you  flee  to  the  back  door  of  an  implicit  consent  to  make  your 
escape,  Mr.  Wesley,  like  an  honest  man,  will  meet  you  face  to  face ; 
and  stopping  you  in  the  name  of  consistency,  he  will  demonstrate  that, 
according  to  your  evasive  doctrine,  you  yourself  have  taxed  the  colonists, 
"  committed  robbery,"  and  "  stabbed  our  vitals." 

You  try  another  method  to  overthrow  Mr.  Wesley's  arguments.  You 
object,  that  five  years  ago  he  did  not  defend  the  measures  taken  with 
regard  to  America ;  because  he  "  doubted"  whether  they  were  at  all 
defensible ;  and  you  have  been  informed  that  he  has  since  represented 
the  Americans  as  "  an  oppressed,  injured  people ;"  and  has  warmly  ex- 
pressed his  fears  with  respect  to  the  danger  of  our  liberties.  But  who 
could  blame  Mr.  Wesley  then ;  and  who  can  blame  him  now  ?  Is  not  a 
good  man  bound  by  his  conscience  to  judge  without  partiality,  according 
to  the  best  information  he  has  ?  When  Mr.  W.  heard  the  clamours  of 
the  patriots,  so  called,  who  inveighed  against  the  sovereign  for  breach 
of  charter,  he  really  thought  that  they  had  truth,  and  the  charters  of 
the  colonists  on  their  side ;  and  therefore  he  considered  the  claims  of 
the  government  upon  the  colonists  as  subversive  of  charter,  and  conse- 
quently as  faithless,  injurious,  and  oppressive.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that, 
upon  such  wrong  information,  he  should  have  thought  our  liberties  in 
danger  ;  for  if  the  sovereign  had  really  violated  the  charters  of  the  colo- 
nies, he  might  next  have  attempted  to  violate  the  great  charter  of  Eng- 
land. But  when  Mr.  W.  was  better  informed  ;  when  he  found  that  the 
charters  of  the  colonies  were  as  much  for  the  sovereign  as  the  patriots 
had  insinuated  they  were  against  him,  Mr.  W.  would  not  have  acted  as 


460  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

a  conscientious  man  if  he  had  not  altered  his  mind,  according  to  this 
important  and  decisive  information. 

But  supposing  I  mistake  the  reason  which  has  determined  Mr.  W.  to 
defend  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  supposing  you  have  been  rightly 
informed  concerning  the  change  of  his  political  sentiments ;  what  can 
you  infer  from  thence,  but  that  he  once  leaned  too  much  toward  your 
overdoing  patriotism  ?  He  once  "doubted"  the  equity  of  the  sovereign's 
claims.  His  strong  patriotism  gave  a  hasty  preponderance  to  his  doubts  ; 
but  his  candour  having  proceeded  to  a  close  examination  of  the  question, 
light  has  sprung  up ;  conviction  has  followed ;  and  he  has  laid  before 
the  public  the  result  of  his  second  thoughts,  and  the  arguments  which 
have  scattered  his  doubts.  For  my  part,  far  from  thinking  the  worse  of 
a  rational  conviction,  because  it  follows  a  doubt,  and  has  met  with  some 
opposition  in  a  good  man's  mind,  I  am  inclined  to  pay  it  a  greater  re- 
gard. And  if  my  friend's  warm  patriotism  has  been  forced  to  yield  to 
the  strength  of  the  arguments  contained  in  his  Calm  Address,  I  am 
thereby  encouraged  to  hope  that  your  warm  patriotism,  sir,  will  not  be 
less  candid  than  his  ;  and  that  you  will  yield  to  the  arguments  contained 
in  this  calm  Vindication.  Should  this  be  the  case,  the  public  will  see  in 
you  both,  that  reason  and  conscience  can,  at  last,  perfectly  balance 
patriotism  and  loyalty  in  the  breast  of  a  good  man. 

With  respect  to  me,  sir,  I  had  not  deeply  entered  into  the  merits  of 
the  cause  either  way,  before  I  saw  Mr.  W.'s  Address,  and  your  answer 
to  it.  I  contented  myself  to  wish  and  pray  foB  peace  in  general,  with- 
out inquiring  who  was  right  and  who  wrong.  But  after  an  attentive 
perusal  of  your  publications,  I  was  fully  convinced  that  Mr.  W.'s  doc- 
trine of  government  and  taxation  is  rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitu- 
tional ;  and  that  yours,  sir,  draws  after  it  a  chain  of  the  most  absurd 
consequences,  has  a  tendency  to  promote  licentiousness,  and  is  subver- 
sive of  all  the  Scripture  precepts  which  I  have  quoted  in  my  first  letter  : 
and  therefore  my  reverence  for  God's  word,  my  duty  to  the  king,  and 
regard  for  my  friend,  my  love  to  injured  truth,  and  the  consciousness  of 
the  sweet  liberty  which  I  enjoy  under  the  government,  call  for  this  little 
tribute  of  my  pen.  And  I  pay  it  so  much  the  more  cheerfully,  as  few 
men  in  the  kingdom  have  had  a  better  opportunity  of  trying  which  is  the 
most  eligible, — a  republican  government,  or  the  mild-tempered  monarchy 
of  England.  I  lived  more  than  twenty  years  the  subject  of  two  of  the 
mildest  republics  in  Europe  :  I  have  been  for  above  that  number  of  years 
the  subject  of  your  sovereign  :  and  from  sweet  experience,  I  can  set  my 
seal  to  this  clause  of  the  king's  speech,  at  the  opening  of  this  session 
of  parliament :  "  To  be  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, is  to  be  the  happiest  subject  of  any  civil  government  in  the 
world."  That  you,  sir,  and  all  my  dissatisfied  fellow  subjects,  may  be 
as  sensible  of  this  truth  as  myself;  and  that  we  may  all  be  daily  more 
thankful  to  God,  to  the  king,  and  to  the  parliament,  for  the  religious  and 
civil  liberty  which  we  enjoy,  is  the  cordial  wish  of,  reverend  sir,  your 
affectionate  fellow  labourer  in  the  Gospel, 

J.  Fletcher. 


VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM   ADDRESS.  4b' 1 


LETTER  III. 

Observations  on  the  origin  of  poiver — on  the  high  republican  spirit — on 
the  manner  in  which  Cromwell  overthrew  both  Church  and  state  ivith 
this  dreadful  engine — on  the  republican  enthusiasm  of  many  of  the  first 
Protestants — on  the  articles  of  religion  by  which  the  latter  reformers 
struck  at  that  enthusiasm — on  tyranny — on  slavery — and  on  the  pecu- 
liar liberty  of  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain — The  authors  wishes  with 
respect  to  a  speedy  reconciliation  with  the  colonists — the  happy  conse- 
quences of  such  a  reconciliation. 

Rev.  Sir, — My  wishes  for  your  happiness,  and  my  concern  lor  the 
public  peace,  prompt  me  to  try  all  the  means  in  my  power  to  remove 
your  prejudices,  and  to  stop  the  ferment  raised  by  your  mistakes.  Hav- 
ing therefore  addressed  vou  as  a  man,  a  Christian,  and  a  Briton,  I  shall 
now  expostulate  with  you  as  a  Protestant,  and  a  friend  to  liberty. 

The  distinguishing  character  of  a  Protestant  is  to  rest  his  doctrine 
upon  reason  and  Scripture.  But  upon  which  of  these  foundations,  sir, 
do  you  rest  your  doctrine  of  power?  You  insinuate  that  the  power  of 
kings  ascends  from  the  people  :  you  blame  your  opponent  for  having 
intimated,  that  it  descends  from  God ;  and  you  recommend  a  levelling 
scheme  of  equal  representation,  founded  upon  a  natural,  equal  right  of 
sharing  in  the  legislative  power ;  a  scheme  this,  which  presupposes  that 
one  man  in  society  has  naturally  as  much  right  to  make  and  repeal  laws 
as  another.  Whence  it  evidently  follows,  that  subjects  have  a  right  to 
rise  against  their  sovereign  whenever  they  think  proper  to  make  (in  con- 
nection with  their  neighbours)  a  decree  or  law  of  insurrection ;  and  that 
every  individual,  in  conjunction  with  other  individuals,  has  a  supreme 
right  to  dispose  of  property  and  royal  honours,  whether  it  be  by  equaliz- 
ing ranks  and  fortunes,  or  by  putting  down  one  king  and  setting  up 
another. 

I  own  to  you,  sir,  that  although  this  scheme  would  give  me  a  signifi- 
cancy  in  life  which  I  never  dreamed  of,  I  dare  not  embrace  it.  The 
vanity  of  considering  myself  as  a  member  of  the  body,  which  your  doc- 
trine represents  as  the  supreme  lawgiver,  the  judge  of  legislators,  and 
the  maker  of  kings ;  this  flattering  vanity,  I  say,  cannot  induce  me  to 
renounce  the  dictates  of  reason,  and  the  declarations  of  Scripture. 

Reason  informs  me  that  the  first  man  was  endued  with  a  power  to 
protect  and  rule  mankind  :  that  all  men  are  born  in  a  state  of  civil  society, 
because  no  child  was  ever  his  own  father,  his  own  mother,  his  own  nurse, 
or  his  own  protector ;  and  that,  of  consequence,  all  men  were  under  as 
strong  an  obligation  of  submitting  to  the  first  man,  (in  all  things  agree- 
able to  God's  supreme  dominion,)  as  the  first  man  was  of  submitting  to 
God.  If  Adam  had  not  sinned  and  died,  to  this  day  he  would  have  been, 
under  God,  the  monarcli  of  all  the  earth ;  and  all  kings  would  have 
been  bound  to  acknowledge  his  supreme  authority.  This  Divine  right 
of  dominion  Adam  received  from  God.  At  his  death  he  left  it  behind 
him  ;  and  even  before  his  death  it  began  to  subdivide  itself  into  every 
branch  of  family  government,  and  national  administration.  Hence  it  is, 
that  "  the  powers  that  be,"  are  said  to  be  "  ordained  of  God  ;"  and  that 
magistrates  and  governors  are  called  gods  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 


462  VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 

ment.  It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  as  irrational  to  say  that  the  power 
of  sovereigns  comes  originally  from  the  people,  as  to  say  that  the  sane 
tion  of  the  fifth  commandment  comes  originally  from  man.  ,  Nor  dare  1 
any  more  assert,  that  the  people  have  a  natural  right  to  enthrone  and 
dethrone  kings,  than  I  dare  maintain  that  children  and  scholars  have  a 
natural  right  to  bestow  or  take  away  paternal  and  magisterial  authority  ; 
or  that  the  hands  and  feet  have  a  natural  right  to  rule  the  head  and  heart. 

T  t  D 

1  grant,  that  if  all  the  people  will  rebel  against  their  rightful  sovereign, 
they  are  able  to  depose  and  destroy  him.  But  arguing  from  might  to 
right  is  the  logic  of  a  tyrant,  a  robber,  and  a  mob ;  not  that  of  a  man,  a 
Christian,  and  a  Protestant.  If  all  the  sons  of  Adam  had  plotted  his 
destruction,  they  probably  could  have  effected  it :  but  their  having  a 
power  to  sin  would  have  been  no  proof  that  they  had  a  license  so  to  do. 
You  may  call  this  a  "  Jacobite  doctrine,"  sir,  but  such  a  name  does  no 
more  make  it  unreasonable,  than  your  calling  Mr.  Wesley  a  slave 
deprives  him  of  his  liberty. 

As  this  doctrine  of  power,  so  far  as  power  is  exercised  in  subordina- 
tion to  God's  supreme  dominion,  is  agreeable  to  reason,  so  is  it  to  Scrip- 
ture. Search  the  sacred  records,  sir,  and  you  will  see  that  "  they  who 
resist  the"  above-described  "  power,  resist"  not  the  ordinances  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  "  the  ordinances  of  God"  himself,  Rom.  xiii,  2.  Kings,  in  the 
sacred  pages,  are  said  to  be  "  the  Lord's  anointed,"  and  not  the  anointed 
of  the  people  ;  and  the  men  of  God  inform  us,  that  "  God  removeth  kings, 
and  setteth  up  kings"  in  his  own  right,  Dan.  ii,  21. 

I  grant,  that  when  the  Lord  designs  to  punish  a  nation,  or  a  tyrant, 
he  often  suffers  the  people,  or  some  ambitious  man  from  among  the  peo- 
ple, to  usurp  his  right,  and  to  procure  an  unlawful  coronation.  Nor  do 
I  deny,  that,  in  lawful  coronations,  the  Lord  invites  the  people  to  fall  in 
with  his  providential  choice ;  and  that,  sometimes,  he  brings  his  choice 
about  by  means  of  the  people.  But  the  fullest  concurrence  of  the  peo- 
ple does  not  deprive  him  of  his  Divine  prerogative.  Hence  it  is,  that 
the  psalmist  says,  "  Promotion  cometh  neither  from  the  east,  nor  from  the 
west,  nor  yet  from  the  south.  And  why?  God  is  the  [supreme]  Judge: 
he  putteth  down  one  and  setteth  up  another,"  Psalm  xxv,  7,  8.  This  is 
his  incontestable  right.  If  the  people  therefore  stand  in  need  of  a  rod 
of  iron,  to  bruise  their  stubborn  backs;  he  may  "give  them  a  [cruel] 
king  in  his  anger,"  Hos.  xiii,  11.  Or,  what  is  still  worse,  he  may  suffer 
them  to  set  over  themselves  a  tyrant,  whose  name  is  "  Legion,  for  they 
are  many."  And  "  Legion"  will  drive  them  into  a  sea  of  trouble,  as 
fiercely  and  as  arbitrarily  as  a  certain  legion  formerly  drove  a  herd  of 
unruly,  obstinate  animals  into  the  sea  of  Galilee.  May  our  American 
brethren  never  be  given  over  to  so  dreadful  a  delusion ! 

If  legislative,  royal  power  ascended  from  the  people,  the  Lord  would 
not  have  elected  Moses  to  be  the  lawgiver,  and  Joshua  to  be  the 
leader  of  Israel,  without  first  consulting  the  twelve  tribes.  Nor  would 
he  have  raised  them  judges  afterward,  without  previously  asking  their 
consent.  Much  less  would  he  have  anointed  Saul,  David,  Jehu,  and 
others  to  be  kings  over  Israel,  in  so  arbitrary  a  manner  as  he  did.  To 
prove  your  doctrine,  therefore,  you  must  appeal  to  the  right  exercised 
by  some  lawless  citizens,  mentioned  by  our  Lord,  who  unjustly  hated 
their  sovereign,  and  said,  "  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign  over  us," 


VINDICATION  OF  TIIE   CALM  ADDRESS.  463 

Luke  xix,  14.  And  if  you  please,  to  this  precedent  you  may  add  the 
example  of  those  Pharisaic,  fickle  patriots,  who  once  insisted  upon 
making  Christ  their  king,  and  afterward  cried,  "  We  will  have  no  king  but 
Cesar;  let  Jesus  be  crucified."  From  the  designs  of  such  uneasy  reli- 
gionists, such  makers  and  killers  of  kings,  may  God  deliver  the  king  and 
his  dominions !  Let  a  Theudas,  a  Barabbas,  a  Caiaphas,  make  insur- 
rections against  Cesar,  and  raise  mobs  against  Christ  himself;  but  let 
not  pious  Christians  who  dissent  from  the  Church  of  England,  dissent 
from  the  prophets  and  apostles,  when  they  say,  "  My  son,  fear  thou  the 
Lord,  and  the  king,  and  meddle  not  with  them  that  are  given  to  change," 
Prov.  xxiv,  21.  "  Submit  to  the  king  as  supreme.  Fear  God.  Honour 
the  king.  Yea,  honour  him  with  thy  substance,  by  paying  tribute,  or 
taxes,  not  only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience'  sake,"  1  Peter  ii,  3,  dec ; . 
Rom.  xiii,  5,  6  ;  Prov.  iii,  9. 

The  levelling  scheme,  on  which  you  found  your  doctrine  of  a  right  to 
equal  representation,  is  the  rock  upon  which  rigid  republicans  perpetually 
run.  Against  this  very  rock  many  of  the  first  overdoing  Protestants 
steered  their  course,  and  dashed  their  ark  in  pieces.  They  had  long 
groaned  under  popish  tyranny ;  and  when  the  yoke  which  had  galled 
them  for  ages  was  broken,  they  did  not  know  how  to  contain  themselves. 
Like  a  high-spirited  horse,  which  takes  to  a  mad  gallop,  and  furiously 
leaps  over  the  bounds  of  the  pasture  into  which  it  is  turned  after  a  long 
confinement,  they  disdained  all  restraint.  Nothing  short  of  lawless  pro- 
ceedings seemed  to  them  to  deserve  the  name  of  liberty.  Because  they  had 
shaken  off  the  antichristian  yoke  of  ecclesiastical  tyrants,  they  concluded 
that  they  had  a  right  to  shake  off  the  Christian  yoke  of  civil  governors. 
They  paid  an  unjust  tribute  to  the  pope  no  more ;  and,  therefore,  they 
would  pay  just  taxes  to  their  sovereign  no  longer.  In  short,  they  assert- 
ed that  they  had  as  much  right  in  the  legislature  as  their  legislators. 
They  brought  on  a  general  election,  at  which  they  elected  themselves 
lawgivers  ;  and  as  you  may  easily  conceive,  one  of  their  first  laws  was, 
that  goods  should  be  common ;  thus  they  began,  facere  rem-publicam, 
to  make  a  republic,  a  commonwealth,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word. 
All  things  were  theirs.  They  were  to  call  no  man  master  upon  earth. 
They  were  all  to  be  literally  kings  with  Christ,  and  they  anointed  them- 
selves to  "  reign  with  him  a  thousand  years."  This  scheme  could  not 
fail  to  please  the  pot  boilers  in  Germany,  who  had  nothing  to  lose  ;  and 
it  was  highly  applauded  by  those  who  hoped  to  get  more  than  they  had. 
They  rose  therefore  in  riotous  mobs  to  "  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives," 
and  "  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  They  were  to  "  undo 
all  heavy  burdens,"  to  "  break  off  every  yoke,"  to  "  bind  kings  with 
chains,"  and  "  nobles  with  fetters  of  iron."  They  actually  began  their 
levelling  march,  headed  by  some  well-meaning  enthusiasts,  and  by  some 
designing  men,  who,  like  Cromwell,  made  their  way  to  supreme  autho- 
rity, by  striking  dreadful  blows  at  all  authority.  And  under  pretence  of 
asserting  "the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free,"  they  com- 
mitted all  the  outrages  which  can  be  expected  from  a  lawless  populace, 
who  mistake  licentiousness  for  freedom. 

This  mischief  had  begun  in  the  Church.  Some  of  the  German  re- 
formers had,  at  times,  spoken  so  unguardedly  of  the  ceremonial  law  of 
Moses,  which  St.  Paul  absolutely  discards,  as  to  pour  contempt  upon  the 


464  VINDICATION   OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 

moral  law  of  Christ,  which  the  apostle  strongly  enforces.  Luther  him- 
self, in  his  zeal  for  salvation  without  works,  had  been  ready  to  burn  the 
epistle  of  St.  James,  because  it  speaks  honourably  of  Christ's  royal  law, 
by  which  Christians  shall  stand  or  fall  when  they  shall  be  "judged  [that 
is,  justified  or  condemned]  according  to  their  works."  When  warm  men 
had  been  taught  to  bid  defiance  to  God's  law,  as  well  as  to  iniquity  and 
Satan  ;  what  wonder  was  it  if  some  of  them  went  beyond  their  teachers, 
and  began  to  infer,  that  as  they  were  made  free  from  the  law  of  God, 
so  they  were  made  free  from  the  law  of  the  land  !  The  transition  from 
ecclesiastical  to  civil  Antinomianism  is  easy  and  obvious ;  for  as  he  that 
reverences  the  law  of  God  will  naturally  reverence  the  just  commands 
of  the  king  ;  so  he  that  thinks  himself  free  from  the  law  of  the  Lord,  will 
hardly  think  himself  bound  by  the  statutes  of  his  sovereign. 

This  republican,  mobbing  spirit,  after  having  tossed  Germany,  began 
to  agitate  England.  Permit  me,  sir,  to  transcribe  some  passages  from 
Bishop  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation.  They  refer  to  my  subject, 
and  will  throw  much  light  upon  it :  "At  this  time  there  were  many  Ana- 
baptists* in  several  parts  of  England.  They  were  generally  Germans, 
whom  the  revolutions  there  had  forced  to  change  their  seats.  Upon 
Luther's  first  preaching  in  Germany,  there  arose  many,  who,  building 
on  some  of  his  principles,  carried  things  much  farther  than  he  did." 
Here  the  historian  candidly  observes  that,  although  these  men  were  called 
Anabaptists  because  they  agreed  to  explode  the  baptism  of  infants,  they 
were  not  all  of  the  same  temper.  "  Some,"  says  he,  "  were  called  the 
gentle  or  moderate  Anabaptists.  But  others  denied  almost  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  doctrine,  and  were  men  of  fierce  and  barbarous 
tempers.  They  had  broke  out  into  a  general  revolt  over  Germany,  and 
raised  the  war  called  The  Rustic  War :  and  possessing  themselves  of 
Munster,  made  one  of  their  teachers,  John  of  Leyden,  their  king,  under 
the  title  of  King  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  . 

"  There  was  another  sort  of  people,  of  whom  all  the  good  men  in  that 
age  made  great  complaints.  Some  there  were  called  Gospellers,  or 
readers  of  the  Gospel,  who  were  a  scandal  to  the  doctrine  they  professed, 
&c.  I  do  not  find  any  thing  objected  to  them  as  to  their  belief,  save  only 
that  the  doctrine  of  predestination  having  been  generally  taught  by  the 
reformers,  many  of  this  sect  began  to  make  strange  inferences  from  it, 
reckoning  that  since  every  thing  was  decreed,  and  the  decrees  of  God 
could  not  be  frustrated,  therefore  men  were  to  leave  themselves  to  be 
carried  by  the  decrees.  This  drew  some  into  great  impiety  of  life,  &c. 
One  of  the  ill  effects  of  the  dissoluteness  of  people's  manners  broke  out 

*  This  word,  according  to  its  Greek  etymology,  means  Rebaptizers.  Mr 
Evans,  and  the  Protestants  of  his  denomination,  are  called  by  this  name,  because 
their  grand  peculiarity' is  to  rebaptize  those  who  were  baptized  in  their  infancy 
No  Church-of-England  man  can  enter  their  Church,  but  at  the  door  of  rebaptiza- 
tion.  Nor  can  he  go  through  that  door  without  renouncing  his  former  baptism 
and  all  his  communions.  Dreadful  abjuration  !  Hence  it  is  that  too  many  of  those 
who  have  taken  that  rash  step,  are  as  zealous  for  rebaptization  as  the  Christians 
who  have  renounced  their  baptism  for  Turkish  ablutions,  are  zealous  for  their 
new  washings.  They  °xceed  all  others  in  zeal  for  making  proselytes.  I  do  not 
say  this  to  prejudice  the  reader  against  the  Anabaptists  :  on  the  contrary,  I  would 
have  him  think,  as  I  do,  that  many  of  them  are  very  good  people,  and  that  most 
of  them  mean  well;  and  I  believe  this  is  the  case  with  my  opponent. 


VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDKESS.  465 

violently  this  summer,  (1549,)  occasioned  by  the  enclosing  of  lands. 
While  the  monasteries  stood,  there  were  great  numbers  of  people  main- 
Lained  about  these  houses,  &c.  But  now  the  number  of  the  people 
increased  much ;  marriage  being  universally  allowed.  They  had  also 
more  time  than  formerly  by  the  abrogation  of  many  holidays,  and  the 
putting  down  of  processions  and  pilgrimages ;  so  that  as  the  numbers 
increased,  they  had  more  time  than  they  knew  how  to  bestow." 

The  historian  tells  us  next  how  the  popish  priests  availed  themselves 
of  these  favourable  circumstances  to  raise  a  dreadful  rebellion  in  Devon- 
shire ;  and  then  he  goes  on  thus :  "  When  this  commotion  was  grown 
to  a  head,  the  men  of  Norfolk  rose ;  being  led  by  one  Ket,  a  tanner. 
These  pretended  nothing  of  religion,  but  only  to  suppress  and  destroy 
the  gentry,  to  raise  the  commons,  and  to  put  new  counsellors  about  the 
king.  They  increased  mightily,  and  became  twenty  thousand  strong, 
but  had  no  order  or  discipline,  and  committed  many  horrid  outrages. 
Ket  assumed  to  himself  the  power  of  judicature,  and  under  an  old  oak, 
called  from  thence  the  oak  of  the  reformation,  did  such  justice  as  might 
be  expected  from  such  a  judge  in  such  a  camp.  When  the  news  of  this 
rising  came  into  Yorkshire,  the  commons  there  rose  also  ;  being  farther 
encouraged  by  a  prophecy,  that  there  should  be  no  king  nor  nobility  in 
England ;  that  the  kingdom  was  to  be  ruled  by  four  governors,  chosen 
by  the  commons,  who  should  hold  a  parliament,  in  common,  to  begin  at 
the  south  and  north  seas.  They,  at  the  first  rising,  fired  beacons,  and 
so  gathered  the  country,  as  if  it  had  been  for  the  defence  of  the  coast, 
and  meeting  with  two  gentlemen,  with  two  others  with  them,  they,  with- 
out any  provocation,  murdered  them,  and  left  their  bodies  unburied.  At 
the  same  time  that  England  was  in  this  commotion,  the  news  came  that 
the  French  king  had  sent  a  great  army  into  the  territory  of  Boulogne ; 
so  that  the  government  was  put  to  most  extraordinary  straits.  There 
was  a  fast  proclaimed  in  and  about  London.  Cranmer  preached  on  the 
fast  day  at  court.  He  chiefly  lamented  the  scandal  given  by  many  who 
pretended  a  zeal  for  religion,  but  used  that  for  a  cloak  to  disguise  their 
other  vices.  He  set  before  them  the  fresh  example  of  Germany,  where 
people  generally  loved  to  hear  the  Gospel,  but  had  not  amended  their 
lives  upon  it,  for  which  God  had  now,  after  many  years'  forbearance, 
brought  them  under  a  severe  scourge."  {History  of  the  Reformation, 
book  i,  part  ii,  ed.  2,  pp.  110-118.) 

From  this  quotation  it  appears  that  the  wild,  republican  spirit  which 
animated  Ket  and  his  army,  worked,  in  those  days,  just  as  licentious 
patriotism  works  in  ours.  Ket,  the  great  patriot,  would  redress  griev- 
ances. He  raised  the  commons  under  pretence  of  putting  new  counsel- 
lors about  the  king.  He  got  the  mob  together,  as  if  it  were  for  the 
defence  of  the  coast,  or  of  public  liberty.  But  his  real  design  was  pro- 
bably to  be  one  of  the  four  governors  chosen  by  the  commons,  who  were 
to  make  an  end  of  the  king  and  nobility  of  England,  and  to  turn  the 
monarchy  into  a  republic.  As  for  modest  John  of  Leyden,  he  got  more 
than  the  name  of  protector  ;  for  he  was  actually  proclaimed  king.  This 
sort  of  republican  patriotism  leads  therefore  to  honour,  though  this 
honour,  like  that  of  the  German  and  English  levellers,  frequently  ends 
in  shame. 

The  wildness  of  this  high  republican  spirit  having  fixed  a  foul  blot  on 
Vol..  IV.  30 


466  VINDICATION  OF  THE   CAM  ADDRESS. 

thfe  reformation  in  Germany,  the  latter  reformers,  to  throw  off  the 
shame,  and  to  obviate  the  mischief  of  this  delusion,  took  particular  notice 
of  it  in  their  confessions  of  faith.  Though  you  dissent  from  the  Church 
of 'England,  sir,  yet  as  it  is  presumed  you  pay  a  deference  to  what  are 
called  her  doctrinal  articles,  permit  me  to  transcribe  a  part  of  the  thirty, 
eighth,  which  is  levelled  at  the  levelling  pot  boilers  of  Germany,  and  at 
the  dupes  of  Ket,  who  had  taken  upon  him  to  dispose  of  property  under 
the  oak  of  reformation  in  England.  "  The  riches  and  goods  of  Chris- 
tians are  not  common,  as  touching  the  right,  title,  and  possession  of  the 
same  ;  as  certain  Anabaptists  do  falsely  boast." 

Calvin  himself,  though  a  strong  republican,  was  frightened  at  the 
rapid  progress  of  this  civil  enthusiasm.  Hence  it  is,  that  when  he  drew 
up  a  confession  of  faith  for  the  Reformed  Churches  of  France  and 
Geneva,  he  bestowed  the  two  last  articles  of  it  upon  the  error  which 
our  American  brethren,  and  you,  sir,  are  running  headlong  into.  As 
you  are  probably  a  perfect  stranger  to  these  articles,  I  shall  faithfully 
translate  them  from  my  French  Common  Prayer  Book. 

"  A  rt.  XXXIX.  We  believe  that  God  will  have  the  world  to  be 
governed  by  laws  and  civil  powers,  that  the  lawless  inclinations  of  men 
may  be  curbed.  And  therefore  he  has  established  kingdoms  and  re- 
publics, and  other  sorts  of  governments,  [some  hereditary  and  some 
otherwise,]  together  with  whatsoever  belongs  to  judicature.  And  he 
will  be  acknowledged  the  author  of  government.  To  this  end  he  has 
put  the  sword  in  the  hands  of  rulers  to  punish,  not  only  the  sins  which 
are  committed  against  the  commandments  of  the  second  table,  but  also 
those  which  are  committed  against  the  precepts  of  the  first  table.  We 
ought,  then,  not  only  to  bear  for  his  sake,  that  rulers  should  have  do- 
minion over  us,  but  it  is  also  our  bounden  duty  to  honour  them,  and  to 
esteem  them  worthy  of  all  reverence  ;  considering  them  as  God's  lieu- 
tenants and  officers,  which  he  has  commissioned  to  execute  a  lawful  and 
holy  commission. 

"  Art.  XL.  We  maintain,  therefore,  that  we  are  bound  to  obey  their 
laws  and  statutes,  to  pay  tribute,  taxes,  and  other  duties,  and  to  bear 
the  yoke  of  subjection  freely,  and  with  good  will,  though  they  should  be 
unbelievers  :  provided  the  supreme  dominion  of  God  be  preserved  in  its 
full  extent.  And  therefore  we  detest  the  men  [he  means  republican 
levellers]  who  reject  superiorities,  introduce  community  and  confusion 
of  property,  and  overthrow  the  order  of  justice." 

Sir,  you  are  a  Calvinist.  You  follow  the  French  reformer  when  he 
teaches  the  absolute  reprobation  and  the  unavoidable  damnation  of 
myriads  of  poor  creatures  yet  unborn.  O !  forsake  him  not  when  he 
follows  Christ,  and  teaches  God  (and  not  the  people)  is  to  be  acknow- 
ledged the  author  of  power  and  government,  and  that  we  are  bound  to 
bear  cheerfully,  for  his  sake,  the  yoke  of  Scriptural  subjection  to  our 
governors.  Represent  no  more  this  honourable,  this  Divine  yoke,  as 
abject  slavery.  And,  instead  of  insinuating  that  the  king  and  parliament 
are  robbers,  because  they  lay  a  moderate  tax  upon  their  American  sub- 
jects, help  Mr.  W.  to  undeceive  those  whom  the  uneasy  levellers  of  the 
day  work  up  to  almost  as  high  a  degree  of  republican  wildness,  as  John 
of  Leyden  and  Ket  worked  up  the  German  and  English  mobs  two  or 
three  hundred  years  ago.     So  will  you  show  yourself  a  true  minister  of 


VINDICATION   OF  THE  CALJI   ADDKESS.  4G7 

the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  a  wle  Protestant,  who,  like  Cranmer  and 
Calvin,  ought  equally  to  level  his  doctrine  at  a  tyrant  and  a  mob :  and 
to  pour  like  contempt  upon  the  republican  vanity  of  a  tanner,  who  as- 
sumes the  dignity  of  lawgiver  under  the  oak  of  reformation,  and  upon 
the  imperial  pride  of  a  monk,  who,  from  St.  Peter's  humble  chair, 
pompously  holds  out  his  foot  to  meet  the  adoration  of  prostrate  princes. 

Be  entreated,  sir,  to  rectify  your  false  notions  of  liberty.  The  liberty 
of  Christians  and  Britons  does  not  consist  in  bearing  no  yoke  ;  but  in 
bearing  a  yoke  made  easy  by  a  gracious  Saviour  and  a  gracious  sove- 
reign. A  John  of  Leyden  may  promise  to  make  us  first  lawless,  then 
legislators,  and  kings  ;  and  by  his  delusive  promises  he  may  raise  us  to 
t— a  fool's  paradise,  if  not  to — the  gallows.  But  a  true  deliverer  and  a 
good  governor  says  to  our  restless  Antinomian  spirits,  "  Come  unto  me, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light." 
We  can  have  no  rest  in  the  Church  but  under  Christ's  easy  yoke :  no 
rest  in  the  state,  but  under  the  easy  yoke  of  our  rightful  sovereign.  To 
aim  at  breaking  this  yoke,  because  we  have  some  objection  to  the  minis- 
ter or  the  king,  is  as  great  a  piece  of  folly  as  for  the  crew  of  a  ship  to 
aim  at  cutting  the  rigging,  and  destroying  the  rudder  of  the  ship  in 
which  they  sail,  because  they  have  a  pique  against  the  pilot  or  captain. 
Suppose  they  should  be  so  unhappily  fortunate  as  to  succeed,  what  will 
they  gain  by  their  success  ?  Will  they  be  better  able  to  bear  the  tossings 
of  the  next  storm  1  Will  they  not  be  at  the  mercy  of  every  wave — the 
sport  of  every  blast — ready  to  be  dashed  against  every  rock  ? 

I  am  so  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  and  importance  of  Calvin's  two 
last  articles  of  religion,  that,  though  I  have  for  years  checkea  ins  errors, 
if  I  had  the  wings  of  lightning,  and  a  voice  like  thunder,  I  would,  this 
instant,  shoot  myself  across  the  Atlantic,  and  preach  his  loyal  doctrine 
to  our  deluded  brethren. 

A  seed  of  the  error  of  the  republican  Anabaptists  has  remained  in 
England  ever  since  the  reformation  ;  and  the  fiery  zeal  of  some  Inde- 
pendents and  later  Anabaptists,  was  the  chief  ladder  by  which  the  artful 
Cromwell  climbed  to  the  height  of  supreme  power,  under  pretence  of 
forming  a  commonwealth.  That  you  may  not  charge  me  with  mis- 
representation, I  shall  draw  my  proof  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  R.  Baxter's 
Life,  written  by  himself.  His  testimony  is  worth  that  of  twenty  others, 
because  he  had  few  equals  in  his  time,  for  piety,  wisdom,  moderation, 
abundant  labours,  and  ministerial  success ;  and  because  he  was  an  eye 
witness  of  many  things  which  he  relates,  having  been  chaplain  to  a 
regiment  of  horse  in  Cromwell's  army  ;  a  place,  this,  which  he  accepted 
chiefly  with  an  intention  to  oppose,  by  his  preaching,  the  headstrong  re- 
publican spirit  of  those  men  who,  after  having  taken  up  arms  with  a 
design  to  redress  grievances,  and  oppose  arbitrary  power,  bore  them 
with  an  intention  of  putting  down  hierarchy  and  monarchy  together. 
Baxter  failed  in  his  attempt,  partly  through  the  forbidding  coldness  with 
which  Cromwell  looked  upon  him,  and  partly  by  a  severe  fit  of  sickness, 
which  obliged  him  to  leave  the  army  when  his  moderation  was  most 
wanting  there.  The  following  extract  is  taken  ffom  a  folio  volume 
printed  in  London,  1696,  entitled,  "  Reliquiae,  Baxteriaim,  or,  Mr. 
Baxter's  Narrative  of  the  most  memorable  Passages  of  his  Life  and 
Times."  Z       J  J 


468  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

Page  26.  Having  told  us  that  whai  hastened  on  the  war,  on  the  side 
of  the  parliament,  was,  "(1.)  The  people's  indiscretion  that  adhered  to 
them  ;  (2.)  The  imprudence  and  violence  of  some  members  in  the 
house,  who  went  too  high,"  &c ;  he  explains  what  he  means  by  the 
people's  indiscretion  thus : — "  Some  were  yet  more  indiscreet ;  the 
remnant  of  the  old  Separatists  and  Anabaptists  in  London  was  then  very 
small,  and  scarce  considerable  ;  but  they  were  enough  to  stir  up  the 
younger  sort  of  religious  people  to  speak  too  vehemently — against  the 
bishops  and  the  Church — and  all  that  was  against  their  minds.  These 
stirred  up  the  apprentices  to  join  with  them  in  petitions,  and  to  go  in 
great  numbers  to  present  them  :  as  they  went,  they  met  with  some  of 
the  bishops  in  their  coaches  going  to  the  house,  and  (as  is  usual  with  the 
passionate  and  indiscreet  when  they  are  in  great  companies)  they  too 
much  forgot  civility,  and  cried,  No  bishops  /"  Page  27  :  "  When  at  last 
the  king  forsook  the  city,  these  tumults  were  the  principal  cause  alleged 
by  him,  as  if  he  himself  had  not  been  safe  [in  the  midst  of  these  mob- 
bing petitioners.]  Thus  rash  attempts  of  headstrong  people  do  work 
against  the  good  ends  which  they  themselves  intend.  Overdoing  is  the 
ordinary  way  of  undoing.  And  some  members  of  the  house  did  cherish 
these  disorders:  and  because  the  subjects  have  liberty  to  petition,  they 
made  use  of  this  liberty  in  a  disorderly  way.  Some  particular  members 
concurred  with  the  desires  of  the  imprudent  reformers,  who  were  for  no 
less  than  the  utter  extirpation  of  the  bishops  and  liturgy.  Those  mem- 
bers, &c,  did  much  encourage  the  petitioners,  who,  in  a  disorderly 
manner,  laboured  to  effect  it." 

Page  39.  "  I  make  no  doubt  that  the  headiness  and  rashness  of  the 
younger  inexperienced  sort  of  religious  people,  made  many  parliament 
men  and  ministers  overgo  themselves  to  keep  pace  with  those  hot  spurs  ; 
no  doubt  but  much  indiscretion  appeared,  and  worse  than  indiscretion, 
in  the  tumultuous  petitioners,  and  much  sin  was  committed  in  the  dis- 
honouring of  the  king,  and  provocation  of  him.  But  these  things  came 
principally  from  the  sectarian  spirit,  which  blew  the  coals  among  foolish 
apprentices :  and  as  the  sectaries  increased,  so  did  this  insolence  increase." 

Pages  50,  51.  "  When  the  Court  Newsbook  told  the  world  of  the 
swarms  of  Anabaptists  in  our  armies,  we  thought  it  had  been  a  mere  lie, 
because  it  was  not  so  with  us.  But  when  I  came  to  the  army  among 
Cromwell's  soldiers,  I  found  a  new  face  of  things,  which  I  never  dreamt 
of:  I  heard  the  plotting  heads  very  hot  upon  that  which  intimated  their 
intention  to  subvert  both  Church  and  state.  Independency  and  Ana- 
baptistry  were  most  prevalent.  A  few  proud,  self-conceited,  hot-headed 
sectaries  had  got  into  the  highest  places,  and  were  Cromwell's  chief 
favourites  ;  and  by  their  very  heat  and  activity,  bore  down  the  rest,  or 
carried  them  along  with  them,  and  were  the  soul  of  the  army,  though 
much  fewer  in  number  than  the  rest ;  being,  indeed,  not  one  in  twenty 
throughout  the  army  ;  their  strength  being  in  the  generals,  &c.  I  per- 
ceived that  they  took  the  king  for  a  tyrant  and  an  enemy,  and  really 
intended  absolutely  to  master  him,  or  to  ruin  him.  They  said,  What 
were  the  lords  of  Bngland,  but  William  the  conqueror's  colonels  ?  Or 
the  barons,  but  his  majors  1  Or  the  knights,  but  his  captains  ?  Per 
fas  aut  nefas,  by  law,  or  without  it,  they  were  resolved  to  take  down 
all  that  did  withstand  their  way.     They  most  honoured  the  Separatists 


VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM   ADDRESS.  469 

Anabaptists,  and  Antinomians  ;  but  Cromwell  and  his  party  took  on  them 
to  join  themselves  to  no  party,  but  to  be  for  the  liberty  of  all." 

Page  53.  "  My  life  among  them  [Cromwell's  soldiers]  was  a  daily 
contending  against  seducers.  I  found  that  many  honest  men,  of  weak 
judgments,  &c,  had  been  seduced  into  a  disputing  vein,  and  made  it  too 
much  of  their  religion  to  talk  for  this  opinion,  or  for  that ;  sometimes 
for  state  democracy,  and  sometimes  for  Church  democracy.  I  was 
almost  always,  when  I  had  opportunity,  disputing  with  one  or  another 
of  them  ;  sometimes  for  our  civil  government,  and  sometimes  for  Church 
government ;  sometimes  for  infant  baptism,  and  often  against  Antinomi- 
anism,  and  the  contrary  extreme.  But  their  most  frequent  and  vehe- 
ment disputes  were  for  liberty  of  conscience,  as  they  called  it ;  that  is, 
that  every  man  might  not  only  hold,  but  preach  and  do  in  matters  of 
religion  what  he  pleased,  &c.  Because  I  perceived  that  it  was  a  few 
men  that  bore  the  bell  that  did  all  the  hurt  among  them,  I  acquainted 
myself  with  those  men,  and  I  found  that  they  were  men  that  had  been 
in  London,  hatched  up  among  the  old  Separatists,"  &c. 

Pages  56,  57.  "  I  found  that  if  the  army  had  but  had  ministers 
enough  that  would  have  done  but  such  a  little  as  I  did,  all  their  plot 
might  have  been  broken,  and  king,  parliament,  and  religion,  might  have 
been  preserved.  Therefore  I  sent  abroad  to  get  some  more  ministers 
among  them,  but  I  could  get  none.  Saltmarsh  and  Dell  were  the  two 
great  preachers  at  the  head  quarters.  When  an}*  troop  or  company 
was  to  be  disposed  of,  he  [Cromwell]  was  sure  to  put  a  sectary  in  the 
place  ;  and  when  the  brunt  of  the  war  was  over,  he  looked  not  so  much 
at  their  valour  as  at  their  opinions  :  so  that  by  degrees  he  had  headed 
the  greatest  part  of  his  army  with  Anabaptists,  Antinomians,  &c,  and  all 
these  he  tied  together  by  the  point  of  liberty  of  conscience,  which  was 
the  common  interest  in  which  they  did  unite.  Yet  did  he  not  openly 
profess  what  opinion  he  was  of  himself;  but  the  most  that  he  said 
for  any,  was  for  Anabaptism  and  Antinomianism,  which  he  usually 
seemed  to  own.  He  would  not  dispute  [with  me]  at  all,  but  he  would  in 
good  discourse  very  fluently  pour  out  himself  in  the  extolling  of  free 
grace." 

Page  58.  "  I  called  the  ministers  again  together  who  had  voted  me 
into  the  army  :  I  told  them  that  the  forsaking  of  the  army  by  old  minis- 
ters, and  the  neglect  of  supplying  their  places  by  others,  bad  undone  us  ; 
that  the  active  sectaries  were  the  smallest  part  of  the  army  among  the 
common  soldiers,  but  Cromwell  had  lately  put  so  many  of  them  into 
superior  command,  and  their  industry  was  so  much  greater  than  that  of 
others,  that  they  were  like  to  have  their  will :  that  whatever  obedience 
they  pretended,  I  doubted  not  but  they  would  pull  down  all  that  stood  in 
their  way  in  state  and  Church,  both  king,  parliament,  and  ministers,  and 
set  up  themselves.  I  told  them  that  for  this  little  that  I  have  done,  [in 
opposing  the  high  republican  spirit,]  I  have  ventured  my  life.  The 
wars  being  now  ended,  I  was  confident  they  would  shortly  show  their 
purposes,  and  set  up  for  themselves." 

Page  59,  &c.  Baxter  tells  us  that  when  the  royalists  were  all  killed 
or  scattered,  and  the  king  himself  taken  prisoner,  Cromwell  began  to 
serve  the  parliament  as  he  had  done  the  king ;  availing  himself  of  the 
absolute  power  he  had  over  the  army,  by  the  influence  of  the  hot-headed 


470  VINDICATION  OF   THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

sectaries  whom  he  had  promoted,  some  of  whom  were  called  agitators : 
and  as  they  now  stood  in  his  way  to  the  supreme  power,  he  began  to 
serve  them  in  their  turn,  as  he  had  served  the  king  and  parliament. 
Take  Baxter's  own  words  :  "  When  Cromwell  had  taught  his  agitators 
to  govern,  and  could  not  easily  unteach  them  again,  there  arose  a  party 
who  adhered  to  the  principles  of  their  agreement  of  the  jjeople,  [upon 
the  high  republican  plan,]  which  suited  not  with  his  designs  :  and  to 
make  them  odious,  he  denominated  them  levellers,  as  if  they  intended 
to*  level  men  of  all  qualities  and  estates.  At  last  they  rendezvous  at 
Burford  to  make  head  against  him.  But  Cromwell  had  presently  his 
brother  Desborougb,  and  some  other  regiments,  ready  to  surprise  them 
there  in  their  quarters,  befor^  they  could  get  their  numbers  together ; 
so  that  above  fifteen  hundred  being  scattered  and  taken,  and  some  slain, 
the  levellers' 'war  was  crushed  in  the  egg." 

Page  64.  "  The  king  being  thus  taken  out  of  the  way,  Cromwell  takes 
on  him  to  be  for  a  commonwealth,  (put  all  in  order  to  the  security  of 
the  good  people,)  till  he  had  removed  the  other  impediments  which  were 
yet  to  be  removed ;  so  that  the  rump  [that  is,  the  rest  of  the  house  of 
commons,  whom  Cromwell  still  allowed  to  sit,  after  he  had  turned  out 
the  members  who  displeased  him  most]  presently  drew  up  a  form  of  en- 
gagement to  be  put  upon  all  men,  viz.  '  I  do  promise  to  be  true  and  faith- 

*  Did  Cromwell  absolutely  wrong  them  when  he  said  this  ?  Is  it  not  probable 
that  some  of  them  leaned  to  the  levelling  principles  of  the  head-strong  Anabap- 
tists ?  Was  it  not  when  such  Anabaptists  w«re  most  in  favour,  that  England 
saw  a  Church  without  bishops,  a  parliament  without  lords,  and  a  king  without  a 
head  ?  And  were  not  these  some  important  steps  taken  toward  levelling  Ana- 
baptistry  ;  though  Cromwell's  ambition  prevented  republicans  and  levellers  from 
proceeding  any  farther,  as  Baxter  soon  observes  ?  The  reader  will  be  glad  to  see 
what  Lord  Clarendon  says  of  the  levelling  agitators  : — 

"  The  agitators  would  not  be  so  dismissed  from  state  affairs,  of  which  they  had 
so  pleasant  a  relish,  &c  ;  and  therefore,  when  they  were  admitted  no  more  to 
consultations  with  their  officers,  they  continued  their  meetings  without  them,  and 
thought  there  was  as  great  need  to  reform  their  officers,  as  any  part  of  the  Church 
or  state.  They  entered  into  new  associations,  and  made  many  propositions  to 
their  officers,  and  to  the  parliament,  to  introduce  an  equality  into  all  conditions, 
and  a  party  among  all  men  ;  from  whence  they  had  the  appellation  of  levellers; 
which  appeared  a  great  party.  They  did  not  only  meet  against  the  express  com- 
mands of  their  officers,  but  drew  very  considerable  parties  of  the  army  to  rendez- 
vous, without  the  order  or  privity  of  their  superiors  ;  and  there  persuaded  them  to 
enter  into  such  engagements  as  would  in  a  short  time  have  dissolved  the  government 
of  the  army,  &c.  The  suppression  of  this  license  put  Cromwell  to  the  expense 
of  all  his  cunning,  dexterity,  and  courage;  so  that  after  he  had  cajoled  the  par- 
liament, as  if  the  preservation  of  their  authority  had  been  all  he  cared  for,  &c, 
and  had  sent  some  false  brothers  to  comply  in  the  counsels  of  the  conspirators, 
by  that  means  having  notice  of  their  rendezvous,  he  was  unexpectedly  found 
with  an  ordinary  guard  at  those  meetings  ;  and  with  a  marvellous  vivacity,  having 
asked  some  questions  of  those  whom  he  observed  most  active,  and  receiving  inso- 
lent answers,  he  knocked  two  or  three  of  them  on  the  head  with  his  own  hand, 
and  then  charged  the  rest  with  his  troop,  and  took  such  a  number  of  them  as  he 
thought  fit;  whereof  he  presently  caused  some  of  them  to  be  hanged,  and  sent 
others  to  London  to  a  more  formal  trial.  By  two  or  three  such  encounters,  [of 
which  that  at  Burford,  mentioned  by  Baxter,  seems  to  have  been  one,]  for  the 
obstinacy  continued  long,  he  totally  subdued  that  spirit  in  the  army,  though  it 
continued  and  increased  very  much  in  the  kingdom ;  and  if  it  had  not  been 
•encountered  at  that  time,  with  that  rough  and  brisk  spirit  of  Cromwell,  it  would 
presently  have  produced  all  imaginable  confusion  in  the  parliament,  army,  and 
kingdom."     (History  of  the  Reb,  book  x.) 


VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  471 

ful  to  the  commonwealth,  as  it  is  now  established  without  a  king  or  house 
of  lords.'  So  we  must  take  the  rump  for  an  established  commonwealth, 
and  promise  fidelity  to  them." 

In  the  following  pages  Baxter  tells  us  how  Cromwell  put  down  the 
rump  at  last,  and,  page  74,  he  gives  this  account  of  the  manner  in  which 
he  farther  laid  aside  his  trusty  friends,  the  Anabaptists,  who  had  done 
him  so  much  service.  "  The  sectarian  party  in  his  army  and  elsewhere 
he  [Cromwell]  chiefly  trusted  to  and  pleased,  till,  by  the  people's  sub- 
mission and  quietness,  he  thought  himself  well  settled;  and  then  he  began 
to  undermine,  and  by  degrees  to  work  them  out :  and  though  he  had  so 
often  spoken  for  the  Anabaptists,  now  he  findeth  them  so  heady,  and  so 
much  against  any  settled  government,  and  so  set  upon  the  promoting 
of  their  way  and  party,  that  he  does  not  only  begin  to  blame  their  un- 
ruliness,  but  also  designeth  to  settle  himself  in  the  people's  favour  by 
suppressing  them.  In  Ireland  they  were  grown  so  high,  that  the 'sol- 
diers were,  many  of  them,  rebaptized  as  the  way  to  preferment :  and 
those  that  opposed  them  they  crushed  with  much  uncharitable  fierce 
ness.  To  suppress  these,  he  sent  thither  his  son,  Henry  Cromwell,  who 
so  discountenanced  the  Anabaptists,  as  yet  to  deal  civilly  by  them, 
repressing  their  insolencies :  and  Major-general  Ludlow,  who  headed 
the  Anabaptists  in  Ireland,  was  fain  to  draw  in  his  head.  In  England. 
Cromwell  connived  at  his  old  friend  Harrison,  while  he  made  himself 
the  head  of  the  Anabaptists  and  fanatics  here,  till  he  saw  it  would  be  an 
acceptable  thing  to  the  nation  to  suppress  him,  and  then  he  does  it  easily 
in  a  trice,  and  maketh  him  contemptible  who  but  yesterday  thought  him- 
self not  much  below  him." 

From  this  short  account  of  the  reign  of  the  rump,  and  the  craft  of 
Cromwell,  it  is  evident  that  the  high  republican  spirit,  and  the  injudicious 
zeal  of  sectaries,  especially  of  the  Anabaptists  and  Antinomians,  were 
the  chief  means  by  which  that  ambitious  man  ascended  the  seat  of  su- 
pre  me  power.  And  I  wish,  sir,  that  your  injudicious,  well-meant  zeal, 
may  not  prove  a  spur,  or  a  saddle,  to  some  ambitious,  false  patriots,  who, 
under  pretence  of  mounting  the  great  horse  liberty,  to  fight  our  battles, 
and  to  deliver  us  from  what  you  call  "  abject  slavery,"  will  ride  over  us 
with  as  little  ceremony  as  Cromwell  did  over  King  Charles,  the  parlia- 
ment, and  the  rump. 

Before  I  take  my  leave  of  Baxter,  permit  me  to  transcribe  what  he 
says  concerning  the  origin  of  power ;  I  accidentally  found  it  in  turning 
over  his  book  for  the  preceding  quotations ;  and  his  judgment,  which 
exactly  coincides  with  mine,  confirms  me  in  the  sentiments  which  I 
have  expressed  in  the  beginning  of  this  letter. 

Page  41.  "  For  the  parliament's  cause,  the  principal  writing  was, 
Observations  written  by  Mr.  Parker,  a  lawyer :  but  I  remember  some 
principles,  which,  I  think,  he  misapplied,  viz.  that  the  king  is  singulis 
major,  but  universis  minor ;  (superior  to  every  one  of  his  subjects,  but 
inferior  to  the  collective  body  of  all ;)  that  he  receiveth  his  power  from  the 
■people,  <fyc.  For  I  doubt  not  to  prove  that  his  power  is  so  immediately 
from  God,  as  that  there  is  no  recipient  between  God  and  him,  to  convey 
it  to  him  ;  only,  as  the  king  by  (his  charter)  maketh  him  a  mayor  or 
bailiff,  whom  the  corporation  chooses  ;  so  God  (by  his  law,  as  an  instru- 
ment) conveyeth  power  to  that  person,  or  family,  whom  the  people  con- 


472  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

sent  to ;  and  '.neir  consent  is  but  a  conditio  sine  qua  non ;  and  not  any 
proof  that  they  are  the  fountain  of  power,  or  that  ever  the  governing 
power  was  in  them ;  and,  therefore,  for  my  part,  I  am  satisfied,  that  afi 
politics  err,  who  tell  us  of  a  majestas  realis  in  the  people,  as  distinct  from 
the  majestas  personalis  in  the  governors.  And  though  it  be  true,  that 
quoad  naturalem  bonitatem,  <fyc,  (with  respect  to  natural  goodness,  &c,) 
the  king  is  universis  minor  (inferior  to  the  whole  body  of  his  subjects) — 
yet  as  to  governing  power  (which  is  the  thing  in  question)  the  king 
is,  as  to  the  people,  universis  major,  as  well  as  singulis,  (superior  to  the 
whole  body  of  his  subjects,  as  well  as  to  every  one  of  them.)  For  if  the 
parliament  have  any  legislative  power,  it  cannot  be  as  they  are  the  body 
of  the  people,  &c,  but  it  is  as  the  constitution  twisteth  them  into  the 
government.  For  if  once  legislation  (the  chief  act  of  government)  be 
denied  to  be  any  part  of  government  at  all,  and  affirmed  to  belong  to  the 
people  as  such,  who  are  no  governors,  all  government  will  thereby  be 
overthrown." 

If  Baxter  be  right  here,  (and  I  believe  you  cannot  prove  him  to  be 
wrong,)  is  it  not  evident,  sir,  that  when  you  insinuate,  "  Every  one,  who 
is  a  free  agent,  or  has  a  will  of  his  own,  or  boils  a  pot,  ought  to  have  a 
place  in  the  legislature,  before  he  can  be  properly  subjected  to  taxation, 
and,  of  consequence,  to  the  laws,"  you  countenance  one  of  the  most 
dangerous  principles  of  the  levelling  Anabaptists  ?  A  principle  whereby 
all  government  may  be  overthrown  by  those  who  know  how  to  draw 
just  consequences  from  false  premises. 

To  return  : — 

You  say,  sir,  that  your  opponent  is  a  slave  because  he  cheerfully  sub- 
mits to  taxation  without  having  a  direct  representative  in  parliament. 
But  who  is  the  greatest  slave,  Mr.  Wesley  or  the  tools  of  lawless  patriot- 
ism  ?  Have  we  not  seen  these  dupes  turned  by  their  error,  not  only  into 
despicable  slaves,  but  into  a  new  species  of  domestic  animals  ?  Have  we 
not  seen  them  worked  up  to  such  a  pitch  of  delusion,  as  to  refuse,  with 
leonine  fierceness,  the  easy,  honourable  yoke  of  their  sovereign's  au- 
thority, and  to  count  it  an  honour  to  take  the  place  of  coach  horses, 
and  to  draw,  with  asinine  meanness,  the  chariots  of  their  new 
triumphers  ? 

What  ranks  have  they  regarded,  when  they  have  poured  themselves 
along  by  thousands  in  our  streets  ?  Have  they  paid  any  respect  to  oui 
noblemen  1  Have  they  reverenced  the  king  himself?  Nay,  have  they 
not  gloried  in  their  tyrannical  contempt  of  his  sceptre  and  person  ?  Have 
they  not  treated  him  as  a  well-bred  gentleman  would  be  ashamed  to  treat 
Lis  groom  1  Have  they  not  followed  him  with  scurrilous  hissings,  when 
he  rode  with  a  pomp  becoming  the  first  legislator  in  the  kingdom  ?  And, 
to  add  the  poignancy  of  contrast  to  their  serpentine  sport,  have  they  not 
filled  the  sky  with  shouts  of  applause,  when  they  have  graced  the  popu- 
lar triumphs  of  his  avowed  opposers  ?  What  press  has  not  groaned  under 
the  invectives  which  their  imperious  tribunes  cast  upon  the  legislative 
power  ?  What  periodical  paper  has  not  been  soiled  with  the  unjust  sar- 
castic blots,  which  these  plebeian  dictators  have  fixed  upon  the  minister 
who  pilots  us  through  the  rocks  which  they  throw  in  the  way  of  our 
peace  and  prosperity?  Because  the  parliament  would  not  be  carried 
away  by  the  torrent  of  their  boisterous  oratory,  has  not  that  venerable 


VINDICATION?  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  473 

body  been  insulted,  hectored,  bullied  ?  Have  they  not  attempted  to  lord 
it  over  the  king  himself?  Have  they  not  insisted  on  his  sitting  on  the 
throne,  that  when  he  appeared  in  the  greatest  height  of  royal  dignity, 
they  might  appear  his  superiors,  and  pour  upon  his  anointed  head  the 
indecent  floods  of  their  lordly  remonstrances  ?  Have  they  not  sharpened 
their  tongues  like  swords,  and  their  pens  like  spears,  sportively  to  wound 
him  through  the  side  of  his  minister?  And  have  not  those  who  have 
done  it  with  the  greatest  boldness  been  preposterously  cried  up  as  the 
greatest  patriots?  In  short,  has  not  taxing  subjects,  vindicating  the  legis- 
lative power,  protecting  our  merchants,  and  making  a  stand  against  the 
impetuous  overflowings  of  popular  rage  in  St.  George's  fields,  and  in 
Boston  :  has  not,  I  say,  this  commendable  holding  of  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment been  represented  as  tyranny,  felony,  robbery,  murder  ? 

If  these  men  dare  to  take  such  astonishing  liberties  with  their  sove- 
reign, how  will  they  treat  their  fellow  subjects  ?  How  will  they  handle 
you  and  me,  should  they  be  suffered  to  step  into  the  sovereign's  place  ? 
If  the  king,  in  the  midst  of  his  guards,  can  but  just  keep  them  from  tread- 
ing his  honour  in  the  dust,  what  will  they  not  be  able  to  do  to  us,  who 
refuse  to  "  go  with  them  to  the  same  excess  of  riot  ?"  How  shall  we 
escape,  if  we  fall  into  the  power  of  their  guards — their  armies  of  pot 
boilers  ?  Those  Tritons,  who  have  turned  themselves  into  "  beasts,"* 
to  draw  the  chariots  of  their  semi- gods,  will  probably  endeavour  to  turn 
us  into  birds,  to  make  us  adorn  the  triumphs  of  their  goddesses,  licentious- 
ness and  Antinomian  liberty ;  and  we  shall  possibly  think  ourselves  well 
off,  if  we  come  out  of  their  hands  stript  of  our  money,  watches,  and 
clothes,  and  covered  with  tar,  feathers,  and  infamy. 

They  have  already  given  us  tokens  of  what  we  may  expect  from  their 
lawless  patriotism,  should  it  prevail  every  where  as  it  has  in  some  places. 
Not  to  mention  the  king's  officers,  who  have  escaped  with  the  utmost 
danger  of  their  lives  in  Boston :  not  to  dwell  upon  the  case  of  Mr. 
Christie,  a  rich  British  merchant,  whom  the  provincial  congress  of 
Maryland  is  reported  to  have  fined  and  banished  for  ever,  for  writing  a 
confidential,  guarded  letter  to  a  friend,  which  contained  nothing  impro- 
per :  not  to  mention,  I  say,  these,  and  the  like  tyrannical  proceedings  in 
America  ;  have  not  those  who  live  under  the  immediate  protection  of  the 
sovereign  in  London  felt  the  iron  sceptre  of  king  mob  ?  Has  not  that 
tyrant,  who,  with  his  hundred  arms,  threw  our  goods  into  the  sea,  in 
sight  of  Boston — has  not  that  many-headed  tyrant,  I  say,  destroyed  that 
part  of  our  houses  in  London,  which  the  missile  implements  of  impotent 
rage  could  break  in  pieces  ?  And,  as  if  it  had  not  been  enough  to  attack 
and  injure  U3  in  our  ships  and  houses,f  have  they  not  deprived  us  of  our 

*  The  servants  of  God  may  sometimes  be  allowed  to  make  use  of  strong  meta- 
phors. David  speaks  of  "the  beasts  of  the  people,  who  refuse  to  bring  pieces  of 
silver,"  or  to  pay  taxes  to  their  lawful  sovereign.  And  St.  Paul  says,  that  he 
"  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,"  because  he  narrowly  escaped  being  torn  in 
pieces  by  the  mob  there.  If  the  reader  would  see  an  admirable  picture  of  the 
"  beasts,"  with  which  the  apostle  fought,  and  to  which  our  overdoing  patriots 
endeavour  to  "  give  the  power,"  I  do  not  refer  him  so  much  to  Rev.  xvii,  14,  as 
to  Acts  xix,  28,  &c,  where  he  will  find  a  masterly  description  of  a  mob. 

t  It  is  not  in  London  and  Boston  only,  that  this  tyrannical  spirit  breaks  out. 
It  probably  makes  its  appearance  in  most  American  cities.  Philadelphia  is  the 
seat  of  religious  liberty  and  brotherly  love  no  more.     Persecuting  tyranny  and 


474  VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS. 

locomotive  liberty  ?  Have  they  not  insolently  stopped  us  in  the  streets, 
and  on  the  highway  ?  Have  they  not  taken  a  temporary  possession  of 
our  coaches  and  doors,  to  mark  them  with  their  insulting  numbers,  and 
with  the  names  of  their  principal  agents  ?  Have  they  not  wantonly  stig- 
matized our  backs,  and  chalked  us  out,  for  laughing  stocks  ?  Have  they 
not  lifted  their  hands  against  the  peers  of  the  realm  ?  Have  they  not, 
without  judge  or  jury,  burned  one  of  them  in  sarcastic  effigy?  Havi' 
they  not  insulted  the  prime  minister  in  sight  of  the  senate  house  ?  Have 
they  not  mobbed  the  first  magistrate  of  the  city  of  London,  in  the  man- 
sion house  ?  And  almost  mobbed  the  king  himself  in  his  own  palace  ? 
And  all  this  under  pretence  of  liberty  !  O  sir,  if  this  be  the  beginning 
of  liberty,  how  dreadful  will  be  the  end !  Is  not  the  tyrannical  Scylla, 
upon  whom  you  so  eagerly  push  us,  more  dreadful  than  even  the  Cha- 
rybdis,  from  which  you  fancy  we  are  in  so  great  danger  ?  What  unpre- 
judiced citizen  would  not  prefer  the  light  yoke  of  the  present  government, 
to  the  ponderous  yoke  of  such  anarchy  ?  And  what  undesigning  Briton 
will  not  (upon  second  thoughts)  choose  to  honour  King  George,  rather 
than  to  tremble  and  fall  down  before  king  mob  ? 

Should  you  do  these  observations  justice,  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  see,  that 
to  overdo,  hi  constitutional  doctrines,  is  as  dangerous  to  the  state,  as  to 
overdo,  in  evangelical  doctrines,  is  perilous  to  the  Church.  If  we  miss 
the  medium  of  wisdom  and  moderation,  it  little  matters  whether  we  miss 
it,  by  going  out  of  the  way  on  the  right  hand,  or  on  the  left ;  it  does  not 
signify  which  of  the  two  we  countenance  in  the  Church ; — Pharisaism, 
or  Antinomianism :  it  is  indifferent  which  of  the  two  wc  set  up  in  the 
state — an  arbitrary  king,  or  an  arbitrary  mob.  Nay,  I  repeat  it ;  of  the 
two  political  extremes,  the  latter  is  so  much  worse  than  the  former,  as 
it  is  more  dreadful  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  millions  of  lawless  tyrants, 
whom  you  may  meet  every  where,  and  who  inflame,  screen,  and  hide 
one  another ;  than  to  be  under  the  dominion  of  one  lawless  tyrant,  who 
can  be  but  in  one  place  at  once,  and  who  stands  so  exposed  to  public 
view,  that  he  cannot,  without  folly,  hope  to  conceal  his  enormities. 

But  thanks  be  to  Divine  Providence,  and  to  the  wisdom  of  our  ances- 
tors, our  constitution  (defective  as  you  represent  it)  displays  the  happy 
medium  between  the  high  monarchical  extreme,  and  the  high  republican 

fierce  insolence  openly  patrol  in  the  once  free  and  peaceful  city.  One  of  my 
parishioners,  who  went  to  settle  there,  sends  his  friends  word  that  the  day  on 
which  a  fast  was  kept  to  obtain  success  upon  the  arms  of  the  provincials,  his 
window-s  were  broken  by  the  mob,  because  his  religious  principles  did  not  permit 
him  to  fast  on  such  an  occasion,  and  because  he  quietly  taught  his  scholars  to 
read  the  Scriptures.  A  vociferous  mob  has  no  ears,  though  it  has  arms  and 
tongues  more  than  enough  :  or  else  the  pacific  sufferer  might  have  made  his  godly 
persecutors  ashamed  of  their  devotions,  by  setting  his  scholars  to  read  Isaiah 
lviii,  4,  "  Bebold  ye  fast  for  strife  and  debate ;  and  to  smite  with  the  fist  of  wick- 
edness ;  ye  shall  not  fast  as  ye  do  this  day,  to  make  your  voice  to  be  heard  on 
high.  Is  it  such  a  fast  as  I  have  chosen?"  This  text  might  have  suited  the 
solemnity;  unless  the  following  had  been  judged  still  more  proper: — "Rebuke 
the  company  of  the  spearmen,  the  multitude  of  the  bulls,  with  the  calves  of  the 
people,  till  every  one  submit  himself  with  pieces  of  silver:  scatter  thou  the  peo- 
ple that  delight  in  war,"  Psalm  lxviii,  30.  My  late  parishioner  was  not  the  only 
one  who  was  injured  on  that  memorable  day.  Among  others,  a  quiet  Friend, 
who  ventured  to  open  his  china  shop,  is  said  to  have  had  his  goods  broken  by  tho 
Bew  king  for  this  offence,  to  the  amount  of  many  pounds. 


VINDICATION  OF  THE   CAL3I  ADDRESS.  475 

extreme  :  it  equally  guards  against  the  opposite  errors  of  Dr.  Sacheverel 
and  Oliver  Cromwell.  For  the  liberties  of  mankind  are  altern;  tely  struck 
at ;  on  the  right  hand  by  lawless  kings,  and  on  the  left  by  lawless  mobs : 
but  the  balance  is  wisely  kept  by  our  two  houses  of  parliament,  whose 
most  important  and  delicate  business  is  (if  I  mistake  it  not)  to  hinder  the 
scale  of  the  king  from  unconstitutionally  outweighing  that  of  the  people, 
as  arbitrary  monarchs  could  wish  :  and  to  prevent  the  scale  of  the  people 
from  making  that  of  the  king  kick  the  beam,  as  tyrannical  mobs  desire. 
The  present  king  follows  the  laws,  as  his  royal  ancestors  have  done  be- 
fore him.  He  takes  no  capital  step  without  his  parliament ;  and  there- 
fore, at  present,  we  are  under  no  danger  on  his  side.  But  I  cannot  say 
this  of  the  people  ;  they  are  inflamed  by  designing  or  enthusiastical  re- 
publicans ;  they  avowedly  break  the  laws ;  they  glory  in  doing  it ;  they 
take  up  arms  against  the  king  and  parliament ;  they  commit  outrages. 
Therefore  all  our  danger  is,  at  present,  from  king  mob  ;  and  this  danger 
is  so  much  the  greater,  as  some  dissenters  among  us,  who  were  quiet  in  the 
late  reign,  ajid  thought  themselves  happy  under  the  protection  of  the  tole- 
ration act,  grow  restless,  begin  openly  to  countenance  their  dissatisfied  bre- 
thren in  America,  and  make  it  a  point  of  conscience  to  foment  divisions  in 
the  kingdom.  Whether  they  do  it  merely  from  a  brotherly  regard  to  the 
colonists,  who  chiefly  worship  God  according  to  the  dissentmg  plan,  or 
whether  they  hope  that  a  revolution  oa  the  continent  would  be  naturally 
productive  of  a  revolution  in  England  ;  that  a  revolution  in  the  state 
here,  would  draw  after  it  a  revolution  in  the  Church  ;  and  that,- if  the 
Church  of  England  were  once  shaken,  the  dissenting  Churches  among  us 
might  raise  themselves  upon  her  ruins ;  whether,  I  say,  there  is  some- 
thing of  this  under  the  cry  of  slavery  and  robbery,  which  you'set  up,  is 
a  question,  which,  I  said,  in  the  preceding  editions,  you  could  determine 
far  better  than  I :  but  now  I  recall  it ;  because,  though  I  may  consider 
that  part  of  the  controversy  in  that  unfavourable  light  as  a  politician  ; 
yet,  as  a  Christian,  I  ought  to  think  and  hope  the  best. 

It  is  the  custom  of  most  controvertists  to  raise  a  variety  of  objections 
against  the  system  of  their  opponents;  while  they  overlook  the  greatest 
difficulties  which  attend  their  own  system.  Lest  you  should  think,  sir, 
that  I  follow  this  disingenuous  method,  I  will  now  answer  the  grand 
question  which  you  propose  to  Mr.  Wesley :  " If  every  man  who  is 
taxed  without  his  consent  is  not  a  slave,  wherein  consists  the  difference 
between  slavery  and  liberty  ?" 

If  you  mean  by  a  slave  one  who  is  bought  with  money,  as  the  negroes 
are  by  the  colonists,  your  question  is  unwise  ;  for  every  body  knows  that 
such  slaves,  having  nothing  at  all,  can  never  be  taxed.  When  they  work, 
their  masters  receive  the  wages ;  when  they  bear  children,  they  bear 
them  for  their  masters  :  their  own  body  is  the  property  of  another. — 
Since,  therefore,  they  have  no  property,  to  talk  of  their  being  taxed  with, 
or  without  their  consent,  is  absurd. 

But  if,  by  a  slave,  you  mean  a  subject  oppressed  by  a  tyrannical 
sovereign :  I  reply,  that  the  difference  between  such  slaves  and  the  sub- 
jects  of  Great  Britain,  who  have  no  share  in  the  legislature,  is  prodigious. 
A  slave,  in  this  sense  of  the  word,  is  not  only  taxed  as  happy  subjects 
are,  but  he  is  taxed  without  proportion,  without  judgment,  and  without 
mercy.     The  taxes  laid  on  him  are  so  many,  and  so  heavy,  that  he  can 


476  VINDICATION   OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS. 

hardly  bear  the  burden,  supposing  he  does  not  quite  sink  under  it.  If  he 
dissent  from  the  established  mode  of  worship,  he  cannot  serve  God  ac- 
cording to  his  conscience,  without  being  disturbed  and  insulted  by  a  pro- 
fane populace,  who  are  countenanced  and  encouraged  by  persecuting 
magistrates.  Nay,  it  is  well  if  he  be  not  prosecuted,  fined,  imprisoned, 
or  put  to  death.  If  he  be  committed  to  jail,  he  can  never  be  bailed  out 
on  any  occasion.  If  he  be  sent  to  prison  ever  so  unjustly,  he  can  recover 
no  damages  for  false  imprisonment ;  if  he  be  wronged  of  his  property,  in 
a  variety  of  cases,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  he  dares  not  complain.  If  he 
be  maliciously  robbed  of  his  good  name,  he  cannot  recover  it  by  law, 
together  with  suitable  damages.  If  his  bed  be  defiled,  he  can  get  no 
satisfaction  for  that  capital  injury.  His  house  can  be  forcibly  entered 
into  at  any  time ;  he  is  obliged  to  work  so  long  for  the  sovereign  gratis, 
that  he  cannot  mind  his  own  business ;  if  he  be  wantonly  struck  by  a 
great  man,  there  is  no  law  for  him,  and  the  wisest  thing  which  he  can 
do  is  to  say  nothing ;  if  he  be  murdered,  little  or  no  notice  is  taken  of 
it ;  a  plebeian  assassin  can  easily  make  his  escape,  and  nobody  dares 
prosecute  a  noble  murderer.  If  he  freely  speak  his  mind,  either  upon 
religious  subjects,  or  political  affairs,  he  is  summoned  before  an  ecclesi- 
astical and  civil  inquisitor  ;  and  it  is  well  if  he  escape  with  the  reprimand, 
which  a  chief  magistrate  in  a  mild  republic  gave  to  a  gentleman  of  my 
acquaintance,  who  modestly  hinted  at  a  method  of  redressing  an  avowed 
grievance  :  "  Who  has  appointed  you,  sir,  a  teacher  of  your  sovereigns  ? 
They  know  their  business :  learn  to  know  your  own."  But  what  is 
worst  of  all,  if  he  be  capitally  accused,  his  accusers  are  perhaps  his 
judge  and  jury.  He  is  put  in  a  dungeon,  without  knowing  why ;  his 
witnesses  are  not  suffered  to  speak  for  him ;  he  is  kept  so  long  on  the 
rack,  that  he  is  perhaps  obliged  to  turn  false  accuser  against  himself. — 
He  is  tried  secretly.  His  fortune  and  life  lie,  possibly,  at  the  mercy  of 
two  or  three  judges  only.  Nay,  he  may  fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  prejudice, 
caprice,  envy,  hatred,  or  hurry  of  one  single  man.  Being  tried  by  his 
peers,  or  by  twelve  of  his  fellow  citizens,  is  an  invaluable  blessing,  of 
vvhich  he  has  not  the  least  idea. 

Not  so  the  happy  subjects  of  Great  Britain.  Whether  they  have  a 
freehold  or  not,  they  all  enjoy  this  advantage  :  and,  if  the  law  be  put  in 
force,  they  are  partakers  of  all  the  branches  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
which  are  opposed  to  the  above-described  branches  of  hard  vassalage. — 
And  (what  is  most  wonderful)  the  poor  enjoy  these  blessings  as  well  as 
the  rich — the  plebeian  shares  them  with  the  nobleman.  Hence  it  is, 
that  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  are  the  freest  of  all  the  men  who  live 
under  any  civil  government  in  the  world.  And  hence  it  appears,  that 
when  you  assert  there  is  no  difference  between  having  no  share  in  legis- 
lation, and  being  an  absolute  slave,  you  display  an  amazing  unacc^uaint- 
edness  with  the  civil  governments  of  Europe  ;  you  betray  an  astonishing 
want  of  gratitude  to  God  and  the  sovereign,  for  the  civil  and  religious 
liberty  which  we  enjoy  ;  and  you  verify  the  observation  of  an  ingenious 
foreigner,  who  has  lately  written  upon  the  British  constitution,  and  who 
intimates,  the  blessings  of  liberty  are  so  familiar  to  the  English,  that 
they  neither  relish  nor  know  them.  They  may,  in  this  respect,  be  com- 
pared to  the  children  of  princes,  who,  being  born  and  educated  in  a 
palace,  are  so  accustomed  to  its  elegance  and  grandeur,  and  so  unac- 


VINDICATION  OF  THE   CALM  ADDRESS.  477 

quainted  «vith  the  sordidness  of  cottages,  and  the  gloominess  of  dungeons, 
that  they  never  heighten  their  happiness,  and  excite  their  gratitude,  by 
comparing  the  blessings  they  enjoy  with  the  hardships  that  others  endure. 

Just  as  this  comparison  may  be  with  respect  to  you,  sir,  it  can  however 
hardly  suit  the  case  of  many  of  the  colonists.  Some  of  them,  alas !  know 
too  well  what  tyranny  and  crilel  servitude  are.  When  poor,  naked, 
bleeding  slaves,  ready  to  expire  under  the  repeated  strokes, of  a  cutting 
wh'L',  are  obliged  to  keep  their  groans,  and  stifle  their  sighs,  for  fear  of 
raising  the  cruelty  of  their  tyrants  to  a  higher  pitch  of  fierceness; — when 
this  is  the  case,  I  say,  of  all  the  men  upon  earth,  it  least  becomes  the 
hai'd  masters — the  domestic  sovereigns  of  these  poor  creatures,  to  com- 
plain of  the  mild  government  they  are  under,  and  to  scream  Tyranny ! 
slavery  !  robbery  {  murder  !  And  why  1  Truly  because  some  of  them 
are  enjoined  to  pay  taxes,  about  thirty  times  lighter  tha.n  those  which 
millions  of  their  fellow  subjects,  who  have  no  votes,  cheerfully  pay  in 
England :  because  the  parliament  will  not  surfer  them  to  destroy,  with 
impunity,  the  property  of  our  merchants  ;  and  because  the  king  will  not 
have  the  collectors  of  the  public  revenue  to  be  in  continual  danger  of 
being  murdered  among  them.  O  partiality,  how  high  is  thy  glaring 
throne  ;  and  how  many  are  thy  warm  votaries  in  America,  and  thy 
sanguine  advocates  in  England  ! 

I  shall  esteem  myself  happy,  sir,  if  this  check  to  licentiousness  recom- 
mend itself  to  your  conscience  as  a  Protestant,  and  to  your  candour  as  a 
well  wisher  to  the  cause  of  true  liberty.  Think  not  the  plainness,  with 
which  I  have  addressed  you,  springs  from  malice  or  disrespect.  Though 
I  have  bluntly  attacked  your  errors,  I  sincerely  love  and  honour  you  as 
an  enemy  to  tyranny,  and  a  (mistaken)  asserter  of  British  liberty. — 
Therefore,  while  I  blame  your  dangerous  performance,  I  gladly  do  jus- 
tice to  your  good  meaning ;  and  I  cordially  join  you,  where  you  express 
a  loyal,  ardent  wish,  that'a  speedy  reconciliation  may  take  place  between 
us  and  our  colonies,  upon  an  honourable,  constitutional  basis,  and  that  our 
beloved  sovereign  may  long  live  to  sway  the  sceptre  over  a  free  people  ; 
provided  you  do  not  mean  by  a  "  free  people,"  a  tumultuous,  mobbing 
people,  making  liberty  to  consist  in  refusing  to  pay  taxes,  and  in  giving 
to  the  Scriptural  yoke  of  civil  government  the  opprobrious  name  of 
"  abject  slavery." 

Should  you  accuse  me,  sir,  as  you  do  Mr.  Wesley,  of  "  inflaming  the 
minds  of  the  people  here  against  our  American  brethren ;"  you  will  do- 
me as  much  injustice  as  you  do  to  my  friend.  Our  only  design  is  to 
promote  a  proper  obedience  to  those  parts  of  the  Gospel  of  peace,  which 
enjoin  us  a  due  subjection  to  our  superiors ;  and  to  enforce  the  articles 
of  religion  which  the  last  reformers  drew  up,  to  keep  overdoing  Protest- 
ants from  the  enthusiasm  of  wild  republicans.  Far  from  being  preju- 
diced against  the  colonists,  I  feel  a  deep  concern  for  their  spiritual  and 
temporal  welfare.  Yea,  such  is  my  partiality  to  them,  and  my  fear  of 
a  greater  effusion  of  the  blood  of  Britons,  and  sons  of  Britons,  that  I  even 
wish  the  government  would  make  the  easy  yoke  of  which  they  cause 
lessly  complain  easier  still,  by  granting  them  some  privileges,  denied 
not  only  to  millions  of  Britons  here,  but  also  to  the  members  of  parlia- 
ment, and  to  the  king's  own  brothers,  who,  while  they  are  out  of  Eng- 
land, are  all  taxed  without  being  consulted.     I  humbly  wish  that  our 


478  VINDICATION  OF  THE  CALM  ADDRESS 

legislators  would  condescend  to  talk  with  the  colonists  about  the  taxes 
which  suit  their  country  and  circumstances  best.  And  as  British  sena- 
tors know  how  to  pity  the  prejudices  of  mankind,  especially  the  prejudices 
of  sons  of  Britons,  with  respect  to  the  precious  blessing  of  liberty  ;  I  wish 
that  the  king  and  parliament  would  extend  their  greatest  mercy  to  sub- 
jects who  have  been  hurried  out  of  the  way  of  loyalty  chiefly  by  their 
inattention  to  the  blessings  which  they  enjoy,  and  by  the  delusive  hopes, 
with  which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  some  of  our  own  countrymen  have  rashly 
flattered,  and  artfully  seduced  them.  In  a  word,  I  ardently  wish  that,  upon 
the  return  of  the  colonists  to  their  duty,  the  government  would  bind  them  to 
their  mother  country,  both  by  the  silken  cords  of  pardoning  love,  and  by 
the  silver  bands  of  some  prerogatives,  which  may  convince  them  that 
Great  Britain  considers  them  not  only  as  subjects,  but  also  as  younger 
brothers. 

Such  kindness,  together  with  the  scourge  of  a  civil  war,  which  they 
so  severely  feel  already,  would  probably  attach  them  to  the  parent  state 
for  ever.  Should  this  be  the  case,  how  great  will  be  the  joy  of  those 
who  properly  value  the  blessings  of  peace  and  order !  And  how  full  the 
disappointment  of  the  demon  of  discord,  who  envies  us  the  singular 
Dlessings  which  we  enjoy  !  Great  Britain  and  America  will  then  become 
the  fixed,  the  unrivalled  seats  of  truth,  arts,  sciences,  and  commerce. 
They  will  collect  the  treasures  of  the  old  and  new  world.  They  will 
play  into  each  others  hands  the  wealth  of  the  universe.  And,  joined 
together,  they  will  be  more  than  a  match  for  their  combined  enemies. 
So  shall  genuine  Protestantism,  sober  liberty,  uninterrupted  peace,  and 
growing  prosperity,  conspire  to  crown  the  richest  island,  and  finest  con- 
tinent in  the  world.  Happy,  for  ever  happy  will  they  be,  if  their  riches 
and  grandeur  do  not  corrupt  and  intoxicate  them :  and  if  civil  and  reli- 
gious phrenzy  never  hinder  them  more  from  paying  an  humble  regard 
to  our  Lord's  important  precept,  "  Render  to  Cesar  the  things  which  are 
Cesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's.  That  you,  sir,  I, 
and  all  our  fellow  labourers  in  the  Gospel,  may  faithfully  practise,  and 
zealously  preach  this  neglected  part  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ ;  that  our 
most  sanguine  patriotism  may  always  be  tempered  by  a  due  sense  ot 
what  we  owe  to  our  governors ;  and  that  our  warmest  loyalty  may 
always  be  attended  with  a  proper  consciousness  of  what  we  owe  to  God, 
to  our  fellow  ciuzens,  and  to  posterity,  are  the  Christian,  constitutional 
prayers  which  I  ardently  offer  to  the  King  of  kings,  and  in  which  1 
invite  you  to  join,  reverend  sir,  your  affectionate  brother,  and  obedien 
servant, 

J.  F 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM 


FARTHER   CONFRONTED   WITH 


REASON,    SCRIPTURE,    AND   THE    CONSTITUTION 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  THE  DANGEROUS  POLITICS  TAUGHT  BY  THE 
EEV.  MR.  EVANS,  M.A.,  AND  THE  REV.  DR.  PRICE. 


A  SCRIPTURAL  PLEA  FOR  THE  REVOLTED  COLONIES. 


By   JOHN    FLETCHER, 

VICAR   OF   MADELET. 


Skill  in  politics  contributeth  not  a  little  to  the  understanding  of  divinity.  I  learned  more 
from  Mr.  Lawson  than  from  any  divine;  especially  Ins  instigating  me  to  the  study  of politics, 
in  which  he  much  lamented  the  ignorance  of  divines,  did  prove  a  singular  benefit  to  me. — 
Rev.  Mr.  E.  Baxter's  Life,  pp.  107,  108. 


PREFACE  TO  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 


Wliat  distinguishes  this  pamphlet  from  those  which  have  been  written  on 
the  same  subject — Nothing  but  Scripture  and  reason  can  make  the 
colonies  properly  submit  to  Great  Britain. 

The  author  of  these  letters  considers  the  American  controversy  chiefly 
in  a  religious  light,  which  gives  him  an  opportunity  of  making  some 
remarks,  that  have  probably  escaped  the  attention  of  other  writers  on 
this  subject.  The  duty  of  paying  taxes  10  the  protective  power  is  so 
strongly  connected  with  Christianity,  that  the  colonists  must  practically 
give  up  the  Scriptures,  or  submit  to  the  reasonable  demands  of  the 
British  legislature.  It  is  to  be  wished  that  we  had  made  use  of  the 
Bible  in  this  controversy.  For,  how  much  soever  that  venerable  book 
is  disregarded  by  some  of  our  great  men,  the  bulk  of  the  Americans,  and 
our  religious  patriots  in  England,  dare  not  despise  it.  Mr.  Evans,  for 
one,  speaking  of  the  doctrine  defended  in  these  sheets,  says,  "  Should 
you  indeed  prove  it  to  be  a  Scripture  doctrine,  &c,  I  am  not  afraid  to 
promise  you  the  most  absolute  submission  to  it  as  a  Christian.  The 
authority  of  Scripture  I  revere  above  every  other."  The  contested  doc- 
trine is  here  defended  by  Scripture  against  Mr.  Evans  ;  and  if  he  stand 
to  his  "  promise,"  we  may  hope  soon  to  see  him  give  the  colonists  an 
example  of  due  "  submission." 

When  a  great  empire  is  divided  against  itself:  when  a  powerful 
mother  country  and  a  number  of  strong  colonies,  draw  up  all  their  forces 
to  encounter  each  other  in  the  field  :  when  the  two  contending  powers 
are  subdivided  into  a  warm  majority  and  a  heated  minority,  ready  to 
begin  a  second  intestine  war ;  and  when  every  individual  is  concerned 
^s  an  actor,  sufferer,  or  spectator,  in  the  bloody  tragedy  which  is  acted ; 
it  is  natural  for  all  lovers  of  their  country  to  ask,  How  can  the  dreadful 
controversy  be  ended  ?  Is  it  by  the  dictates  of  Scripture  and  reason,  or 
by  the  force  of  arms  ? 

If  the  author  is  not  mistaken,  arms  [though  useful  in  their  place]  will 
never  properly  end  the  contest.  Should  we  overpower  the  American 
colonies,  they  will  remain  unconvinced.  Far  from  being  reconciled  to 
their  mother  country,  they  will  still  look  upon  her  as  an  imperious  step- 
mother, who  adds  tyranny  to  oppression,  and  murder  to  robbery.  Nor 
will  they  submit  to  her  any  longer  than  the  force,  which  has  subdued 
them,  shall  continue  to  press  and  keep  them  down.  And  what  shall  we 
gain  by  this  method,  but  perplexity,  danger,  and  continual  alarm  ?  The 
condition  of  the  colonists  will  be  as  wretched  as  that  of  indignant  prison- 
ers, who  are  under  a  military  guard  :  and  our  state  will  be  as  uncom- 
fortable as  that  of  a  jailer,  who  watches  over  a  numerous  body  o\ 

Vol.  IV.  31 


482  PREFACE  TO   AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

desperate  captives,  intent  upon  making  their  escape  at  the  hazard  of  their 
lives.  Under  God,  far  more  may  then  be  expected,  in  the  issue,  from 
Scripture  and  reason  than  from  arms.  Beasts  and  savages  can  be  con- 
quered by  fire  and  sword  ;  but  it  is  the  glory  of  men  and  Christians  to 
be  subdued  by  argument  and  Scripture.  Force  may  indeed  bend  the 
body,  but  truth  alone  properly  bends  the  mind.  While  our  armies  pre- 
pare  to  engage  the  majority  in  America  with  the  dreadful  implements 
of  war,  it  will  not  therefore  be  amiss  to  engage  the  ecclesiastical  minority 
in  England  with  the  harmless  implements  of  controversy.  On  some 
occasions,  one  pen  may  do  rn^re  execution  than  a  battery  of  cannon  :  a 
page  of  well-applied  Scripture  may  be  of  more  extensive  use  than  a  field 
of  battle :  and  drops  of  ink  may  nave  a  greater  effect  than  streams  of 
blood.  If  a  broadside  can  sink  a  man  of  war  and  send  a  thousand  men 
to  the  bottom,  a  good  argument  can  do  far  more ;  for  it  can  sink  a  pre- 
judice,  which  fits  out  a  hundred  ships,  and  arms,  it  may  be,  fifty  thou- 
sand men.  How  inferior  then  is  the  spear  of  Mars  to  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit !  And  how  justly  did  Solomon  say,  '<  A  wise  man  is  strong ;"  es- 
pecially if  he  is  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  which  can  make  us  wise  to 
salvation ! 

The  author  dares  not  flatter  himself  to  have  the  knowledge  of  logic 
and  divinity,  which  are  requisite  to  do  his  subject  the  justice  it  deserves  : 
but  having  for  some  years  opposed  false  orthodoxy,  he  may  have  acquired 
some  little  skill  to  oppose  false  patriotism ;  and  having  defended  evan- 
gelical obedience  to  God,  against  the  indirect  attacks  of  some  ministers 
of  the  Church  of  England,  he  humbly  hopes  that  he  may  step  forth  a 
second  time,  and  defend  also  constitutional  obedience  to  the  king,  against 
the  indirect  attacks  of  some  ministers  who  dissent  from  the  established 
Church.  Those  whom  he  encounters  in  these  sheets,  are  the  leading, 
ecclesiastical  patriots  of  the  two  greatest  cities  in  the  kingdom  ;  Mr. 
Evans  being  the  champion  of  the  minority  in  Bristol,  as  Dr.  Price  is  ift 
London. 

The  capital  arguments  of  these  two  gentlemen  are  here  brought  to  a 
triple  test,  against  which  they  cannot  decently  object.  And,  if  the 
author's  execution  keeps  pace  with  his  design,  their  politics  are  proved 
to  be  contrary  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  the  constitution.  Should  his 
proofs  be  found  solid,  and  the  public  vouchsafe  to  regard  them,  the 
boisterous  patriotism,  which  has  of  late  disturbed  our  peace,  will  give 
place  to  sober  and  genuine  patriotism ;  the  political  mistake  which  pro- 
duces our  divisions,  will  be  plucked  up  by  the  roots ;  the  minds  of  our 
uneasy  fellow  subjects  will  be  calmed  ;  our  bloody  contest  for  supremacy 
will  give  place  to  a  sweet  debate  between  parental  love  and  filial  duty : 
parental  love  will  overcome  the  colonies  with  benign,  lenient,  and  en- 
dearing offers  of  pardon  and  peace  ;  while  filial  duty  will  disarm  the 
mother  country  by  kind  and  grateful  offers  of  manly  submission. 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM,  &c. 


To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Evans. 

LETTER  I. 

The  arguments  by  which  Mr.  Evans  tries  to  support  his  American  poli- 
tics, are  shown  to  he  contrary,  I.  To  sound  reason.  II.  To  plain 
Scripture.     And,  HI.    To  the  British  constitution. 

Reverend  Sir, — The  interests  of  truth  are  often  as  much  promoted 
by  the  inconclusiveness  of  the  arguments  with  which  she  is  attacked,  as 
by  the  force  of  the  reasons  with  which  she  is  defended.  If  my  Vindi- 
cation of  the  Calm  Address  has  thrown  some  light  upon  the  American 
controversy,  your  Reply,  sir,  in  the  issue,  may  possibly  throw  much 
more.  Supposing  that  plain  truth  can  be  compared  to  a  good  steel,  and 
keen  error  to  a  sharp  flint,  I  venture  to  say,  that  the  more  any  one 
strikes  the  steel  with  such  a  flint,  the  more  will  the  fragments  of  the 
broken  stone  show  the  superior  solidity  of  the  impugned  metal  ;  and  the 
more  easily  will  sparks  be  collected  to  light  the  bright  candle  of  truth. 
The  public  will  judge  which  arguments,  yours  or  mine,  will  serve  the 
cause  of  truth,  by  flying  to  pieces  in  the  controversial  collision. 

Desirous  to  share  the  blessings  which  our  pacific  Lord  promises  to 
the  "  meek"  and  the  "  peace  makers,"  I  shall,  in  these  sheets,  neither 
throw  oil  upon  the  flame  of  the  American  revolt,  nor  blow  up  the  coals 
of  indignation  which  glow  in  the  breasts  of  our  insulted  governors. 
Whatever  my  performance  and  success  may  be,  moderation  and  recon- 
ciling truth  are  my  aim  :  I  can  assure  you,  sir,  that  my  utmost  ambition 
is  to  draw  the  line  between  unruly  patriotism  and  servile  subjection,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  you,  and  our  readers,  an  equal  detestation  of 
both  these  unconstitutional  extremes. 

After  throwing  away  all  your  first  letter  upon  a  useless*  question,  and 

*This  useless  question  is,  whether  Mr.  Wesley  had,  or  had  not,  forgotten  the 
title  of  I  know  not  what  book,  which  he  had  recommended  to  some  of  his  friends, 
and  which,  through  forgetfulness,  he  asserted  that  he  had  never  seen;  till,  upon 
perusing  the  book,  he  discovered  and  owned  his  mistake.  Mr.  Evans  diverts  the 
reader's  mind  from  the  true  question,  by  setting  before  him  eight  letters,  which 
passed  between  Mr.  W.  and  others,  about  that  insignificant  particular.  For  my 
part,  I  admit  the  public  acknowledgment  which  Mr.  W.  has  made  of  his  forget- 
fulness, rather  than  Mr.  Evans'  insinuation,  that  he  is  not  "  an  honest  man  :" 
and  I  do  it,  (1.)  Because  it  is  best  to  be  on  the  safer  side,  which  is  that  of  charity. 
(2.)  Because  it  is  highly  improbable  that  a  wise  man,  except  in  case  of  forgetful- 
ness, would  deny  a  fact  which  a  number  of  proper  witnesses  can  prove,  and  are 
inclined  to  prove  against  him.  And,  (3.)  Because  experience  constrains  me  to 
sympathize  with  those  whose  memory  is  as  treacherous  as  my  own.  On  a  Sun- 
day evening,  after  preaching  three  times,  reading  prayers,  and  being  all  day  in  a 
crowd,  or  hurrying  from  place  to  place,  my  mental  powers  are  so  incapacitated 
to  do  their  office,  that,  far  from  being  able  to  recollect  the  title  of  a  book  which 
I  have  seen  some  months  before,  I  frequently  cannot,  after  repeated  endeavours, 
remember  one  of  the  texts  on  which  I  have  preached  that  very  day.  Now  Mr. 
W.  lives  all  the  year  round  in  the  hurry  and  crowd  in  which  I  .im  on  my  busy 
Sundays  ;  and  he  is  between  seventy  and  eighty  years  of  age,  a  time  of  life,  this, 
when  even  the  men  who  enjoy  uninterrupted  rest,  find  that  their  memory  natu- 
rally fails.  If  Mr.  Evans  consider  this,  he  will  not  be  surprised  that  his  first 
letter  has  not  had  its  intended  effect  upon  me. 


484  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

beginning  the  second  with  an  idle*  report,  you  step  into  the  tribunal  of 
the  reviewers,  and  condemn  my  Vindication  before  you  have  refuted  one 
of  my  arguments.  As  if  you  were  both  judge  and  jury,  without  pro- 
ducing one  true  witness,  page  24,  you  authoritatively  say,  "  Instead  of 
argument,  I  meet  with  nothing  but  declamation ;  instead  of  precision, 
artful  colouring  ;  instead  of  proof,  presumption  ;  instead  of  consistency, 
contradiction  ;   instead  of  reasoning,  a  string  of  sophistries." 

To  support  this  precipitate  sentence,  you  represent  me  as  saying 
things  which  I  never  said.  Thus,  page  25,  you  write  :  "  One  while  you 
tell  us  that  our  constitution  guards  our  properties,  &c,  against  the  tyranny 
of  unjust,  arbitrary,  or  cruel  monarchs  ;  then  you  preach  up,  with  great 
solemnity,  &c,  that  their  subjects  have  no  more  right  to  resist,  than 
children  or  scholars  have  a  right  to  take  away  paternal  or  magisterial 
authority."  I  desire,  sir,  you  would  inform  me  where  I  advance  such  a 
doctrine.  Far  from  "  preaching  it  with  great  solemnity,"  I  abhor  and 
detest  it.  If  a  Nebuchadnezzar  commanded  me  to  worship  his  golden 
image,  I  would  (God  being  my  helper)  resist  him  as  resolutely  as  did 
Shadrach.  And  suppose  the  king  and  parliament  were  to  lay  a  tax 
upon  me,  in  order  to  raise  money  for  the  purchasing  of  poison,  where- 
with to  destroy  my  fellow  subjects,  I  would  resist  them,  and  absolutely 
refuse  to  pay  such  a  tax. 

When  you  have  made  my  doctrine  odious,  by  lending  me  principles 
which  I  never  advanced,  or  drawing  consequences  which  have  not  the 
least  connection  with  my  sentiments,  you  prejudice  the  public  against 
my  book,  by  insinuating  that  I  contradict  myself,  where  it  is  plain  I  do 
not.  Thus  you  say,  page  26  :  "  In  one  letter  you  tell  us  the  colonists 
are  on  a  level  with  Britons  in  general ;  in  another,  that  they  were  never 
on  a  level  with  England."  This  last  sentence  I  spake  of  the  colonies, 
as  independent  legislatures,  and  not  of  the  colonists  :  and  both  sentences 
in  their  place  are  perfectly  consistent.  For,  although  not  one  of  the 
colonies  was  ever  on  a  level  with  England  (an  independent  kingdom)  with 
respect  to  supreme  dominion  ;  yet  all  the  colonists  are  on  a  level  with 
Britons  in  general,  with  respect  to  several  particulars  enumerated  just 
before,  as  appears  by  the  whole  argument,  which  (Vind.  p.  450)  runs 
thus  :  "  The  mother  country  and  the  parliament  house  are  as  open  to 
them  [the  colonists]  as  to  any  free-born  Englishman :  they  may  pur- 
chase freeholds  ;  they  may  be  made  burgesses  of  corporate  towns  ;  they 
may  be  chosen  members  of  the  house  of  commons,  and  some  of  them, 
if  I  mistake  not,  sit  already  there.  The  colonists  are  then  on  a  level, 
not  only  with  [absent]  Britons  in  general,  but  with  all  our  members  of 
parliament  who  are  abroad."  Had  you,  sir,  quoted  my  words  in  this 
manner,  your  readers  would  have  seen  that  there  is  something  in  my 
letters  beside  contradiction  and  sophistry ;  but  it  is  more  easy  to  shuffle 
the  cards,  than  to  win  the  game. 

Permit  me,  sir,  to  produce  another  instance  of  your  polemical  skill. 

*  The  idle  report  I  mean  is,  that  my  Vindication  "  has  received  many  additions 
and  corrections  from  the  pen  of  a  celebrated  nobleman."  This  is  a  mistake.  I 
find,  indeed,  some  errors  of  the  press,  which  injure  the  sense  of  my  book  ;  but  I 
do  not  discover  one  addition  in  it,  except  that  of  two  words;  and  if  Mr.  Evans 
will  be  pleased  to  inspect  my  manuscript,  he  will  see  that  the  few  little  negative 
emendations  in  it,  were  made  by  Mr.  Wesley's  own  pen. 


ajlebiCan  patriotism.  463 

You  say,  page  24  :  "  Your  reasoning  upon  the  quotation  I  made  from 
the  very  learned  Judge  Blackstone,  is  equally  conclusive,  &c.  In  a 
free  state,  (says  Judge  Blackstone,)  every  man  who  is  supposed  a  free 
agent,  ought  to  be  in  some  measure  his  own  governor  ;  and  therefore  a 
branch,  at  least,  of  the  legislative  power  should  reside  in  the  whole  body 
of  the  people.  You  reply :  Your  scheme  drives  at  putting  the  legis- 
lative power  into  every  body's  hands."  No,  sir,  this  is  not  my  reply, 
but  only  a  just  inference  which  I  naturally  drew  from  my  solid  answer. 
My  reply  (Vind.  p.  446)  runs  thus:  "  But  who  are  the  whole  body  of 
the  people  ?  According  to  Judge  Blackstone,  every  free  agent.  Then 
the  argument  proves  too  much  ;  for  are  not  women  free  agents  ?  Yea, 
and  poor,  as  well  as  rich  men  ?"  This,  and  this  only,  I  advance  as  a 
reply  to  Judge  Blackstone's  argument.  I  cannot,  therefore,  help  being 
surprised  at  your  mistake.  You  keep  my  real  answer  to  your  argu- 
ment out  of  sight ;  you  render  me  ridiculous  by  producing  as  my  answer, 
what  is  not  my  answer  at  all ;  and,  before  you  conclude,  you  make  me 
amends  for  this  piece  of  patriotic  liberty,  by  calling  me  K  one  of  the  most 
unmeaning  and  unfair  controvertists."  The  reader's  patience  would  fail 
were  I  minutely  to  describe  the  logical  stratagems  of  this  sort  by  which 
you  support  your  cause,  which  I  confess  stands  in  need  of  all  manner 
of  props. 

However,  in  your  second  letter  you  come  to  the  question,  which  is, 
Whether  the  colonists,  as  good  men,  good  Christians,  or  good  subjects, 
are  bound  to  pay  moderate,  proportionable  taxes,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  British  empire,  when  such  taxes  are  legally  laid  upon  them  by 
the  supreme,  protective  power,  that  is,  by  the  three  branches  of  the 
British  legislature. 

In  my  Vindication  of  the  Calm  Address,  I  have  produced  the  argu- 
ments which  induce  me  to  believe  that  the  doctrine  of  such  taxation  is 
rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitutional :  and  in  your  Reply  you  attempt 
to  prove  that  it  is  contrary  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  the  constitution. 
Let  us  see  how  your  attempt  is  carried  on,  and, 

First,  How  you  disprove  the  reasonableness  of  the  taxation  I  con- 
tend for. 

Page  27,  you  say  that  you  do  not  deny  "  the  necessity  and  propriety 
of  subjects  paying  taxes."  But  in  not  denying  this,  sir,  do  you  not  indi- 
rectly give  up  the  point  ?  Do  you  not  grant  that,  as  the  colonists  are 
not  protected  by  the  king  alone,  but  by  the  whole  legislative  power  of 
Great  Britain,  they  are  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  king  alone,  but 
of  all  the  British  legislature  1  Now,  if  they  are  not  the  subjects  of  the 
king,  as  unconnected  with  the  British  parliament,  but  as  cons:itutionally 
connected  with  that  high  court,  which  supplies  him  with  proper  subsidies 
to  protect  his  American  dominions,  it  is  evident  that  they  owe  taxes  to 
the  king  and  the  British  parliament,  for  you  yourself  acknowledge  "  the 
necessity  of  subjects  paying  taxes"  to  the  supreme  power  which  protects 
them.  But  which  tax  have  they,  of  late,  consented  to  pay  ?  Has  it 
been  a  tax  upon  tea,  or  upon  stamped  paper  ? 

Should  you  reply  that  they  have  offered  to  pay  taxes  to  the  king  and 
their  provincial  assemblies,  I  reply,  that  this  is  not  paying  capital  tribute 
to  whom  capital  tribute  is  due :  for  capital  tribute  is  due  to  the  capital 
protective  power ;  and  the  capital  power  that  protects  the  colonists  is 


486  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

not  the  king  and  the  regency  of  Hanover,  nor  the  king  and  the  Irish 
parliament,  much  less  the  king  and  a  provincial  assembly  ;  but  the  king 
and  the  British  parliament.  Had  the  Americans  got  their  wealth  under 
the  protection  of  the  Irish ;  had  the  Hanoverian  fleets  kept  off  the 
Spanish  ships  from  the  American  coasts ;  or  had  squadrons  of  American 
men  of  war  beat  off  the  French  fleets,  I  would  not  hesitate  a  moment  to 
affirm,  that  the  colonists  ought  to  pay  proportionable  taxes  to  the  king 
and  the  Irish  parliament ;  to  the  elector  and  regency  of  Hanover,  or  to 
the  king  of  British  America  and  the  American  assemblies.  But  when 
all  this  has  been  done  for  the  colonists  by  the  king  and  the  British  par- 
liament, I  confess  to  you,  sir,  that  setting  aside  the  consideration  of  the 
love  and  duty  which  colonies  owe  to  their  mother  country,  I  cannot  see 
what  law  of  gratitude,  equity,  and  justice,  the  colonists  can  plead  to 
refuse  paying  the  king  and  the  British  parliament  moderate  and  propor- 
tionable taxes. 

Page  36,  you  indirectly  appeal  to  the  case  of  "the  patriots  of  Charles' 
days,"  who  refused  to  pay  the  tax  called  ship  money :  but  their  cause 
was  far  better  than  that  of  the  Americans.  The  ship  money  was  de- 
manded by  the  king  alone ;  but  the  king  alone  is  not  the  supreme  legis- 
lative power  that  protects  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  because  he  can 
make  no  laws,  and  of  consequence  raise  no  taxes,  without  the  concur- 
rence of  the  parliament.  The  patriots  of  the  last  century  were  not  then 
absolutely  bound  either  by  the  law  of  God,  or  the  law  of  the  land,  to  pay 
a  tax  which  had  not  the  sanction  of  the  legislative  power ;  a  money  bill 
passed  by  the  king  alone  being  no  law  at  all,  according  to  the  British 
constitution.  But  a  proportionable  money  bill,  as  the  stamp  act,  a  bill 
passed  by  the  complete  legislative  power  of  Great  Britain,  is  every  way 
binding  in  all  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain.  Whoever  resists  such  a 
law  breaks  off  with  the  legislative  power,  affects  independence,  and 
commences  a  petty  sovereign. 

I  have  said  that  a  rightful  "  sovereign  has  a  right  to  live  by  his  noble 
business  ;"  and  because  I  have  observed,  that  in  England  the  sovereign 
(i.  e.  the  legislative  and  protective  power)  is  the  king  and  his  parlia- 
ment, you  suppose  I  have  poured  shame  upon  the  cause  I  defend.  "  So, 
&c,  (say  you,  page  25,)  a  member  of  parliament,  instead  of  vacating 
his  seat,  ought  to  have  a  palace  provided  for  him,  upon  his  becoming  a 
member  of  the  legislature."  No,  sir  ;  your  inference  has  no  connection 
with  my  doctrine.  If  you  had  said  that  every  member  of  parliament, 
while  he  attends  the  parliament,  has  a  right  to  a  public  maintenance 
suitable  to  his  share  in  the  legislature,  you  would  have  said  what  I 
mean,  and  what  no  unprejudiced  person  will  deny.  If  the  king  and 
parliament  ordered  that  all  the  attending  members  shall  be  honourably 
entertained  during  the  session,  at  the  expense  of  the  public ;  and  that  a 
proper  sum  shall  be  annually  raised  to  discharge  this  expense ;  what 
Briton  would  be  so  niggardly,  ungrateful,  and  unjust,  as  to  find  fault  with 
such  a  statute  1  Was  our  Lord  mistaken  when  he  said,  "  The  labourer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire  ?"  If  the  speaker,  who  is  the  principal  member  of 
the  house  of  commons,  enjoys,  as  speaker,  an  income  of  some  thousand 
pounds  a  year,  does  he  not  "live  by  his  business?"  Might  not  all  the 
other  members  do  the  same  in  due  proportion  1  When  they  exempt 
themselves  and  their  friends  from  paying  the  tax  which  we  call  postage, 


AMERICAN    PATRIOTISM.  487 

do  they  not  show  that  the  legislature  have  pecuniary  rights  which  other 
Britons  have  not  ?  And  if  their  generosity  prevents  their  using  those 
self-evident  rights,  should  we  not  extol  their  disinterestedness,  rather  than 
pour  contempt  upon  their  reasonable  and  constitutional  prerogative  ? 

Unable  to  invalidate  my  doctrine  by  any  just  argument,  you  have  re- 
course to  a  polemical  stratagem  which  will  do  your  cause  no  credit.  To 
render  the  politics  I  defend  odious  to  your  readers,  you  insinuate,  that, 
upon  my  principles,  the  sovereign  ';  is  entitled  to  just  what  he  pleases, 
and  may  take  ir  with  or  without  consent,  whenever  he  thinks  proper." 
This  doctrine,  which  you  impute  to  me,  page  27,  has  no  more  connection 
with  my  system,  than  darkness  with  the  rising  sun.  I  abhor  it  as  well 
as  you,  sir ;  being  fully  persuaded  that  legislative  power  is  to  be  used 
for  good,  and  not  for  evil ;  for  protection,  and  not  for  tyranny.  If  the 
king  and  parliament  had  laid  disproportionable  and  unreasonable  taxes 
upon  our  American  fellow  subjects,  I  would  no  more  have  taken  the 
pen  in  defence  of  such  taxation,  than  I  would  take  it  in  vindication  of 
robbery. 

Nor  do  my  appeals  to  the  propriety  of  giving  the  lawyers  and  phy- 
sicians whom  we  employ  the  proper  fees  they  demand  of  us,  prove  that 
I  hold  the  doctrine  of  despotism  ;  for  as  I  should  be  a  knave  if  I  refused 
to  give  a  gentleman  of  the  faculty  a  reasonable  fee  for  his  attendance ; 
so  should  I  be  a  fool  if  I  supposed  that  he  "  is  entitled  to  just  what  he 
pleases."  I  only  assert  that,  as  a  good  man  will  find  a  medium  between 
dishonesty  and  folly,  with  respect  to  the  fees  due  to  his  physician  and 
lawyer ;  so  a  candid  colonist  will  find  a  middle  way  between  the  injus- 
tice of  the  patriots,  who  refuse  moderate  taxes  to  the  legislative  power 
that  protects  them,  and  between  the  slavish  tameness  of  the  poltroons, 
who  suffer  a  rapacious  tyrant  to  grind  their  faces  and  suck  their  blood. 
Nevertheless,  I  dare  affirm,  that  as  we  trust,  to  a  certain  degree,  a  lawyer's 
conscience,  an  apothecary's  discretion,  and  a  physician's  candour,  with 
respect  to  their  bills  and  fees ;  we  may  also  trust,  to  a  certain  degree, 
the  discretion  of  our  governors  with  respect  to  their  money  bills  and 
taxes.  And,  therefore,  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  good  manners, 
loyalty,  reason,  and  conscience,  than  to  represent  the  sovereign  who 
protects  the  colonists  as  a  robber  and  a  tyrant,  for  laying  a  moderate  tax 
upon  them,  in  order  to  discharge  the  national  debt,  and  the  daily  ex- 
penses of  government. 

You  indeed  insinuate  that  the  case  is  not  parallel,  because  we  employ 
our  physicians  and  lawyers  "  voluntarily."  But  have  not  the  colonists 
"  voluntarily"  reaped  for  a  hundred  years  the  benefit  of  protection  from 
the  king  and  parliament  ?  And,  supposing  they  can  now  support  them- 
selves without  British  protection  ;  yet  are  they  not  guilty  of  injustice  if 
the}'  now  refuse  to  pay  proportionable  taxes  1  What  would  you  think  of 
my  honesty,  if  the  following  case  were  matter  of  fact  ?  I  "  voluntarily" 
employ  a  lawyer  for  ten  years  to  recover  an  estate.  When  I  have 
gained  my  ends,  he  demands  fees,  which,  on  account  of  my  poverty,  he 
forbore  doing  before.  I  storm  on  the  occasion  ;  I  run  up  and  down, 
screaming,  Robbery !  tyranny  !  And  at  last  I  turn  my  back  upon  him 
with  such  a  speech  as  this  :  "  Sir,  I  can  do  without  you  now ;  and  as  I 
am  not  willing  to  employ  you  any  more,  you  have  no  right  to  demand 
fees  of  me  as  your  due.     I  am  a  free  man,  and  you  shall  not  treat  me 


488  AMERICAN    PATRIOTISM. 

as  an  abject  slave,  by  insisting  on  fees  with  or  without  my  consent."  If 
I  put  off  my  industrious  lawyer  with  this#American  plea,  would  not  your 
moral  feelings  brand  me  as  a  man  devoid  of  conscience  and  honour  ? 

I  grant,  however,  that  the  case  between  the  taxes  of  the  sovereign,  and 
the  fees  of  a  lawyer,  is  not  exactly  similar :  but  if  the  parallel  fails,  it  is  in 
a  point  which  does  your  cause  no  service.  For  although  I  am  perfectly 
at  liberty  to  dismiss  my  honest  lawyer  as  soon  as  I  please,  when  I  have 
paid  him  his  reasonable  fees  :  I  cannot  cast  off  the  authority  of  my  right- 
ful sovereign  as  soon  as  I  please,  when  I  have  paid  his  reasonable  taxes  ; 
and  I  prove  it  by  the  following  reasons.  (1.)  I  may  possibly  live  fifty. 
years  without  going  to  law,  but  I  cannot  safely  live  one  day  in  society 
without  being  protected.  (2.)  As  an  unconnected  individual,  I  may 
neglect  the  care  of  my  property  as  I  please  ;  and  if  a  man  unjustly  de- 
mands my  cloak,  I  may  let  him  have  my  coat  also  :  but,  as  a  man  joined 
with  others  in  civil  society,  I  am  a  debtor  to  all  the  society  with  which 
I  am  connected  :  I  must  defend  my  property  as  a  part  of  the  common 
stock ;  and,  of  consequence,  I  must  pay  taxes,  and  help  to  support  the 
sovereign,  who  protects  and  guards  the  whole  society.  Hence  it  is, 
that  those  who  live  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom  pay  as  much  toward 
the  fleet  as  those  that  live  on  the  sea  coast ;  though  they  are  not  half  so 
much  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  invaders  and  pirates.  (3.)  The 
laws  of  God  and  of  the  land  bind  me  to  obey  my  rightful  sovereign  rather 
than  another  king,  in  all  things  which  are  just  and  reasonable  :  but  none 
of  these  laws  bind  me  to  employ  one  lawyer  rather  than  another,  under 
the  fearful  penalties  due  to  rebellion  and  high  treason.  If  the  American 
patriots  considered  this,  would  they  not  blush  to  insinuate,  that  we  may 
change  our  sovereigns  as  we  do  our  tradesmen  ;  and  that,  as  the  colo- 
nists no  longer  demand  the  protection  of  Great  Britain,  the  British  legis- 
lature has  no  longer  any  right  to  demand  taxes  of  them  ?  Who  could 
sufficiently  wonder  at  the  insolence  and  injustice  of  the  following  plea, 
which  I  suppose  to  be  urged  by  Yorkshire  non-voters  ?  "  Neither  we, 
nor  our  county,  are  represented  in  parliament  according  to  our  wishes. 
We  are  not  afraid  of  an  invasion.  Yorkshire  is  large  and  populous. 
We  can  protect  ourselves  :  and  therefore  we  refuse  to  pay  any  thing 
toward  the  protection  of  the  British  dominions.  What  we  have  is  ab- 
solutely our  own :  nor  will  we  be  robbed  by  any  body ;  no,  not  by  the 
legislature.  For  as  we  are  desirous  that  the  sovereign  would  keep  his 
protection  to  himself;  so  we  are  determined  to  keep  our  money  to  our- 
selves." I  question,  sir,  whether,  prejudiced  as  you  are  in  favour  of  the 
American  patriots,  you  would  not  be  one  of  the  first  to  exclaim  against 
such  Yorkshire  patriots. 

Nor  do  you  weaken  my  argument  taken  from  the  proper  fees  due  to 
lawyers,  by  intimating  that  such  fees  are  "  lawful,  accustomed  fees," 
and  that  "  in  England  the  sovereign  has  no  power  to  recover  a  debt  even 
for  himself,  but  according  to  law."  Has  it  not  been  in  all  ages,  and  in 
all  parts  of  the  world,  the  "  custom"  of  civilized  nations  to  pay  taxes  to 
the  protective  power  they  are  under  1  Is  it  not  the  "  custom"  of  all  just 
sovereigns,  to  lay  those  taxes  according  to  the  wants  and  emergencies 
of  the  government  ?  When  such  taxes  are  properly  laid  by  the  supreme 
power  which  makes  and  executes  every  law,  are  they  not  "  lawful  ?" 
Is  it  not  "according  to  law,"  that  the  king  and  parliament  laid  a  little  tax 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  4S3 

apon  our  American  fellow  subjects  ?  And  are  there  no  statutes  enjoining 
that  the  goods  of  perverse  subjects,  who  refuse  to  pay  lawful  and  rea- 
sonable taxes,  shall  be  distrained  ;  and  that,  if  such  subjects  oppose  the 
distraint,  they  shall  be  farther  proceeded  against  according  to  law ;  es- 
pecially if,  instead  of  paying  taxes,  they  break  into  ships,  and  tyranni- 
cally destroy  the  property  of  their  fellow  subjects  ? 

If  these  observations  overthrow  your  reply  to  the  rational  arguments, 
by  which  I  have  supported  the  doctrine  of  taxation  laid  down  in  the 
Calm  Address  ;  I  may  consider, 

Secondly,  How  you  answer  my  Scriptural  arguments,  on  which, 
as  a  Christian,  I  lay  the  greatest  stress. 

Page  52,  you  say,  "  The  golden  rule  of  Scripture,  both  for  governors 
and  governed,  is  this  :  '  As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them.'  Now  I  presume  the  good  people  of  England 
would  not  be  willing  that  the  Americans,  in  their  assemblies,  should  tax 
English  property  here  ;  and  why  should  we  therefore  desire,  in  our  par- 
liament, to  tax  American  property  there  ?" 

I  reply,  The  case  is  not  similar.  The  Americans  are  protected,  and 
the  British  legislature  is  the  protecting  power.  The  protected  owe  taxes 
to  their  protectors,  and  not  the  protectors  to  the  protected.  You  apply 
"  the  golden  rule  of  Scripture"  to  the  case  in  hand,  as  unfortunately  as 
I  should  do,  if  I  said  that  this  rule  entitles  my  servant  to  command  me, 
because  I  have  a  right  to  command  him  ;  and  that  I  may  justly  demand 
a  fee  of  the  physician  who  attends  me,  because  he  justly  demands  a  fee 
of  me  for  his  attendance.  Nay,  if  your  argument  be  just,  it  proves  that 
the  king  is  bound  to  pay  you  taxes.  You  may  go  to  his  majesty  and 
address  him  thus,  according  to  your  patriotic  doctrine :  "  O  king,  the 
golden  rule  of  Scripture,  both  for  governors  and  governed,  obliges  thee 
to  do  to  me  as  thou  wouldst  that  I  should  do  to  thee.  Now,  thou  wouldst 
that  I  should  pay  thee  taxes,  and,  therefore,  drop  thy  British  partiality, 
commence  an  American  patriot,  and  confess  that  thou  oughtest  to  pay 
me  taxes." 

If  the  objection,  which  you  draw  from  our  Lord's  golden  rule,  is 
trifling,  may  not  that  which  you  raise  from  his  blessed  example  be 
affirmed  to  be  deplorable  ?  Our  reformers  say,  in  their  homily  against 
wilful  rebellion,  part  ii :  "  No  example  ought  to  be  of  more  force  with 
us,  Christians,  than  the  example  of  Christ  our  Master,  who,  though  he 
was  the  Son  of  God,  yet  did  always  behave  himself  most  reverently  to 
such  men  as  were  in  authority  in  the  world  in  his  time.  He  behaved 
not  himself  rebelliously ;  but  openly  did  teach  the  Jews  to  pay  tribute  to 
the  Roman  emperor,  though  a  foreign  and  a  Pagan  prince  :  yea,  himself 
with  his  apostles  paid  tribute  unto  him."  How  different  is  your  doctrine 
from  that  of  those  loyal  champions  of  truth  !  That  very  example  of  our 
Lord's  loyally,  which  they  so  highly  extol,  you  indirectly  represent  as  an 
instance  of  weakness.  How  could  he,  say  you,  p.  54,  "  avoid  paying  the 
tribute  demanded  of  him  ?"  So  it  seems  that  our  Lord  paid  tribute  be- 
cause he  could  not  avoid  paying  it !  He  did  it  through  necessity  !  ■  He 
broke  his  own  commandments  delivered  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  : 
"  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake : 
ye  must  be  subject  not  only  for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience'  sake." 
Fear  of  wrath,  and  human  prudence,  were  the  slavish  motives  of  his 


490  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

loyal  action !  Nay,  you  intimate,  p.  55,  that. he  thought  it  lawful  to  pay 
tribute  to  Cesar,  only  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is  "  lawful  to  give  a 
highwayman  our  money,"  and,  p.  54,  you  roundly  assert  that  such  a 
[forced]  submission  as  this  is  all  the  submission  our  Lord's  example  can 
be  supposed  in  the  least  to  countenance." 

If  you  could  prove  this  assertion,  sir,  the  brightness  of  our  Lord's  moral 
character  would  suffer  a  total  eclipse.  For  if  "  what  a  man  has  is  ab- 
solutely his  own,"  and  if  the  Roman  emperor  had  not,  as  protector  of 
the  Jews,  a  reasonable  claim  to  their  tribute  money,  did  not  our  Lord 
prevaricate,  and  was  not  an  untruth  found  in  his  mouth,  when  he  said 
to  the  Jews  who  showed  him  the  tribute  money,  "  Render,  therefore,  to 
Cesar  the  things  which  are  Cesar's  ?"  In  what  sense  could  he  say  that 
this  money  was  Cesar's,  if  Cesar  had  no  more  right  to  it  than  a  high- 
wayman 1  And  with  what  moral  propriety  could  he  bid  the  Jews  to  ren- 
der such  money  to  Cesar  as  a  part  of  Cesar's  property  ? 

This  is  not  all :  the  manner  in  which  our  Lord  enforced  paying  taxes 
to  Tiberius,  shows  that  he  rested  this  branch  of  our  duty  to  our  neigh- 
bour upon  the  very  same  authority  on  which  he  rested  our  obedience  to 
God  himself.  To  be  convinced  of  it,  we  need  only  consider  his  evan- 
gelical charge,  "Render,  therefore,  to  Cesar  the  things  which  are  Cesar's, 
and  to  God  the  things  which  are  God's."  The  manner  in  which  the  two 
pails  of  this  injunction  are  connected,  demonstrates  that  we  must  pay 
taxes  to  the  civil  power  by  which  we  are  protected,  as  conscientiously 
as  we  pay  adoration  to  the  Divine  power  by  which  we  exist.  But,  ac- 
cording to  your  patriotic  doctrine,  our  Lord's  solemn  precept  degenerates 
into  a  charge  as  absurd  and  profane  as  the  following  i  "  Your  money  is 
absolutely  your  own  ;  render  it  therefore  to  Cesar,  or  to  a  highwayman, 
for  it  is  his  if  he  demands  it ;  nor  forget,  in  like  manner,  to  render  your 
all  to  God ;  for  it  is  his,  as  your  money  is  a  highwayman's."  What 
monstrous  doctrines  does  your  patriotism  couple  together !  Geminantur 
tigribus  agni  !  And  how  hard  is  it  to  do  justice  to  Scripture,  when  we 
directly  or  indirectly  part  these  inseparable  precepts,  "  Fear  God  and 
honour  the  king,"  that  is,  the  protective  power :  honour  him  with  a 
reasonable  part  of  thy  substance,  as  well  as  by  thy  respectful  be- 
haviour." 

Let  us  see  if  you  are  more  successful  in  your  attempt  to  overthrow 
what  you  call  my  "  grand  plea  from  Scripture,"  taken  from  Rom.  xiii, 
St.  Paul  there  proves,  by  various  reasons,  that  taxes  are  due  to  the 
higher  powers  that  protect  us.  Such  powers  are  ordained  of  God  :  re- 
sisting them,  when  they  lay  reasonable  taxes  upon  us,  is  "  resisting  the 
ordinance  of  God  :"  those  who  resist,  in  such  a  case,  shall  receive  to 
themselves  damnation  :  "  they  are  God's  ministers  to  us  for  good  ;"  their 
grand  business  being  to  protect  us  in  the  way  of  virtue,  and  to  curb  or 
punish  us  in  the  way  of  vice  :  and  they  attend  continually  to  do  this  very 
thing,  that  is,  to  our  protection  when  we  do  well,  and  to  our  punishment 
when  we  break  the  laws.  "  Render,  therefore,  to  all  their  dues,  tribute 
to  whom  tribute  is.  due,"  &c. 

To  set  aside  the  force  of  this  nervous  comment  of  St.  Paul  upon  the 
words  of  our  Lord,  "  Render  unto  Cesar,"  &c,  you  tell  us,  p.  63,  that 
"  the  apostle  does  not  take  upon  him,  in  the  least,  to  determine  to  whom 
tribute  was  due."     But  are  you  not  mistaken,  sir  ?    Does  he  not  ex- 


AMERICAN  PATKIOTISM.  491 

plicitly  say  to  whom,  when  he  mentions  the  higher  powers  that  protect 
us  ?  Now  if  the  king  and  the  British  parliament  be  the  higher  powers 
that  have  hitherto  protected  the  colonies,  does  not  the  apostle  decide  our 
controversy  as  much  as  if  he  said,  Let  the  American  colonies  pay  taxes 
to  the  king  and  parliament,  who  are  the  higher  powers  that  have  con- 
tinually attended  to  the  protection  of  the  colonists  when  they  did  well, 
and  now  attend  to  the  punishing  of  them  because  they  do  ill  ? 

But  you  add  also,  "  The  apostle  does  not  take  upon  him  to  determine 
what  quantum,  of  tribute  might  be  due."  True  :  for  he  did  not  attend 
continually  to  the  dangers  of  the  state,  and  to  the  best  means  of  averting 
them.  He  minded  his  own  business,  instead  of  reflecting  upon  the  higher 
powers  in  the  execution  of  theirs.  He  knew  no  more  than  you  and  I, 
what  expense  those  powers  might  be  at,  to  protect  him  and  all  his  fellow 
subjects ;  though  he  could  easily  conceive  that  such  expense  was  pro- 
digious, since  the  "  chief  captain,  Lvsias,"  employed  once  an  army  to 
rescue  him  from  the  charge  of  mobbing  religionists ;  and  protected  him 
on  another  occasion,  by  granting  him  "  a  guard  of  two  hundred  soldiers, 
seventy  horsemen,  and  two  hundred  spearmen,"  Acts  xxiii,  23,  27.  Now 
as  Paul  did  not  know  but  myriads  of  his  fellow  subjects  stood  in  need  of 
such  a  guard  as  well  as  himself,  and  as  he  did  not  claim  a  place  in  the 
legislature  jure  divino,  he  did  not  pretend  to  determine  the  quantum  of 
tribute  necessary  to  maintain  a  sufficient  protecting  force,  all  over  the 
Roman  empire.  But  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  question  ?  Could  not 
Paul  make  Christians  understand  that  they  must  pay  rent  to  their  land- 
lords, and  taxes  to  the  higher  powers,  without  "determining  the  quantum" 
of  such  rents  and  taxes  ?  Must  not  a  divine,  who  makes  so  frivolous  an 
objection,  be  at  a  strange  loss  for  arguments  ? 

But  you  go  on:  p.  63,  "The  apostle  only  enjoins  the  conscientious 
payment  of  what  was  due,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  government 
under  which  they  lived."  True,  sir,  if  by  "the  nature  of  the  government 
under  which  we  live,"  you  mean  the  reasonable  demands  of  the  legis- 
lative power  which  protects  us.  But  if  you  mean  by  this  phrase,  as 
your  scheme  requires,  that  we  are  to  pay  taxes  only  according  to  the 
nice  speculations  of  men,  who  cry  up  the  constitution  one  hour,  and 
decry  it  the  next,  if  it  does  not  suit  their  chimerical  notions  of  equal 
representation,  and  their  injudicious  ideas  of  liberty ;  your  doctrine  is 
subversive  of  the  apostle's  loyal  precept,  opens  the  door  to  all  manner 
of  sedition,  and  leaves  Christians  at  an  utter  uncertainty  with  respect  to 
a  capital  branch  of  morality,  the  payment  of  taxes  :  and  I  prove  my  as- 
sertion by  the  following  observations  : — 

1.  The  Jews  were  divided  among  themselves,  with  respect  to  the 
nature  of  the  government  they  were  under.  While  some  of  them  said, 
We  are  under  the  Roman  government,  "  we  will  have  no  king  but  Ce- 
sar ;"  the  patriots  said,  "  We  were  never  in  bondage  to  any  man  :  we 
are  freemen,  we  are  under  the  Mosaic  constitution :  we  owe  no  taxes 
to  Cesar.  To  pay  taxes  to  a  heathen  prince,  is  to  give  up  the  excellent 
constitution  which  our  ancestors  have  transmitted  to  us."  Now,  in  full 
opposition  to  these  plausible  notions,  our  Lord  bid  the  Jews  pay  taxes  to 
Cesar,  according  to  the  Roman  government ;  another  government  this, 
than  that  which  the  patriots  said  they  were  under. 

2.  When  Joseph  and  the  Virgin  Mary  went  to  Bethlehem,  to  be  taxed 


492  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

according  to  the  decree  of  Cesar  Augustus,  the  ablest  politicians  were 
at  a  loss  to  say  what  was  precisely  the  nature  of  the  Roman  govern, 
ment,  which  the  Jews  and  most  other  nations  were  then  under ;  so  many 
were  the  changes  which  it  had  undergone.  At  first  it  was  a  monarchy, 
by  and  by  a  republic,  headed  by  consuls,  and  by  and  by  a  republic  headed 
by  a  dictator.  One  time  the  supreme  power  had  centered  in  a  decem- 
virate  ;  at  another  time  a  triumvirate  had  held  the  reins  of  administra- 
tion. At  that  juncture  the  government  wore  the  form  of  a  monarchy 
again  ;  but  there  was  yet  a  considerable  minority,  who  held  the  high 
republican  principles  of  Cato,  Brutus,  and  Cassius,  the  three  great 
patriots  of  the  day.  This  minority  considered  Cesar  Augustus  as  a 
tyrant  and  a  robber,  to  whom  no  taxes  were  due  ;  asserting  that  the 
government,  which  the  Romans  were  under,  was  entirely  republican 
Now  what  must  subjects  do  in  such  a  case  ?  Must  they  refuse  to  pay 
taxes  to  the  power  that  actually  protects  them  till  the  minority  and  the 
majority  be  perfectly  agreed  concerning  "  the  nature  of  the  government 
under  which  they  live  ?"  Or  must  they  lose  their  time  in  trying  to  decide 
nice  political  questions,  which  puzzle  the  men  who  have  studied  civil 
law  all  their  lives  1 

3.  As  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  determine,  with  exactness,  what 
was  the  nature  of  the  Roman  government,  so  it  requires  more  wisdom 
than  millions  of  people  in  the  British  empire  were  masters  of,  precisely 
to  determine  the  nature  of  the  British  government.  The  strong  whigs 
are  for  the  republican  government,  which  obtained  in  the  days  of  Crom- 
well and  the  rump.  The  strong  tories  contend  for  the  high  monarchical 
government  which  prevailed  in  the  days  of  King  James  II.  You  and  I, 
sir,  are  for  the  government  which  has  obtained  since  the  revolution. 
Nor  are  you  satisfied  even  with  this,  for  you  speak  of  an  avowed  defect 
in  the  present  constitution.  You  are  for  an  equal  representation  of  the 
people,  that  is,  for  an  utter  impossibility :  and,  p.  98,  you  inform  us, 
"that  till  the  eighth  year  of  Henry  VI,  all  the  residents  in  a  county 
were  permitted  to  elect  representatives  without  exception  ;"  insinuating, 
that  now  "  the  representation  here  in  England  is  imperfect,"  because 
that  practice  is  disused.  Now,  sir,  if  this  kind  of  representation  be 
essential  to  the  nature  of  the  government  we  live  under  ;  and  if  we  be 
not  bound  to  pay  taxes  which  are  not  laid  according  to  the  ancient  form 
of  the  constitution;  it  is  clear,  that  no  man  in  Great  Britain  is  bound  to 
pay  any  tax  at  all ;  for  no  tax  is  laid,  according  to  your  levelling  scheme 
of  representation,  and  according  to  the  nature  of  government,  which 
obtained  before  Henry  VI.  Hence  it  appears,  that  as  the  pope's  bulls 
formerly  loosed  Britons  from  the  oaths  of  fidelity  which  they  had  taken 
to  their  sovereign,  and  by  this  mean  raised  and  fomented  rebellion,  so 
your  political  refinements  loose  not  only  the  colonies,  but  Great  Britain 
also,  from  the  obligation  of  paying  taxes  to  the  king  and  parliament.  So 
true  it  is,  that  overdoing  is  the  way  of  undoing  ;  and  that  your  politics 
tend  to  kindle  the  flame  of  rebellion  in  England,  and  to  keep  it  up  in 
America.  I  say  your  politics,  because  candour  obliges  me  to  do  justice 
to  your  good  meaning,  and  to  make  a  friendly  distinction  between  your 
person  and  your  opinions. 

4.  Should  you  say,  that  though  it  cannot  be  expected  that  every  sub- 
ject should  study  the  nature  of  all  the  wheels  and  springs  which  com 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  493 

pose  that  piece  of  political  mechanism  we  call  the  constitution  ;  yet 
every  subject  may  choose  his  own  representative,  whose  business  it  is  to 
decide  what  taxes  must  be  paid  according  to  the  constitution  :  I  reply, 
that  in  most  Christian  governments  the  people  are  not  allowed  to  choose 
any  representatives,  and  therefore  in  such  states  every  individual  must, 
upon  your  plan,  revolt,  or  personally  study  politics,  that  he  may  know 
how  to  pay  taxes  according  to  the  nature  of  the  constitution. 

Things,  I  grant,  are  upon  another  footing  in  England.  But  this  does 
not  remove  the  difficulty  ;  for  (not  to  mention  that  perhaps  nineteen  sub- 
jects in  England  out  of  twenty  cannot  choose  representatives)  the  mem- 
bers of  parliament  are  as  much  divided  among  themselves  as  the  Romans 
were  in  the  days  of  Augustus,  and  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Tiberius. 
The  minority  declare  that  the  colonists  are  taxed  against  the  nature  of 
the  constitution ;  while  the  majority  assert  that  they  are  constitutionally 
taxed.  Thus  your  patriotic  comment  absolutely  unnerves  St.  Paul's 
doctrine  of  taxation,  and  leaves  Christians  in  the  greatest  uncertainty 
with  respect  to  the  payment  of  taxes,  which  are  the  sinews  of  govern- 
ment. For  if  that  payment  be  suspended  on  our  notions  of  the  nature 
of  the  government  we  are  under,  it  might  as  well  be  suspended  on  the 
shape  of  the  clouds,  and  the  colour  of  a  pigeon's  neck. 

Should  you  reply,  that  when  our  representatives  do  not  agree,  touch- 
ing the  nature  of  the  government  we  live  under,  we  must  follow  the 
majority ;  I  answer,  that  the  majority  has  decided  the  question.  But 
what  care  some  patriots  for  the  majority  ?  Does  not  Americanus  openly 
oppose  their  decisions,  and  wishfully  quote  the  misapplied  saying, 
"  Dulce  pro  p atria  mori ,-"  just  as  if  mori  fro  pertinacia  were  the  same 
thing  as  pro  patria  mori  ?  O,  sir,  if  the  former  be  sweet,  the  latter  is 
the  quintessence  of  bitterness ;  for  the  Scripture  declares  that  wilful 
"  rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft,"  and  that  "  stubbornness  is  as 
iniquity  and  idolatry." 

We  have  seen  by  what  arguments  you  have  endeavoured  to  prove 
that  the  doctrine  of  taxation  espoused  by  the  sovereign  is  irrational  and 
unscriptural.     Let  us  see, 

Thirdly,  How  you  attempt  to  prove  that  it  is  unconstitutional. 

Permit  me,  sir,  to  lay  this  doctrine  before  you  with  some  capital 
improvements.  The  king  and  parliament  believe  that  the  constitution 
allows  of  indirect,  representation,  and  that  among  the  several  sorts  of 
indirect  representation,  some  are  less,  and  others  are  more  indirect.  This 
sentiment  is  founded  on  the  following  facts  :  (1.)  Though  the  constitu- 
tion allows  a  woman,  for  instance,  Queen  Elizabeth,  or  Queen  Anne,  to 
be  the  head  of  the  legislative  power,  yet  no  woman  subject  can  have  any 
share  in  the  legislature  ;  but  all  women  are  indirectly  represented  by 
the  men,  be  their  rank  ever  so  high,  and  their  property  ever  so  con- 
siderable. (2.)  According  to  the  constitution,  all  the  voters,  who  actually 
choose  parliament  men,  indirectly  represent  all  the  voters  who  do  not, 
or  cannot  attend  the  election,  whether  the  absent  voters  be  at  home  or 
abroad,  in  jails  or  on  sick  beds.  (3.)  Though  the  numbei  of  the  non- 
voters  exceeds  ten  or  twenty  times  the  number  of  the  voters,  yet,  ac- 
cording to  the  constitution,  the  voters  indirectly  represent  the  countless 
body  of  the  non-voters,  whether  such  non-voters  be  poor  men  of  age,  or 
rich  men  under  age.     (4.)  The  constitution  allows  that  men  of  a  cer- 


494  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

tain  profession  shall  be  particularly  represented,  when  men  of  other 
honourable  professions  are  not.  Thus  the  clergy  are  particularly  repre- 
sented, when  the  rich  body  of  our  merchants,  the  gentlemen  of  the  law, 
those  of  the  fleet,  those  of  the  army,  and  those  of  the  faculty,  are  not 
allowed  a  particular  representation.  This  constitutional  partiality  does 
not  stop  here :  the  whole  order  of  bishops  is  admitted  into  the  house  of 
lords ;  but  not  one  seat  in  the  house  of  commons  is  appropriated  to  the 
order  of  the  priests.  Such  is  the  latitude  which  the  constitution  allows 
herself,  when  she  decides  concerning  the  right  of  representation  !  (5.) 
According  to  the  same  prerogative,  she  orders  that  the  little  county  of 
Rutlandshire  shall  send  as  many  members  as  the  large  county  of  York 
shire,  so  that  if  Yorkshire  be  ten  times  more  populous  than  Rutlandshire, 
the  representation  of  a  Yorkshire  freeholder  is  by  ten  degrees  weaker 
or  less  direct  than  the  representation  of  a  Rutlandshire  freeholder. 
And,  suppose  the  city  of  Bristol  contains  a  thousand  times  more  freemen 
than  the  decayed  borough  of  Old  Sarum,  the  constitution  allows  that  a 
burgess  of  Old  Sarum  shall  be  a  thousand  times  more  directly,  or  par- 
ticularly represented,  than  a  freeman  of  Bristol.  (6.)  On  the  same 
plan,  some  flourishing  and  populous  towns  are  not  allowed  to  send  any 
representative,  when  some  poor  and  deserted  Cornish  or  Welsh  boroughs 
send  as  many  members  as  some  of  the  greatest  cities  in  the  kingdom. 
(7.)  The  constitution  allows  that  the  present  members  shall  represent 
all  those  who  are  absent-;  and  that  the  majority  of  the  present  members 
shall  indirectly  represent  the  minority  ;  and  that  the  parliament  shall 
determine  the  affairs  of  all  the  British  settlements  in  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  in  the  West  Indies  ;  although  the  colonists  settled  in  those 
parts  have  no  direct  representatives  in  parliament :  I  say  no  direct  repre- 
sentatives, because  the  constitution  supposes,  that  as  the  men  indirectly 
represent  all  the  women  ;  the  burgesses  all  that  are  not  burgesses ;  and  the 
freeholders  all  that  have  no  freehold  ;  and  as  the  majority  in  parliament 
indirectly  represents  the  minority,  and  the  members  who  are  in  the  house 
indirectly  represent  those  who  are  absent  ;  so  the  three  branches  of  the 
legislature  indirectly  represent  all  the  political  body  which  is  called  the 
British  empire,  just  as  the  head,  the  heart,  and  the  breast,  indirectly 
represent  all  the  natural  body  ;  whether  the  hands  and  feet  touch  each 
other,  or  whether  they  are  widely  extended  toward  the  east  and  the  west. 
(8.)  The  prosperity  of  the  mother  country  being  as  closely  connected 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  colonies,  as  the  welfare  of  parents  is  connected 
with  that  of  their  children,  Great  Britain  has  as  rational  and  natural  a 
right  to  represent  the  colonies,  as  parents  have  to  represent  their  chil- 
dren ;  present  burgesses  those  that  are  absent ;  and  voting  freeholders 
those  that  have  no  vote.  Lastly  :  matter  of  fact  demonstrates  that  the 
Ameiican  colonies  are  indirectly  represented  in  parliament,  and  matter 
of  fact  bears  down  ten  thousand  sopbisms.  I  have  already  made  appear 
that  the  constitution  allows  of  various  degrees  of  indirect  representation, 
some  proximate,  and  others  more  remote.  And  that  the  colonists  are 
represented  in  one  of  the  degrees  which  the  constitution  allows,  is 
evident  by  the  following  remark  : — As  a  lawyer  who  pleads  your  cause 
in  a  court  of  judicature,  is  indirectly  your  representative,  whether  you 
choose  him  or  not :  so  the  members  who  plead  the  cause  of  the  colonists 
in  the  high  court  of  parliament,  show  themselves  the  indirect  representa- 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  495 

tives  of  the  colonists',  whether  the  colonists  choose  them  or  not.  And, 
therefore,  to  deny  that  the  provincials  are  indirectly  represented  in  par- 
liament, is  as  bold  an  imposition  upon  the  good  sense  of  the  public,  as 
to  deny  that  the  minority,  in  both  houses  of  parliament,  opposes  the 
claims  of  Great  Britain,  and  votes  for  the  colonies :  for  reason,  con- 
science, and  the  constitution,  agree  to  decide,  that  if  the  colonists  are 
not  indirectly  represented  in  parliament,  the  members  who  plead  their 
cause  have  no  more  right  to  vote  for  them  than  you  and  I  have.  My 
demonstration  is  short :  a  considerable  number  of  parliament  men  vote 
in  both  houses  that  parliamentary  taxation  is  unjust  with  respect  to  the 
colonies  ;  all  the  members  have  a  right  to  vote  in  their  favour,  and 
would  do  it,  if  their  conscience  permitted,  and  therefore  the  colonists  are 
incontestably,  though  indirectly,  represented  in  the  parliament.  Nor 
can  one  of  the  members  who  compose  the  minority,  give  his  vote  for  the 
Americans,  without  confuting  himself,  if  he  denies  that  they  are  indi- 
rectly represented  in  the  parliament ;  and  if  they  are  indirectly  repre- 
sented in  parliament,  they  may  be  constitutionally  taxed  by  the  parlia- 
ment. On  this  ground,  which  is  firm  as  matter  of  fact,  the  majority 
are  ready  to  stand  the  minority  and  you,  in  all  the  courts  of  reason, 
which  are  or  can  be  erected  in  Great  Britain  or  America. 

Consider  we  now  what  you  object  to  this  constitutional  doctrine. 
Page  37,  you  say,  "  The  non-voters  here  can  point  out  their  virtual 
representatives,  as  clearly  as  the  voters  can  point  out  their  direct  repre- 
sentatives. But  who  are  the  specific,  virtual  representatives  of  America  ? 
Who  are  appointed  to  represent  the  property  there  ?"  I  reply,  (1.)  The 
whole  body,  in  which  the  legislative  power  is  lodged,  is  appointed  by  the 
constitution  to  protect  the  property  of  all  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain. 
(2.)  Your  ideas  of  representation  are  far  too  much  circumscribed. 
Though  the  members  of  a  Cornish  borough  directly  represent  the  bur- 
gesses of  that  borough,  yet  they  indirectly  represent  the  commons  of  all 
England,  and  of  all  the  British  dominions.  If  it  were  not  so,  they  could 
have  no  voice  in  the  house,  except  when  the  petty  concerns  of  their 
borough  are  debated.  Now,  sir,  by  the  same  constitutional  rule  by 
which  the  members  of  a  Welsh  borough  are  appointed  to  manage  the 
affairs  of  all  England,  the  members  of  Middlesex  are  appointed  to 
manage  the  affairs  of  all  British  America.  If  you  want  me  to  point 
out  some  of  the  indirect,  virtual  representatives  of  the  Americans,  I 
take  up  the  first  newspaper  and  point  at  the  names  of  the  members  who 
distinguish  themselves  by  their  zeal  to  support  what  they  judge  to  be  the 
rights  of  the  Americans.  And  I  ask,  if  these  lords  and  gentlemen  do 
not  indirectly  represent  the  rich  and  the  poor  in  our  colonies,  what  right 
have  they  to  vote  for  the  colonists,  more  than  the  members  of  the  Irish 
parliament  ? 

Page  31,  you  intimate  that  it  is  "  perfectly  unconstitutional  to  exclude 
the  Americans  from  having  a  voice  in  the  disposal  of  their  property, 
whose  estates  may  amount  to  thirty-nine  pounds  per  annum ;"  though 
you  grant  that  "  a  man  in  England  can  have  no  voice  in  the  disposal  of 
his  property,  whose  estate  amounts  to  no  more  than  thirty-nine  shillings 
per  annum."  But  have  you  forgot  that  the  constitution  allows  « the 
pot  boilers  in  the  despicable  hovels  of  some  boroughs"  to  have  votes  for 
parliament  men,  while  some  "  freeholders  in  Gloucester  Hereford  and 


496  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

London,  have  no  votes  for  town  or  country,"  because  they  are  neither 
freemen  nor  liverymen.  On  this  important  concession,  which  you  make, 
page  98,  I  rest  the  following  queries  : — If  the  constitution  allows  the 
taxation  of  some  freeholders  in  the  cities  of  Gloucester,  Hereford,  and 
London,  although  such  freeholders,  through  an  accidental  cause,  have 
no  votes  for  town  or  country,  why  can  it  not  allow  the  taxation  of  some 
freeholders  who,  through  an  accidental  cause,  have  no  votes  for  England 
or  America?  And  if  you  grant  that  the  constitution  permits  that  some 
men  who  possess  a  freehold  in  the  centre  of  Great  Britain,  are  constitu- 
tionally taxed  by  the  parliament,  though  they  have  no  vote,  do  you  not 
expose  your  prejudice  before  all  the  world,  if  you  say  that  the  colonists 
cannot  be  constitutionally  taxed  by  the  parliament,  merely  because  they 
have  no  vote  1 

I  have  pressed  you  with  the  case  of  some  members  of  parliament, 
who  are  constitutionally  taxed  with  or  without  their  consent,  so  long  as 
they  choose  to  live  abroad.  Pages  31,  32,  you  reply;  "The  Americans 
are  at  home."  You  insinuate  that  my  doctrine  supposes  they  "  are 
never  at  home,"  and  you  humourously  say,  "  Were  I  a  colonist,  the  pre- 
rogative I  would  humbly  sue  for,  should  be  that  of  being  permitted  to  be 
at  home  ;  for  home  is  home,  says  the  old  proverb,  be  it  ever  so  homely." 
I  answer,  Lord  Pigot,  a  member  of  parliament,  who  is  in  the  East  Indies, 
and  Mr.  Hancock,  a  member  of  the  congress,  have  the  full  leave  of  the 
constitution  to  be  at  home.  Only  it  must  be  remembered,  that,  by  emi- 
gration, they  have  their  home  in  two  places ;  as  the  gentlemen  who 
have  a  house  in  London,  and  another  in  the  country.  They  have  their 
legislative  home  in  Great  Britain,  and  their  actual  home  :  Lord  Pigot  in 
Bengal,  and  Mr.  Hancock  in  Philadelphia.  If  they  will  enjoy  the  pre- 
rogatives of  their  legislative  home,  they  must  return  to  England,  just  as 
the  gentlemen  who  fill  their  seats  in  the  parliament,  and  enjoy  their 
honours  at  court,  must  leave  their  country  seats  and  repair  to  London. 
Nor  say  that  the  distinction  I  make  between  our  actual  and  our  legislative 
home  is  frivolous  ;  for  Dr.  Price,  your  oracle,  says,  "  They  [the  colo- 
nies] gloried  in  their  relation  to  us ;  and  they  always  spoke  of  this 
country,  and  looked  to  it  as  their  home."  Now,  as  the  colonists  were 
never  so  destitute  of  good  sense  as  to  look  on  England  as  their  actual 
home  ;  it  remains  that  your  oracle  has  spoken  nonsense,  or  that  England 
is  their  principal,  legislative  home.  And  would  to  God  they  were  not 
grown  so  uneasy  as  to  despise  this  "  home,  be  it  ever  so  homely  !" 

You  hint  indeed  at  the  inconvenience  and  impossibility  of  the  colonists 
coming  back  to  their  legislative  home  ;  but  this  objection  makes  as  much 
against  your  scheme  of  representation  as  against  ours;  for  vou  insi  uate 
that  all  the  non-voters  in  England  may  go  and  settle  in  the  few  boroughs 
where  the  constitution  allows  every  pot  boiler  to  be  a  voter  ;  and  you 
give  us  a  hint  that  if  they  do  not,  "  it  is  their  own  fault."  But  is  it  not 
more  practicable  for  all  the  freeholders  in  America  to  crowd  into  Great 
Britain,  than  for  all  the  non-voters  in  Great  Britain  to  crowd  into  such 
privileged  boroughs  as  you  speak  of;  or  for  all  the  women,  who  have 
freeholds  in  England,  to  change  their  sex,  that  they  may  have  a  vote  at 
the  next  election  ? 

You  reply,  p.  38,  "  The  representation  in  England  is  unequal,  owing 
to  a  great  variety  of  casual  circumstances  which  it  would  be  useless  to 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  497 

enumerate."  Now,  sir,  applying  to  all  the  British  empire  what  you  say 
of  England,  I  answer,  The  representation,  with  respect  to  America,  "  is 
unequal,  owing  to  a  great  variety  of  casual  circumstances,"  such  as 
emigration,  distance,  interposing  seas,  and  the  impropriety  of  multiply- 
ing* parliaments,  which  would  as  much  weaken  the  empire,  as  you  would 
do  a  piece  of  clock  work,  if  you  contrived  to  make  each  wheel  move  by 
means  of  a  separate  spring.  Thus,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  your  own 
concessions,  backed  by  one  of  Dr.  Price's  observations,  show  that,  so 
far,  your  attempt  to  demonstrate  that  the  parliamentary  doctrine  of 
taxation  is  contrary  to  the  constitution,  only  shows  that  it  is  truly  con- 
stitutional. 

Come  we  now  to  your  capital  argument,  the  first  part  of  which  runs 
thus : — "  The  American  can  have  no  voice  in  the  disposal  of  his  pro- 
perty ;  and  what  is  worse,  those  who  are  to  have  the  power  of  disposing 
of  it,  are  under  every  possible  temptation  to  abuse  the  power,  because 
every  shilling  they  take  out  of  the  pocket  of  an  American  is  so  much 
saved  in  their  own."  To  this  I  reply,  (Vindication,  p.  456,)  "You  mis- 
take :  for  as  many  of  the  colonists  as  choose  to  purchase  a  freehold  in 
England,  may  become  electors  ;  and  as  many  as  have  a  sufficient  fortune 
may  be  candidates  at  the  next  election ;"  adding,  that  you  yourself 
speak  of  a  late  American  candidate,  icho  was  a  friend  to  America.  But 
you  take  no  notice  of  this  sufficient  answer. 

Pressing  you  still  farther,  I  remind  you  that  "  there  are  several  mem- 
bers in  both  houses  of  parliament  who  have  a  very  large  property  in 
America,  and  who,  when  they  tax  the  colonists,  take  far  more  money 
out  of  their  own  pockets  than  they  probably  do  out  of  the  pocket  of  Mr. 
Hancock."  To  this  you  reply,  page  41,  "But  what  security  have  the 
Americans  that  there  will  always  he  such  members  in  parliament  ?"  I 
answer,  They  have  the  same  security  for  it  which  we  have,  that  there 
will  always  be  a  prince  to  fill  the  throne,  and  a  number  of  peers  to  com- 
pose a  house  of  lords.  It  is  not  impossible  that  a  plague  should  sweep 
away  all  the  royal  family,  and  all  the  nobility :  but  would  it  be  right  to 
distress  the  public  by  such  a  supposition  ?  Would  it  not  be  ridiculous  to 
frighten  the  simple  by  telling  them  that  the  constitution  is  in  danger,  and 
that  as  we  have  no  security  that  all  the  royal  family  and  all  the  nobility 
will  not  die  of  the  plague,  or  be  blown  up  by  a  second  gunpowder  plot, 
"  our  constitution  is  almost  lost,"  and  we  are  likely  soon  to  have  another 
rump  parliament,  without  king,  and  without  house  of  lords  ? 

But  you  add  :  "  Unless  all  the  members  of  the  British  parliament  had 
American  property,  they  would  not  be  on  a  level  with  the  non-voters  in 

*  Mr.  Evans  wants  each  American  assembly  to  be  invested  with  supreme  power 
in  conjuction  with  the  king,  after  the  model  of  the  Irish  parliament ;  but  I  wish 
the  British  empire  too  well  to  be  of  his  sentiment.  The  same  rule  holds  in  poli- 
tics and  in  mechanics;  the  more  a  government  and  a  machine  are  needlessly 
complicated,  the  weaker  are  their  motions,  and  the  greater  the  danger  of  their 
being  out  of  order.  It  is  the  glory  and  strength  of  our  constitution  to  be  com- 
pact, "in  se  totus  teres  atque  rotundus."  As  I  could  not  admire  a  human  body 
vith  one  head  and  a  dozen  stomachs,  I  should  not  be  pleased  to  see  Great  Brit- 
ain and  her  colonies  exhibiting  to  the  world  a  political  body,  with  one  royal  head 
and  a  dozen  supreme  courts  of  parliament.  If  such  needless  divisions  and  muiti-' 
plications  do  not  tend  to  speedy  dissolution,  they  certainly  do  to  weakness,  con- 
fusion, slowness  of  operation,  and  a  thousand  evils  which  France  with  her  several 
unconnected  parliaments  so  severely  feels. 
Vol.  IV.  32 


498  -AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

England."  I  reply,  If  the  American  colonies  are,  as  some  patriots 
suppose,  the  capital  spring  of  British  wealth,  all  the  members  of  parlia- 
ment have  a  particular,  though  indirect  concern  in  the  prosperity  of  the 
colonists  ;  nor  does  the  constitution  require  that  taxed  subjects  should  be 
on  a  level  with  each  other  in  every  possible  respect.  The  Americans 
should  be  thankful  for  being  on  a  level,  not  only  with  the  non-voters  of 
England,  in  the  important  right  of  qualifying  themselves  to  be  voters,  or 
candidates  for  seats  in  parliament,  but  also  with  the  freeholders  in  London 
who  have  no  vote,  and  with  the  members  of  parliament  abroad,  who, 
through  emigration,  cannot  actually  share  in  the  legislature.  I  repeat 
it,  to  attempt  to  bring  about  a  representation,  equal  in  every  respect,  is 
as  absurd  as  to  attempt  making  all  our  fellow  subjects  of  one  size,  one 
age,  one  sex,  one  country,  one  revenue,  one  rank,  and  one  capacity. 

Another  of  my  answers  to  your  grand  argument  ran  thus  : — "  It  is 
improbable  that  our  lawgivers  would  save  a  dirty  shilling  in  their  pockets, 
by  oppressively  taking  one  out  of  an  American's  pocket.  Being  men  of 
fortune,  they  are  raised  by  their  circumstances  above  the  felonious  trick 
you  speak  of."  Page  40,  you  humoursly  reply,  "I  suppose,  sir,  if  you 
should  lend  a  few  thousands  to  any  of  our  legislators,  you  would  not 
pretend  to  ask  for  a  bond.  It  would  be  ungenerous  to  suspect  men  of 
such  circumstances,  as  the  constitution  obliges  all  our  lawgivers  to  be,  of 
such  a  felonious  trick  as  not  paying  you  again."  But  this  reply  of 
yours  is  fully  obviated  by  my  fifth  answer,  which  is  as  follows  : — "  If 
the  colonists  were  afraid  of  being  taxed  more  heavily  than  the  rule  of 
proportion  allows,  should  they  not  have  humbly  requested  that  the  parlia- 
ment would  settle  the  matter  by  an  act.  or  a  '  bond,'  which'  might  have 
been  an  effectual  check  upon  the  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation  V' 

You  think  to  unnerve  this  answer  by  saying,  page  42,  "  What  the 
colonists  should  have  done  is  one  thing,  and  what  the  British  parliament 
has  done  is  another."  True  :  the  parliament  has  laid  upon  the  colonists 
a  little  tax,  and  they  have  revolted,  instead  of  paying  it  with  the  loyalty 
which  becomes  good  subjects,  and  with  the  prudence  which  becomes 
men  jealous  of  their  liberty  ;  and  therefore  their  conduct  is  unjustifiable, 
and  that  of  the  parliament  reasonable.  You  farther  insinuate,  that  as 
you  are  not  obliged  "  to  conform  to  the  Established  Church,"  so  the  colo- 
nists were  not  obliged  to  submit  to  Britisli  taxation  in  the  prudential 
manner  I  have  mentioned.  But  the  case  is  not  parallel.  Neither 
Christianity  nor  the  constitution  obliges  us  to  conform  to  the  Established 
Church ;  whereas  both  enjoin  us  to  "  render  to  all  their  dues,  tribute  to 
whom  tribute  is  due,"  that  is,  to  the  supreme,  protective  power. 

You  have  another  string  to  your  bow.  Sensible  that  the  preceding 
argument  is  not  strong  enough  to  shoot  the  arrow  of  conviction  into  a 
thinking  man's  breast,  you  add,  page  42,  "  A  man  that  robs  me  on  the 
highway  may  think  that  I  should  have  previously  asked  him  if  he  did 
not  want  my  money.  But  I  presume  this  will  not  justify  his  robbing 
me."  So,  sir,  you  will  always  insinuate,  that  we  are  no  more  bound  to 
pay  reasonable  taxes  to  the  legislative  power  which  protects  us,  than  we 
are  bound  to  give  our  money  to  a  robber  who  demands  it !  But  when 
Americanus  argues  in  this  manner,  does  he  not  contradict  St.  Paul, 
Jesus  Christ,  and  Mr.  Evans  himself,  who,  page  27,  not  only  grants 
"  the  necessity  of  subjects  paying  taxes,"  but  intimates  that  a  man  who 


American  Patriotism.  499 

denies  the  propriety  of  that  custom,  and  the  ground  of  that  propriety,  is 
"  one  of  the  most  unreasonable  beings  in  the  universe,  and  a  mere  po- 
litical Quixotte  ?"  It  does  not  become  me  to  decide  how  far  you  have 
drawn  your  picture  in  this  candid  concess  on  ;  but,  as  you  finish  your 
answer  to  my  argument  by  this  display  of  your  consistency,  I  may  desire 
the  public  to  judge  whether  your  reply  gives  a  finishing  stroke  to  the 
cause  of  the  parliament,  or  to  your  own. 

The  other  part  of  your  capital  argument  runs  thus: — The  Britons 
who  have  no  vote,  or  who  are  unable  to  vote  by  emigration,  may  "  con- 
sent to  the  disposal  of  their  property,  because  they  have  always  this 
security,  that  those  who  take  an  active  part  in  the  disposal  of  their 
property  must,  at  the  same  time,  dispose  of  an  equal  portion  of  their 
own."  I  have  already  shown  that  the  colonists  have  considerable 
degrees  of  security,  that  the  parliament  will  not  tax  them  disproportion- 
ably.  And  if  they  had  properly  asked  a  fuller  security,  instead  of  fleeing 
to  arms,  the  parliament  would  undoubtedly  have  granted  their  request. 
But,  without  dwelling  upon  this  answer,  to  overthrow  your  argument,  I 
need  only  observe  that  it  is  inconclusive,  because  it  can  be  retorted,  and 
saps  the  foundation  of  what  you  call  "  the  fundamental  privilege"  of  the 
commons ;  which  is,  that  no  money  bills  can  reasonably  "  originate  but 
from  themselves  :"  for,  if  money  bills  always  originated  from  the  lords, 
who  are  richer  than  the  populace,  the  commons  would  have  always  this 
security,  that  the  lords,  in  taking  an  active  part  in  the  disposal  of  the 
people's  property,  must  at  the  same  time  dispose  of  an  equal  proportion 
of  their  own.  So  easily  can  your  grand  argument  be  turned  against 
your  own  cause  !  And  so  great  is  the  inconsistency  of  a  system,  one 
part  of  which  you  cannot  support,  without  totally  undermining  the  other  ! 

If  these  remarks  recommend  themselves  to  your  reason,  piety,  and 
sober  patriotism,  I  hope,  sir,  you  will  confess  that  truth  is  a  file  which 
we  bite  in  vain  ;  that  it  is  as  imprudent  to  attack  a  good  argument  in  the 
field  of  controversy,  as  to  lay  hold  of  an  antagonist's  sword  with  a  naked 
hand  in  a  field  of  battle ;  that  your  Reply  has  given  me  an  opportunity 
of  confirming  my  Vindication ;  and  that'  the  doctrine  of  taxation,  em- 
braced by  the  parliament,  is  truly  rational,  Scriptural,  and  constitutional. 
Q.  E.  D.  I  am,  reverend  sir,  your  friendly  opponent,  and  obedient 
servant  in  the  Gospel,  J.  Fletcher. 


LETTER  II. 

A  view  of  Mr.  Evans'  mistake  concerning,  I.  The  absoluteness  of  our 
property.  II.  The  nature  of  slavery.  III.  The  origin  of  power.  And 
IV.  The  proper  cause  of  the  war  with  America.  A  note  concerning 
the  Anabaptists. 

Reverend  Sir, — I  would  have  taken  my  leave  of  you  in  the  preced- 
ing letter,  had  I  not  considered  that  a  patient  controvertist  ought  to 
contend  for  truth  till  she  enjoys  her  full  liberty.  The  truth  I  defend  is 
not  yet  free.  She  is  still  bound  with  three  or  four  of  the  chains  with 
which  you  have  loaded  her.  Nor  can  I  complete  my  rescue,  without 
breaking  them  with  my  polemical  hammer. 


500  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

I.  The  first  of  these  chains  is  your  error,  or  that  of  Lord  Camden, 
concerning  the  absoluteness  of  our  property. 

Page  34,  you  still  insinuate  that  "  what  a  man  has,  is  absolutely  his 
own."  Nevertheless,  pressed  by  my  objection,  you  indirectly  grant  that 
God  has  a  right  to  our  property.  But  if  God  has  a  right  to  our  pro- 
perty, does  he  not  delegate  his  right  to  our  political  gods,  I  mean  to  our 
lawgivers  and  governors,  who  are  his  lieutenants  and  representatives  ? 
And  in  this  case,  how  can  you  say  that  no  man  has  a  right  to  take  our 
property  from  us  without  our  consent,  our  property  being  absolutely  our 
own  ?  I  still  farther  assert,  that  so  long  as  we  live  in  society,  our  pro- 
perty is  a  part  of  the  common  wealth  ;  but  if  it  be  absolutely  our  own,  how 
can  it  be  a  part  of  the  common  wealth  ?  And  if  it  be  a  part  of  the 
common  wealth,  how  can  it  be  absolutely  our  own?  I  support  this 
dilemma  by  the  following  queries : — Who  is  such  a  novice  in  politics, 
as  not  to  know  that  private  interest,  in  a  thousand  cases,  is  to  yield  to 
public  good  ;  and,  of  consequence,  private  possession  to  public  claims  ? 
If  a  man  have  a  thousand  bushels  of  wheat,  which  he  hoards  up  in 
time  of  scarcity,  may  he  not  be  justly  compelled  to  sell  it  at  a  reasonable 
price,  though  he  and  his  representatives  should  cry  out  ever  so  loud, 
"  Oppression  !  tyranny  !  robbery  !"  If  a  nobleman  found  rich  mines  of 
coals  in  his  estates  near  London,  could  he  not  be  legally  hindered  from 
working  those  mines,  lest  the  Newcastle  colliers,  and  a  thousand  sailors, 
should  starve  for  want  of  employment  ?  If  Bristol  were  besieged,  and 
you  had  a  house  near  the  walls,  where  the  enemy  might  lodge  his  forces 
to  annoy  the  city,  might  not  your  house  be  justly  pulled  down,  though 
you  and  your  American  representative  should  refuse  your  consent  to  the 
very  last  ?  If  you  have  rich  meadows,  which  you  delight  in,  and  if  the 
general  good  requires  that  a  fort  be  erected  upon  them,  or  a  canal  cut 
through  them,  may  you  not  be  made  sensible  that  the  public  has  a  supe- 
rior right  to  your  property,  and  that  your  ground  is  not  so  absolutely 
your  own  but  you  may  be  compelled  to  part  with  it  for  the  good  of  the 
kingdom?  If  you  have  a  ship  laden  with  goods,  brought  from  the 
Levant,  and  you  want  to  sell  them  immediately,  to  prevent  their  being 
spoiled ;  and  if  there  be  some  reason  to  fear  that  they  will  convey  the 
plague,  may  not  a  magistrate,  in  spite  of  you  and  a  hundred  representa- 
tives, if  you  had  a  right  to  choose  so  many,  force  you  to  let  your  goods 
be  spoiled,  rather  than  to  endanger  the  lives  of  thousands  ?  And,  to 
come  to  the  case  of  the  colonists,  if  you  and  your  representative  fancied 
that  you  owe  nothing  to  the  sovereign  for  protecting  you  in  time  past, 
and  that  you  can  very  well  protect  yourselves  for  the  time  to  come ; 
and  if,  upon  such,  a  fancy,  you  refused  to  contribute  to  the  expense  of 
the  general  protection  ;  think  you  the  public  would  be  duped  by  your 
conceit,  and  grant  you  to  live  as  free  from  taxes  in  England,  as  David 
did  in  Israel,  when  he  had  slain  Goliah  ?  Would  not  our  governors 
justly  seize  upon  a  proportion  of  your  property,  whether  you  and  your 
representative  reasonably  consented  to  it,  or  whether  you  absurdly  raised 
the  neighbourhood  by  the  patriotic  cry  of  "Tyranny !  robbery !  murder?" 

Nor  is  it  only  our  property  which  is  not  absolutely  our  own,  when  we 
live  in  civil  society  :  for  what  I  have  said  of  our  goods,  may  be  applied 
to  our  persons.  We  are  not  absolutely  our  own.  Hence  it  is,  that  in 
all  civilized  countries,  when  the  sovereign  wants  soldiers  for  the  protec- 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  501 

tion  of  the  commonwealth,  a  militia  is  raised ;  and  if  the  lot  fall  upon  a 
pacific  farmer,  notwithstanding  his  objections,  and  the  opposition  of  his 
parliamentary  representative,  he  must  bear  arms,  either  in  his  own  per- 
son, or  in  the  person  of  his  military  representative.  And  when  no  such 
representatives  can  be  procured,  the  men  who  are  able  may  be  personally 
pressed  into  the  service  of  the  commonwealth.  Hence  it  is,  that  in  an 
emergency,  the  sovereign  issues  press  Avarrants  to  raise  sailors  for  man- 
ning the  fleet.  A  hardship  this,  which,  great  as  it  is,  is  not  so  great  as 
the  general  overthrow  of  the  state. 

II.  Your  first  error  about  the  absoluteness  of  our  property,  naturally 
leads  you  into  a  second  concerning  abject  slavery,  which  you  confound 
with  loyal  subjection.  Hence  you  say,  p.  44,  &c,  "  If  there  be  any  man, 
call  him  by  what  name  you  please,  [you  should  have  said,  agreeably  to 
the  case  in  debate,  if  there  be  any  set  of  men,  call  them  by  what  name 
you  please,  lawgivers,  magistrates,  or  officers  of  the  legislative  power,] 
who  has  [or  have]  a  right  to  take  it  [his  property]  without  his  consent 
expressed  by  himself  or  representative,  what  is  this  but  the  quintessence 
of  slavery  1  Wherein  does  the  case  of  such  a  man  differ  from  that  of  the 
most  abject  slaves  in  the  universe  ?  God's  lieutenants  may,  it  is  true,  be 
very  mild,  and  kind,  and  reasonable  in  their  demands,  and  require  no 
more  of  such  a  man  than  it  is  highly  just  he  should  pay  :  but  what  then  ? 
If  my  property  be  at  their  disposal,  not  my  own,  what  becomes  of  my 
liberty  ?  The  man  that  robs  me  of  five  shillings  only,  commits  a  robbery 
as  much  as  the  man  that  robs  me  of  five  pounds.  The  most  abject  slave 
in  the  universe  may  chance  to  have  a  very  good  master  ;  but  still,  if  he 
be  at  the  disposal  of  his  master,  he  is  equally  a  slave  when  treated  well 
as  when  treated  ill." 

The  plausibility  of  this  argument  rests  upon  the  following  mistakes : 
(1.)  You  still  suppose,  that  insisting  on  moderate  taxes,  as  a  reasonable 
equivalent  for  protection,  is  a  species  of  robbery ;  whereas  such  a  demand, 
by  the  consent  of  all  men,  except  the  patriots  of  the  day,  is  as  reasonable 
as  the  demand  of  a  moderate  fee,  which  a  diligent  lawyer  has  upon  his 
client.  (2.)  You  do  not  consider  that  the  colonists,  being  indirectly 
represented  in  parliament,  have  as  much  consented,  by  their  indirect 
representatives,  to  pay  taxes  to  the  parliament,  as  the  patriots  and  you 
have  consented  by  your  direct  representatives  to  be  additionally  taxed 
in  order  to  bring  the  colonies  to  reason.  (3.)  The  Latin  word  servus, 
means  not  only  a  servant,  but  a  bondsman  and  a  slave  ;  and  the  English 
word  servitude,  means  both  slavery  and  the  state  of  a  servant.  But  would 
it  be  right  in  me  to  avail  myself  of  this  analogy,  to  put  all  the  patriotic 
servants  in  the  kingdom  out  of  conceit  with  their  servitude,  and  to  make 
them  shake  off  the  yoke  of  dependence,  under  pretence  that  servitude  is 
abject  slavery,  whether  a  servant  is  treated  well  or  ill?  (4.)  In  Hebrew 
the  word  [obed]  servant,  means  both  a  slave  and  a  subject.  But'  would 
you  have  approved  of  Absalom's  conduct,  if,  on  this  account,  he  had 
alienated  the  minds  of  his  father's  subjects,  and  made  an  injudicious 
populace  believe,  that  whosoever  fully  submits  himself  to  good  govern- 
ment, commences  an  abject  slave  ?  Who  does  not  see  the  inconclusive- 
ness  of  this  argument?  An  abject  slave  is  bound  to  submit  himself 
reasonably  or  unreasonably  to  his  lawless  sovereign  :  a  loyal  subject  is 
bound  to  submit  himself  reasonably  to  his  lawful  sovereign :  and  there- 


502  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

fore,  as  they  are  both  bound  to  submit  or  subject  themselves  to  their 
sovereign,  they  are  both  "  abject  slaves."  Such  logic,  sir,  may  convert 
heated  Americans  to  your  overdoing  patriotism ;  but,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
it  will  confirm  judicious  Britons  in  their  constitutional  loyalty.  (5.)  You 
conclude  your  argument  by  saying,  "  A  slave  is  equally  a  slave,  when 
treated  well  as  when  treated  ill :"  and  you  might  have  added,  a  subject  is 
equally  a  subject  when  treated  well  as  when  treated  ill ;  but  then  the 
pill  would  not  have  been  properly  gilded ;  and  your  own  loyalty,  as  well 
as  piety,  would  have  taken  the  alarm  at  a  doctrine  which  bears  so  hard 
upon  this  Gospel  precept,  "  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers." 

For  my  part,  whatever  you  may  say  of  my  "meanness,"  I  will  be  the 
servant,  the  subject,  and  if  you  please,  sir,  the  slave  of  good  government. 
I  am  determined  to  glory  in  the  subjection,  of  which  you  seem  to  be  so 
afraid  and  ashamed.  And  applying  to  a  freeman  what  the  apostle  says 
of  a  son,  I  do  not  scruple  to  assert,  that  a  freeman,  so  long  as  he  lives  in 
society,  and  is  a  subject,  differeth  nothing  from  a  servant  or  slave  who 
"is  well  treated,"  but  is  under  governors  (lawgivers  and  magistrates) 
until  the  time  appointed  of  his  heavenly  Father  for  his  removing  from 
earth,  and  leaving  the  society  of  mortals,  Gal.  iv,  1,  2.  To  oppose 
this  doctrine  is  to  overthrow  subjection  and  government,  which  stand  or 
fall  together. 

TIL  A  word  about  the  origin  of  power.  I  believe,  with  St.  Paul,  that 
"  the  powers  that  are,  are  ordained  of  God,"  who  is  the  fountain  of  all 
power,  and  the  author  of  all  good  government.  I  date  the  Divine  com- 
munication of  power  from  the  paradisiacal  age ;  yea,  from  the  hour  in 
which  God  said  to  Adam  and  Eve,  "  Multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth, 
and  subdue  it,  and  have  dominion  over — every  living  thing,"  Gen.  i,  28. 
Here,  sir,  is  the  original  grant  of  power;  and  whosoever  wantonly  re- 
sisteth  the  power  which  Providence  calls  him  to  obey,  breaks  this  great 
political  charter  of  God,  which  is  so  strongly  and  so  frequently  confirmed 
in  the  Gospel. 

You  reply,  p.  74,  "  The  first  man  could  have  no  power  to  protect  and 
rule  mankind,  till  there  were  some  for  him  to  rule."  But  is  not  this  a 
mistake  1  Might  not  God  endue  him  with  a  protective,  as  well  as  with  a 
prolific  power,  before  the  earth  began  to  be  replenished  ?  Would  you  not 
wonder  at  my  positiveness,  if  I  insisted,  that  God  could  not  give  to  Adam 
power  to  multiply  and  rule  his  species,  because  his  species  was  not  yet 
multiplied  and  governable ;  and  that  our  Creator  could  have  no  creative 
power,  till  creatures  rose  into  positive  existence  ? 

But  you  add,  p.  75,  "  When  Adam  became  a  father,  he  had  as  much 
power  as  any  other  father."  And  p.  77,  you  ask,  "  Does  not  every  fa- 
ther receive  the  same  Divine  right  of  dominion  ?"  asserting,  that  "  there 
is  nothing  to  be  inferred  from  the  parental  authority  of  Adam,  but  is 
equally  applicable  to  all  parents  without  exception."  I  reply,  that  it  is 
contrary  to  all  divinity  to  say  that  every  parent  is  endued  with  all  the 
authority  which  Adam  was  invested  with,  when  God  said  to  him,  "  Sub- 
due the  earth  and  have  dominion."  You  are  too  judicious  a  divine,  not 
to  speak  a  different  language  in  the  pulpit.  You  know,  sir,  that  Adam 
was  invested  with  characters  which  he  could  not  communicate  to  all  his 
posterity,  and  which  consequently  are  not  common  to  all  men.  A  simile 
will  possibly  convince  you  of  your  mistake.     King  George  the  Third  is. 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  503 

with  respect  to  his  children,  what  Adam  was  with  respect  to  his  posterity. 
He  is  a  father  and  a  king.  The  first  character  he  can  entail  upon  all 
his  sons;  but  the  second  he  can  entail  upon  none  but  the  prince  of  Wales. 
This  shows  the  inconclusiveness  of  the  argument  you  draw  from  "Eve's 
motherhood,"  and  "petticoat  government."  I  reverence  the  queen; 
and  if  she  filled  the  throne  as  Queen  Anne  did,  I  would  submit  myself 
to  her  good  government,  not  because  of  Eve's  motherhood,  but  because 
God  said  to  Eve  (as  well  as  to  Adam)  in  her  regal  capacity,  "  Have 
dominion;"  and  because  he  says  in  the  decalogue,  "Honour  thy  [political] 
mother,"  as  well  as  thy  political  "  father."  Nor  should  I  be  ashamed  to 
advance  these  two  capital  scriptures  in  support  of  the  English  constitution, 
if  you  excited  me  to  dethrone  an  English  queen,  and  urged  the  propriety 
of  the  loi  salique — a  French  law  this,  which,  in  all  cases,  excludes 
princesses  from  the  right  of  succeeding  to  the  crown. 

You  try  to  embarrass  the  question  by  saying,  p.  79,  "  You  must  tell 
us  who  is  Adam's  heir.  What  does  it  signify  what  power  Adam  had, 
or  what  power  he  left  behind  him  to  his  [governing]  successors ;  unless 
we  certainly  know  who  those  successors  are?"  But  I  reply,  that,  in 
every  country,  those  who  share  in  the  dominion  given  to  Adam  and  Eve 
in  their  regal  capacity,  are  as  much  known-  as  the  king  and  parliament 
are  known  in  England,  the  doge  and  senate  at  Venice,  the  emperor  and 
diet  in  Germany,  the  monarch  in  France,  and  the  despot  in  Prussia. 
Whoever,  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  is  endued  with  the  legislative 
and  protective  power  in  the  country  where  I  reside,  and  retains  that 
power  by  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  people,  is  the  higher  power 
which  I  consider  as  actually  ordained  of  God  for  my  protection.  To 
that  power  I  will  cheerfully  submit,  so  far  as  it  is  used  for  good  :  and  to 
that  power  I  will  conscientiously  pay  taxes,  for  the  protection  which  I 
enjoy.  And  suppose  that  power  were  possessed  by  a  usurper,  I  would 
lament  the  usurpation,  and  bear  my  testimony  against  it,  till  the  same 
overruling  Providence  which  removed  Absalom,  John  of  Leyden,  Ket, 
the  rump,  and  Cromwell,  took  that  usurper  out  of  the  way  also.  But 
if  Divine  Providence,  instead  of  removing  the  usurper,  established  his 
power,  as  it  did  that  of  Jeroboam  in  the  days  of  Solomon's  son,  which  I 
would  know  by  the  general  and  lasting  consent  of  the  people,  I  would 
no  longer  oppose  that  power,  but  submit  myself  to  it  as  religiously  as  the 
Christians  of  the  fourth  century  did  to  Constantine  the  Great,  and  as 
cheerfully  as  the  French  do  to  the  ancient  family  of  the  Capets  ;  though 
Hugues  Capet,  the  first  king  of  that  house,  was  only  a  noble  usurper. 
Such  are,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  loyal  views  which  the  Scriptures  give  us 
of  the  origin  of  power  ;  and  such  the  marks  by  which  we  may  know  the 
power  that  Divine  Providence  calls  us  to  obey. 

Consider  we  now  what  are  your  views  of  the  same  doctrine.  Page 
66,  you*  say,  "  Every  good  government  is  of  God.  Nor  will  the  per- 
sonal vices  of  our  governors,  nor  any  slight  error  in  their  administration 
of  government,  justify  our  resisting  them."  Here,  sir,  you  speak  as  a 
Christian  and  a  Briton ;  and,  so  far,  I  heartily  set  my  seal  to  your  poli- 
tics. But  who  are  our  governors  ?  Are  they  not  the  men  who  are 
invested  with  governing,  legislative,  and  supreme  power  ?  Now,  sir,  ac- 
cording to  this  just  definition  of  the  word  governors,  you  have  thrown 
down  the  distinction  between  the  governors  and  the  governed,  and,  before 


504  A3IEEICAX  PATRIOTISM. 

you  are  aware,  you  have  crowned  king  mob.  I  prove  my  assertion  by 
your  own  words.  Page  71,  you  write,  "  Perhaps  you  will  say,  The 
supreme  power  in  every  government  must  be  lodged  somewhere,  and 
this  power  must  be  omnipotent  and  uncontrollable.  I  allow  it.  But  the 
glory  of  the  British  constitution  is,  that  the  people  have  never  parted 
with  this  power,  but  have  most  religiously  kept  it  in  their  own  hands." 
Thus,  sir,  according  to  your  doctrine,  the  supreme  and  governing  power 
belongs  not  to  the  governors,  but  to  the  people,  that  is,  to  the  governed. 
Was  ever  a  more  preposterous  doctrine  imposed  upon  injudicious  patriots? 
O,  sir,  what  you  call  "  the  glory  of  the  British  constitution,"  would  be 
the  shame  of  the  worst  government.  Nay,  upon  this  plan,  there  could 
be  no  government  at  all.  For,  so  long  as  the  governed  "  most  reli- 
giously [should  you  not  have  said  most  impiously  and  absurdly  ?]  keep 
the  [governing]  power  in  their  own  hands,"  that  power  is  in  every 
body's  hands.  And  the  moment  this  is  the  case,  there  is  an  end  of 
government ;  anarchy  takes  place  ;  king  mob  breaks  all  the  laws  with  a 
high  hand ;  and  a  tyrannical  populace  fiercely  trample  upon  all  order, 
and  carry  devastation  wherever  they  turn  their  steps.  Thus,  sir,  you 
have  helped  me  to  prove  the  truth  of  this  deep  proposition  of  judicious 
Mr.  Baxter,  who,  after  having  studied  Christian  politics  near  thirty  years, 
left  it  upon  record,  that  "  if  once  legislation,  the  chief  act  of  government, 
be  denied  to  be  any  part  of  government  at  all,  and  affirmed  to  belong  to 
the  people  as  such,  who  are  no  governors,  all  government  will  thereby 
be  overthrown,"  and  the  grand  principle  of  the  fierce,  mobbing,  and 
levelling*  Anabaptists  will  be  "  most  religiously"  set  up. 

*  I  call  some  Anabaptists  fierce  and  levelling,  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
"  mild  and  moderate  Anabaptists,"  whom  I  have  mentioned.  (Vind.p.  464,)  where 
I  commend  the  candour  of  Bishop  Burnet  for  making  a  just  distinction  between 
these  two  sorts  of  Anabaptists ;  and  for  observing  that  "they  were  not  all  of  the 
same  temper."  This,  one  would  think,  should  have  hindered  our  brethren,  who 
contend  for  Anabaptism,  to  think  that  I  reflect  on  "all"  the  people  of  their  de- 
nomination for  the  political  errors  of  some.  Had  I  done  this,  I  would  publicly 
ask  their  pardon  ;  being  persuaded  that  nothing  can  be  more  cruel  than  to  involve 
the  innocent  in  undeserved  guilt.  Lest  this  construction  should  be  put  upon  my 
quotations  respecting  the  levelling  Anabaptists,  I  inserted,  in  the  second  edition  of 
my  Vindication,  p.  464,  a  note,  where  I  say  that  "  some  Anabaptists  are  very  good 
people,  that  most  of  them  mean  well,  and  that  I  hope  this  is  the  case  witli  my 
opponent."  And  I  gladly  embrace  this  third  opportunity  of  testifying  more  fully 
my  brotherly  love  to  that  respectable  body  of  dissenters  ;  not  doubting  but  there 
are  numbers  of  truly  pious  and  loyal  Anabaptists  both  in  Germany,  England,  and 
America.  However,  p.  84,  my  opponent  says,  "  Your  telling  the  world  that  I 
am,  &c,  an  Anabaptist,  &.c,  is  a  display  of  illiberality,  meanness,  and  imperti- 
nence." But  where  did  I  tell  the  world,  in  the  first  edition  of  my  book,  that  Mr 
Evans  is  an  Anabaptist  ?  And  if  in  a  note  inserted  in  the  "  second"  edition  (which, 
by  the  by,  was  not  published  when  Mr.  E.  advanced  this  charge)  I  insinuate  that 
he  is  one  of  the  Anabaptists  who  "  are  very  good  people  and  mean  well,"  I  ap- 
peal to  the  unprejudiced,  if  this  insinuation  is  not  a  display  of  candour  and  bro- 
therly love,  rather  than  of  "  illiberality,  meanness,  and  impertinence  ?"  I  grant 
that  I  have  enforced  Calvin's  doctrine  of  taxation  upon  my  opponent,  by  remind, 
ing  him  that,  as  "he  is  a  Calvinist,"  lie  cannot  well  avoid  paying  some  regard  to 
that  excellent  doctrine  of  Calvin.  But  wherein  consists  the  "  impertinence"  of 
such  an  argument  ?  Are  controvertists  the  only  men  who  cannot  use  an  argu 
ment  "ad  hominem?"  And  has  not  Mr.  E.  as  much  reason  to  charge  me  with 
"  meanness,"  because  I  have  addressed  him  as  a  Briton  and  a  Christian,  and  have 
pressed  him,  as  such,  with  appeals  to  constitutional  concessions,  and  his  Chris- 
tian profession  ?    Some  men  will  say  what  they  please  against  their  governors. 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  505 

This  doctrine  of  yours,  sir,  brings  to  my  remembrance  an  anecdote, 
to  which  a  loyal  and  pious  Anabaptist  undesignedly  helped  me  some 
weeks  ago.  In  order  to  convince  me  that  what  Mr.  Baxter  says  of  the 
high  republican  spirit  of  the  Anabaptists  and  Independents  is  not  true, 
he  sent  me  the  fourth  volume  of  "  Blennerhasset's  History  of  England," 
which  contains  an  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  mangled  tyrannical 
parliament  known  by  the  name  of  the  rump.  This  author  informs  us, 
p.  1541,  that  just  before  King  Charles  I.  was  beheaded,  "the  commons 
voted,  that  the  people,  under  God,  are  the  original  of  all  just  power ; 
and  that  the  commons  of  England,  being  chosen  by  the  people,  had  the 
supreme  authority  of  this  nation  :  and  what  they  enacted  should  be  law, 
without  the  king  or  lords'  concurrence.  This  squared  exactly  with  the 
Independents,  who  were  for  turning  the  monarchy  into  a  republic."  Now 
if  the  Anabaptists  were  at  least  as  zealous  republicans  as  the  Independ-  ^ 
ents,  I  leave  you  to  judge,  sir,  whether  my  neighbour's  book  was  a  better 
proof  of  Baxter's  mistake  than  your  own  ;  and  whether  it  is  not  evident, 
from  this  quotation,  that  when  you  teach  the  world  that  "  the  people  most 
religiously  keep  the  supreme  power  [that  is,  the  power  of  their  govern- 
ors] in  their  own  hands,"  as  their  indubitable  right,  you  plough  with  the 
wild,  mischievous  heifer  of  Cromwell  and  the  rump. 

IV.  A  word  concerning  the  proper  cause  of  the  war  with  America. 

Page  51,  you  say,  "  Should  it  be  made  to  appear  that  the  British  par- 
liament  have  authority  from  Scripture  to  tax  their  unrepresented  bre- 
thren in  America,  and  to  cut  their  throats,  burn  their  towns,  and  spread 
universal  devastation  among  them,  because  they  do  not  choose  to  submit 
to  such  taxation,  it  would  furnish  a  stronger  objection,  &c,  against  the 
Divine  original  of  the  sacred  code,  than  has  ever  yet  been  produced." 
You  insinuate  by  these  words,  that  the  proper  and  immediate  cause  of 
cutting  throats  in  America,  is  the  demand  which  the  king  and  par- 
liament make  of  taxes.  But  are  you  not  mistaken,  sir  ?  And  does  not 
your  mistake  make  you  throw  an  undeserved. odium  upon  the  sovereign  ? 
For  my  part,  I  conceive  that  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  bloodshed 
which  we  lament,  is  not  so  much  the  parliamentary  demand  of  taxes,  as 
a  chain  of  causes  which  chiefly  contains  the  following  Iuiks:  (I.)  The 
heat  of  some  Bostonian  patriots,  who,  with  felonious  audacity,  boarded 
our  ships,  seized  upon  the  property  of  our  merchants,  and  wantonly 
threw  it  into  the  sea.  If  the  patriots  would  not  buy  tea  subjected  to  a 
tax,  could  they  not  have  kept  their  own  money  ?  Was  it  right  in  them 
V>  undo  our  innocent  traders,  by  destroying  their  goods  ?  (2.)  The  de- 
mand which  the  government  made  of  restitution,  or  satisfaction,  for  that 
act  of  glaring  injustice  ;  a  just  demand  this,  which  the  sovereign  could 
not  avoid  making  without  being  guilty  of  injustice  ;  it  being  evident  that  it 
would  be  unjust  in  the  legislative  power  to  receive  taxes  of  our  merchants 
for  the  protection  of  their  property,  and  then  to  look  on  unconcerned, 
when  that  property  is  feloniously  destroyed.  (3.)  The  obstinacy  with 
which  the  mobbing  patriots  and  their  abettors  refused  to  make  satisfac- 

Their  most  groundless  charges  must  pass  for  patriotism,  and  a  spirited  defence  of 
our  liberties;  but  if  you  drop  a  self-evident  truth  that  embarrasses  them  a  little, 
you  are  guilty  of  "  Helvetic  rudeness,  illiberality,  meanness,  and  impertinence." 
I  appeal  from  this  patriotic  freedom  and  partiality  to  English  candour,  and  British 
politeness. 


506  AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM. 

tion  to  our  injured  merchants.  (4.)  The  prudence  with  which  the  par- 
liament farther  interposed,  by  passing  the  bill  for  shutting  up  the  port  of 
Boston,  that  by  this  unbloody  and  mild  method,  the  Bostonians  might 
gently  be  brought  to  make  restitution.  .And,  lastly,  the  flame  of  revolt, 
which  on  this  occasion  rapidly  spread  through  British  America. 

Had  the  Algerines  insulted  the  British  flag,  and  injured  British  sub- 
jects  as  the  mobbing  Bostonians  have  done,  the  government  would  not 
have  shown  them  the  same  lenity.  A  fleet  would  immediately  have 
sailed  for  the  inhospitable  coast,  and  the  admiral  would  have  sent  a  card 
to  the  legislature  of  Algiers  :  "I  am  come  to  demand  satisfaction  for  the 
injury  done  to  British  subjects.  Send  me,  by  to-morrow,  £30,000, 
being  the  value  of  the  goods  which  you,  or  the  men  whom  you  screen, 
have  feloniously  taken  from  our  merchants,  or  I  will  do  them  and  my 
country  justice."  Instead  of  using  this  peremptory  method  as  Admiral 
Blake  would  have  done,  our  admiral  quietly  stationed  his  ships  before 
Boston,  and  General  Gage,  far  from  "cutting  throats,"  amicably  quarter- 
ed his  forces  in  or  about  that  city  ;  patiently  waiting  till  remorse  of  con- 
science, a  sense  of  equity,  a  spark  of  loyalty,  or  some  fear  of  the  power, 
wrought  upon  the  patriots,  so  called,  and  inclined  them  to  do  an  act  of 
justice,  which  Mohammedans  would  hardly  have  refused  to  do.  But  all 
in  vain.  The  mobbing  patriots,  and  their  ringleaders,  hardened  by  this 
lenity,  availed  themselves  of  the  kind  delay.  While  humanity  and  bro- 
therly love  suspended  the  stroke  of  justice,  enthusiastic  demagogues 
sounded  a  false  alarm,  and  engaged  the  misinformed  colonists  to  coun- 
tenance their  obstinacy.  In  short,  the  Americans,  seduced  by  misrepre- 
sentations, took  up  arms  against  Great  Britain  ;  and  the  forces  sent  by 
the  sovereign,  instead  of  obtaining  the  satisfaction  they  demanded,  were 
obliged  to  provide  for  their  own  safety  by  attempting  to  seize  some  of 
the  artillery  and  ammunition,  brought  from  all  quarters  to  destroy  them. 
Hence  the  engagement  at  Lexington,  and  the  fight  at  Bunker's  Hill, 
where  the  forces  raised  by  the  congress  pressed  those  of  the  sovereign 
by  an  audacious  blockade. 

Should  you  object  that  the  colonists  once  offered  to  make  restitution  on 
condition  that  they  should  never  be  taxed  by  the.  power  that  protected 
them  ;  I  reply,  that  by  such  an  offer  they  only  added  injustice  and  revolt 
to  felony.  Suppose  the  Scotch  plundered  an  English  ship,  and  the  sove- 
reign insisted  on  speedy  restitution,  do  you  think  they  would  deserve  the 
name  of  patriots  if  they  said,  We  will  pay  for  the  goods  we  have  de- 
stroyed on  condition  that  you  shall  exempt  us  from  paying  the  window 
tax  for  ever ;  or,  in  other  terms,  we  will  be  just  to  some  of  our  fellow 
subjects,  to  shake  off'  your  authority,  and  to  break  Christ's  capital  com- 
mandment, "Render  to  all  their  due,  especially  taxes  to  Cesar?" 

If  this  be  a  true  state  of  the  case,  are  you  not  partial,  sir,  when  you 
represent  the  parliament  as  "  cutting  the  throats"  of  the  colonists,  be- 
cause the  colonists  will  not  be  taxed  by  the  parliament  ?  Is  it  not  rather 
the  colonists  who  want  to  cut  the  throats  of  our  soldiers,  because  the 
King  and  parliament  justly  insist  on  .proper  satisfaction  for  the  injury 
done  to  British  merchants  by  the  petty  tyrants  of  Boston  ? 

An  illustration  will  make  you  still  more  sensible  of  your  mistake.  Sup- 
pose I  harbour  a  parcel  of  house  breakers,  or  ship  breakers,  who  have  stolen 
or  destroyed  your  goods,  and  suppose  you  obtain  a  legal  warrant,  and  come, 


AMERICAN    PATRIOTISM.  50*< 

attended  with  a  number  of  armed  constables,  to  recover  your  property, 
or  apprehend  the  felons ;  if  I  raise  a  mob  to  hinder  the  constables  from 
doing  their  office,  and  if  some  throats  are  cut,  in  the  endeavours  which 
the  constables  make  not  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  armed  mob  which 
surrounds  them,  is  the  guilt  of  cutting  throats  chargeable  upon  you,  who 
act  according  to  law,  and  in  a  just  cause  ?  Is  it  not  rather  chargeable 
upon  me,  who  wantonly  oppose  the  legislative  power,  and  can  say  nothing 
in  defence  of  myself  and  my  mob,  but  that  the  felons  I  protect  are  not 
felons,  but  spirited  patriots ;  or  that  I  shall  pay  you  for  damages,  if  you 
will  promise  to  suffer  yourself  to  be  wronged  of  more  money  than  the 
wrong  you  have  sustained  amounts  to  ? 

Suppose  that  the  doctrine  of  taxation,  which  is  the  remote  cause  of 
our  divisions,  admits  of  some  objections,  as  the  plainest  doctrines  always 
do,  (for  the  brightest  clouds  have  their  obscure  side,  and  the  most  shin- 
ing diamonds  cast  a  faint  shade,)  yet  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Ameri- 
can war,  the  refusing  to  make  restitution  for  goods  feloniously  destroyed, 
has  no  shadow  of  difficulty.  Whoever  is  honest  enough  to  disapprove 
the  malicious  destruction  of  an  innocent  man's  property,  whoever  is  con- 
scientious enough  to  praise  the  steadiness  of  a  government,  which  stands 
by  oppressed  subjects  whom  it  is  bound  to  protect,  and  whoever  is  so 
far  a  lover  of  order,  as  to  blame  a  wanton  opposition  to  the  sovereign 
when  he  discharges  his  duty,  must  confess  that  the  guilt  of  "  cutting 
throats"  in  America,  is  properly  caused  by  the  obstinate  injustice  of  the 
American  patriots,  and  not  by  the  moderate  taxes  laid  by  the  British 
legislature.  To  assert  the  contrary  is  almost  as  great  a  mistake  in  poli- 
tics, as  it  is  in  divinity  to  hint  that  the  miseries  consequent  upon  man's 
fall,  were  not  properly  caused  by  the  tempter's  artful  misrepresentations, 
and  by  Adam's  wilful  rebellion  ;  but  by  God's  reasonable  demand  of  a 
little  proof  of  Adam's  loyalty. 

And  now,  sir,  if  I  have  duly  confirmed  my  proofs,  that  the  doctrine 
of  taxation,  which  you  oppose,  is  just  in  every  point  of  view  ;  if  I  have 
shown  that  you  confound  loyal  subjection  with  abject  slavery ;  if  I  have 
demonstrated  that  your  notions  concerning  the  supreme  power  of  the 
people  are  subversive  of  all  government  ;  and  if  I  have  made  appear, 
that  you  do  not  fix  the  charge  of  wantonly  "  cutting  throats"  upon  those 
who  are  properly  guilty  of  that  atrocious  crime,  may  I  not  call  upon 
your  rational  and  moral  feelings  to  decide,  if  I  have  not  vindicated  my 
Vindication?  And  are  you  not  as  precipitate,  when  you  pronounce  me 
"  one  of  the  most  unmeaning  and  unfair  disputants  that  ever  took  up  the 
polemical  gauntlet,"  as  when  you  insinuate  that  the  British  legislature 
"  commits  robbery,"  because  it  lays  a  moderate  tax  upon  those  who  have 
long  basked  in  the  beams  of  its  protection,  and  have  acquired  immense 
wealth  under  the  guardian  shadow  of  its  flags  and  standards? 

Hoping  that  no  controversial  heat  will  make  us  forget  that  we  are 
fellow  creatures,  fellow  subjects,  fellow  Protestants,  and  fellow  labourers 
in  the  Gospel  of  truth  and  love  ;  I  ask  a  part  in  your  esteem,  equal  to 
that  which,  notwithstanding  your  heats  and  mistakes,  you  have  in  the 
cordial  respect  of,  reverend  sir,  your  affectionate  brother,  and  obedient 
servant,  J.  Fletcher. 


508  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 


LETTER  III. 

Dr.  Price's  politics  are  shown  to  be  as  irrational,  vnscriptural,  and  un. 
constitutional  as  those  of  Mr.  Evans — His  principal  arguments  are 
retorted — The  foundation  of  his  capital  error  is  sapped — The  legis- 
lative freedom  of  the  members  of  the  house  of  commons  is  asserted,  in 
opposition  to  the  legislative  pretensions  of  plebeian  levellers — The  par- 
tiality and  inconsistency  of  the  London  patriots  are  pointed  out — On 
Dr.  Price's  levelling  principles  there  is  an  end  of  all  subjection  both 
on  earth  and  in  heaven — A  conditional  reproof  to  Mr.  Evans  and  Dr. 
Price. 

Reverend  Sir, — If  I  have  answered  you  in  the  preceding  letters,  I 
may  look  your  second  in  the  face :  I  mean  the  ingenious  Dr.  Price, 
whom  you  call  to  your  help  in  your  notes,  and  whose  arguments  you 
introduce  by  this  high  encomium  :  "  Dr.  Price's  most  excellent  pamphlet, 
just  published,  carries  conviction  in  every  page,  and  breathes  that  noble 
spirit  of  liberty,  for  which  the  author  so  ably  pleads!" 

Page  46,  your  first  quotation  from  him  runs  thus  :  "  In  the  sixth  of 
George  II,  an  act  passed  for  imposing  certain  duties  on  all  foreign  spirits, 
and  sugars  imported  into  the  plantations.  In  this  act  the  duties  imposed 
are  said  to  be  given  and  granted  by  the  parliament  to  the  king,  &c,  and 
a  small  direct  revenue  was  drawn  by  it  from  them."  The  doctor  inti- 
mates soon  after,  that  "  this  revenue  act  was  at  worst  only  the  exercise 
of  a  power,  which  then  they  [the  colonists]  seem  not  to  have  thought 
much  of  contesting  ;  I  mean  the  power  of  taxing  them  externally."  I 
thank  Dr.  Price  and  you,  sir,  for  thus  granting  that  the  colonists  were 
taxed  before  the  present  parliament  and  the  present  reign.  This  shows 
that  the  odium  cast  upon  the  present  gevernment,  springs  more  from 
prejudice  than  from  reason.  If  George  II,  his  whig  ministry,  and  his 
approved  parliament,  raised  a  "  direct  revenue,"  by  taxing  the  colonies, 
why  do  the  American  patriots  insinuate  that  George  III,  the  present 
ministry,  and  the  present  parliament  are  robbers,  because  they  raise  a 
direct  revenue  by  taxing  the  colonists  ?  And  how  strangely  does  Dr. 
Price  forget  himself,  where  he  says,  "  How  great  would  be  our  happiness 
could  we  now  recall  former  times,  and  return  to  the  policy  of  the  last 
reigns  !"  What  have  our  lawgivers  done  after  all  ?  Truly,  they  have 
recalled  former  times,  and  returned  to  the  policy  of  the  last  reigns  ;  and 
yet  Dr.  Price,  instead  of  being  thankful  for  our  happiness,  frightens  the 
public  with  the  most  dreadful  hints  about  the  infatuation  of  our  governors, 
and  the  danger  of  "  a  general  wreck  ;"  just  as  if  his  grand  business  was 
to  spirit  up  the  colonists,  and  to  deject  his  own  countrymen. 

The  doctor,  it  is  true,  tries  to  obviate  this  difficulty  by  making  a  dis- 
tinction between  external  and  internal  taxes  ;  insinuating  that  in  the  late 
reign  the  colonists  were  taxed  externally,  whereas  in  the  present  reign 
they  have  been  taxed  internally.  But  if  this  distinction  be  frivolous, 
will  it  reflect  any  praise  on  your  patriotism  ?  And  that  it  is  such  I  prove 
by  the  following  argument :  a  distinction  about  taxation,  which  has  no 
foundation  in  reason,  Scripture,  or  the  constitution,  is  frivolous  :  but  Dr. 
Price's  distinction  has  no  foundation  in  reason,  Scripture,  or  the  consti- 
tution ;  and  therefore  it  is  frivolous  in  the  present  controversy.     Should 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  509 

you  contest  the  second  proposition  of  this  syllogism,  I  ask,  By  what 
dictates  of  reason  does  it  appear,  that  if  taxes  are  due  from  subjects  to 
their  sovereign,  they  may  not  be  levied  internally,  by  rates  upon  the 
goods  we  already  possess,  as  well  as  externally,  by  duties  upon  goods 
imported,  which  purchase  has  not  yet  made  our  own  ?  Where  does  St. 
Paul  charge  Christians  to  pay  taxes,  if  they  are  externally  taxed  ;  and 
to  fly  to  arms  if  they  are  taxed  internally  ?  Did  not  Christ  speak  of 
internal  taxes,  when  he  commanded  the  Jews  to  render  to  Cesar  what 
was  his  ?  And  is  there  any  law,  either  of  God  or  of  the  realm,  which 
allows  the  legislative  power  to  tax  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  externally, 
and  precludes  it  from  taxing  them  internally  ? 

The  doctor's  distinction  is  not  only  unscriptural  and  unconstitutional, 
but  unreasonable ;  inasmuch  as  it  would,  in  a  great  degree,  enable  sub- 
jects to  avoid  paying  taxes  at  all.  Suppose,  for  example,  we  could  be 
taxed  only  externally,  by  means  of  duties  laid  upon  imported  goods,  such 
as  tea,  coffee,  foreign  wines,  and  rum  ;  might  we  not,  if  I  may  so  speak, 
starve  the  government,  by  drinking  only  sage,  or  balm  tea,  ale,  made 
wines,  and  spirits  distilled  from  our  own  wheat  ?  The  doctor's  distinction 
is  not  only  unreasonable,  but  unjust.  Why  should  the  colonies  enjoy 
greater  privileges  than  the  mother  country  ? .  Why  should  Britons  be 
taxed  externally  and  internally,  whether  they  have  votes  or  not,  and  the 
Americans  only  externally  ;  when  both  have  their  property  internally 
and  externally  guarded  by  the  protective  power?  If  I  owed  my  lawyer 
reasonable  fees,  amounting  to  ten  pounds,  what  would  you  think  of  my 
honesty,  if  I  said  to  him,  Sir,  I  give  you  leave  to  pay  yourself  by  de- 
manding a  shilling  from  me  every  time  I  drink  a  glass  of  claret  or  a 
dish  of  chocolate  :  but  I  declare  to  you,  that,  except  in  such  cases,  I  will 
take  you  for  a  robber,  if  you  lay  claim  to  any  part  of  my  property  ? 
The  doctor's  distinction  is  not  only  unjust  in  the  present  case,  but  it 
might  prove  destructive  to  the  commonwealth.  It  is  granted  on  all  sides, 
that  taxes  and  money  are  the  sinews  of  the  government.  If  external 
taxes  did  not  bring  in  money  enough  to  discharge  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  the  state  ;  and  if  the  sovereign  could  not  lay  internal  taxes  to 
supply  that  deficiency,  what  would  "become  of  the  kingdom  1  Must  it 
not  fall  a  wanton  sacrifice  to  Dr.  Price's  political  refinements  1  I  hope, 
sir,  that  if  you  weigh  these  observations,  you  will  own  that  his  book, 
ingenious  as  it  is,  far  from  "  carrying  conviction  in  every  page,"  carries 
frivolousness  and  mischievous  absurdity  in  the  very  first  quotation  which 
you  produce  from  him.  And  we  may  well  suppose,  you  did  not  pick 
out  his  weakest  argument  to  support  the  praises  which  you  bestow  on 
his  "  most  excellent  pamphlet." 

But  let  us  hear  him  out.  You  continue,  p.  47,  to  quote  him  thus  : 
"The  stamp  act  was  passed.  This  being  an  attempt  to  tax  them 
internally  ;  and  a  direct  attack  on  their  property,  by  a  power  which 
would  not.  suffer  itself  to  be  questioned ;  which  eased  itself  by  loading 
them;  and  to  which  it  was  impossible  to  fix  any  bounds,  they  were 
thrown  at  once,  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other,  into  resist- 
ance and  rage."  This  sounds  well  to  the  ear ;  but  judicious  patriots. 
■who  expect  to  find  the  kernel  of  truth  under  the  specious  shell  of  fine 
words,  may  be  a  little  disappointed.  Permit  me,  sir,  to  break  the  shell, 
and  to  see  if  the  kernel  be  sound. 


510  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

(1.)  An  attempt  to  tax  subjects  internally  is  a  direct  attack  on  their 
property  !  And  what  if  it  be?  When  reasonable  taxes  are  due,  may  they 
not  be  directly  demanded?  And  that  they  are  due,  do  you  not  grant, 
p.  27,  where  you  so  much  resent  my  supposing  that  you  deny  "the  ne- 
cessity of  subjects  paying  taxes,"  whether  they  be  external  or  internal  ? 
(2.)  The  legislative  power  of  Great  Britain  would  not  suffer  itself  to  be 
questioned !  The  doctor  should  have  said,  that  it  would  not  suffer  itself 
to  be  deprived  of  its  right  of  demanding  reasonable  taxes  for  ex- 
pensive protection  ;  an  incontestable  right  this,  which  you  allow  none 
deny  but  "  political  Quixottes."  (3.)  But  this  power  eases  itself  by  load- 
ing them  !  And  what  if  it  do  ?  Is  the  sovereign  to  bear  all  the  national 
expense,  without  being  eased  by  his  subjects  ?  Or  are  some  of  the  sub- 
jects to  bear  all  the  burden,  without  being  eased  by  others  who  are  to 
help  them  ?  Where  is  either  the  equity  or  reasonableness  of  this  objec- 
tion? (4.)  But  it  is  impossible  to  fix  any  bounds  to  this  power!  I  have 
already  shown,  that  nothing  can  be  easier  than  to  fix  proper  bounds  to 
the  power  of  taxing  the  colonies.  The  parliament  can  enact  that  the 
colonists  shall  be  taxed  as  the  Britons  are  ;  making  the  colonists  a  proper 
allowance  for  the  superior  commercial  privileges  of  the  mother  country. 
Supposing,  for  instance,  that  the  privileges  of  British  subjects  are  four 
times  greater  than  the  privileges  of  American  subjects,  the  taxes  of  the 
American  subjects  might  be  four  times  lighter  than  ours.  Thus,  when 
we  pay  four  shillings  in  the  pound,  they  might  pay  only  one  shilling : 
and  when  four  articles  of  equal  importance  are  taxed  in  England,  only 
one  might  be  taxed  in  America.  It  is  therefore  excessively  wrong  in 
Doctor  Price  to  assert,  that  it  is  impossible  to  fix  any  bounds  to  the 
power  of  parliamentary  taxation  :  and  none  but  heated  patriots  will 
praise  him  for  increasing,  by  such  a  groundless  assertion,  the  absurd 
"  rage  into  which  the  colonists"  have  "  thrown"  themselves,  "  from  one 
end  of  the  continent  to  the  other." 

Page  48,  you  take  up  again  "  Doctor  Price's  truly  valuable  tract,  and 
enrich"  your  "  piece  with  a  note  from  this  capital  writer  upon  the  sub- 
ject. In  reference  to  the  American  charters,  he  speaks  with  true 
dignity  as  follows  : — '  The  question  with  all  liberal  inquirers  ought  to  be, 
not  what  jurisdiction  over  them  (the  colonies)  precedents,  statutes,  and 
charters  give,  but  what  reason  and  equity,  and  the  rights  of  humanity, 
give.'"  Sir,  this  is  the  very  first  test  to  which  I  have  brought  your 
"  American  Patriotism."  The  doctor  insinuates,  indeed,  that  the  power 
which  taxes  the  Americans  will  not  suffer  its  rights  to  be  questioned. 
But  this  is  a  mistake.  The  legislature  of  Great  Britain  is  too  equitable 
not  to  give  up  the  right  of  reasonably  taxing  the  colonists,  whom  thev 
have  so  long  protected,  if  you,  sir,  Doctor  Price,  or  the  congress,  can 
prove  that  reason,  equity,  and  the  rights  of  humanity,  are  against  such 
taxation.  Have  you  not  yourself  granted  the  propriety  and  necessity 
of  subjects  paying  proportionable  taxes,  for  the  good  of  the  whole 
empire  ?  Is  it  reasonable  or  equitable  that  Great  Britain  should  bear 
all  the  burden  of  the  navy,  which  protects  the  colonies  and  their  trade  ? 
Is  it  contrary  to  "  the  rights  of  humanity,"  to  demand  a  penny  for  a 
penny  loaf,  or,  which  comes  to  the  same  thing,  to  demand  reasonable* 
taxes  for  royal  protection  ?  Or  do  parent  states  violate  "  the  rights  of 
humanity,"  in  demanding  some  assistance  from  the  growing  states  to 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  ol\ 

which  they  have  given  birth,  when  those  states  are  well  able  to  bear  the 
easy  burden  ?  As  soon  will  Doctor  Price  persuade  me  that  it  is  con- 
trary to  "  the  rights  of  humanity,"  in  twelve  lubberly  young  fellows, 
who  have  always  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  their  father's  house,  and  who 
can  get  more  money  than  their  father,  to  give  him  something  toward  the 
payment  of  the  window  tax,  when  he  is  burdened  with  debts,  and  wants 
some  assistance  to  pay  that  tax. 

Page  49,  you  continue  to  quote  the  doctor  thus  :  "  Did  they  not  settle 
under  the  faith  of  charters  which  promised  them  the  enjoyment  of  all 
the  rights  of  Englishmen  ?"  Granted.  But  did  these  charters  promise 
them  rights  superior  to  those  of  Englishmen  ?  Is  it  not  evident,  that  i! 
the  colonists  enjoy  the  right  of  being  protected  by  the  legislative  powei 
of  Great  Britain,  without  paying  taxes  to  that  power,  they  enjoy  a  right 
superior  'to  that  of  Englishmen,  who  are  bound  to  pay  taxes  for  British 
protection  ?  The  doctor  goes  on  :  "  These  charters  allowed  them  to  tax 
themselves,  and  to  be  governed  by  legislatures  of  their  own,  similar  to 
ours."  Granted  in  one  sense,  namely,  in  the  same  sense  in  which 
charters  have  been  granted  to  corporations.  Corporate  bodies  are 
allowed  to  tax  themselves  in  a  subordinate  manner,  and  to  be  governed 
by  legislatures  of  their  own,  similar  to  that  of  Great  Britain.  Thus  the 
city  of  London  is  governed  by  a  lord  mayor,  who  represents  the  king ; 
by  a  court  of  aldermen,  which  represents  the  high  court  of  parliament, 
and  by  a  body  of  liverymen  and  freemen,  which  answers  to  the  body  of 
voting  burgesses  and  freeholders  in  Great  Britain.  And  I  suppose  all 
together  can  raise  money  for  the  support  of  the  corporation,  by  means 
of  some  peculiar  rates,  or  subordinate  taxes.  Now  if  the  citizens  of 
London  rose  against  parliamentary  taxation  under  pretence  that  they 
are,  and  always  have  been,  taxed  by  their  own  magistrates,  they  would 
show  themselves  as  unjust  as  the  colonists,  and  as  good  logicians  as 
Dr.  Price.  What  have  subordinate  taxes  for  the  maintenance  of  lamp- 
lighters, watchmen,  and  trained  bands,  to  do  with  the  primary  taxes  by 
which  the  army  and  navy  are  supported  ?  When  rash  patriots  avail 
themselves  of  the  payment  of  the  former  taxes,  to  refuse  paying  the 
latter,  do  they  show  more  wisdom  and  equity  than  I  should  do,  if  I 
quarrelled  with  my  physician  for  demanding  of  me  ten  guineas  for  ten 
visits,  and  dismissed  him  with  the  following  speech  : — Sir,  I  claim  all 
the  rights  of  Englishmen,  nor  will  I  be  duped  by  you.  I  do  not  deny 
paying  fees,  but  I  will  not  pay  any  to  you.  I  will  discharge  my  apothe- 
cary's bill,  but  as  for  your  demands,  they  are  contrary  to  "  reason, 
equity,  and  the  rights  of  humanity."  American  patriots  might  give  me 
thanks,  and  compliment  me  with  the  freedom  of  London  in  a  golden 
box,  for  such  a  spirited  opposition  to  tyranny  and  robbery  ;  but  I  am  of 
opinion  that  British  patriots  would  hardly  think  me  worthy  of  the  free- 
dom of  Old  Sarum  in  a  wooden  box  :  and  if  the  physician  were  "thrown 
into  a  rage"  by  my  provoking  injustice,  he  might  possibly  think  that  I 
deserved  a  very  different  box  from  that  which  Doctor  Price  has  been 
lately  presented  with. 

But  the  doctor  has  an  answer  ready.  Speaking  of  the  colonists,  he 
says,  "  They  are  taxed  to  support  their  own  governments  :  must  they 
maintain  two  governments  ?  Must  they  submit  to  be  triple  taxed  ?"  To 
show  the  frivolousness  of  this  argument,  I  need  only  farther  apply  it  to 


512  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

my  physician's  case  thus : — Sir,  you  demand  fees  of  me  for  your  attend- 
ance, but  I  have  already  feed  my  apothecary  :  must  I  maintain  two  of 
you  ?  Must  I  submit  to  be  triple  taxed  ?  What !  must  I  pay  my  sur- 
geon too  ?  You  unreasonable  men,  will  you  all  agree  to  enslave  me  ? 
You  pack  of  r — a,  will  you  leave  me  nothing  that  I  can  call  my  own  ? 

While  you  are  struck  with  the  fallacy  of  this  patriotic  argument,  I 
proceed  to  some  observations  upon  Doctor  Price's  doctrine  with  respect 
to  the  charters  of  the  colonies.  To  suppose  that  their  charters  exempt 
them  from  paying  taxes  to  the  British  government  for  ever,  is  not  only 
contrary  to  the  express  terms  of  the  charter  of  Pennsylvania,  but  also 
to  all  probability.  What  ruling  power  would  be  so  unwise  as  to  surfer 
the  emigration  of  subjects  out  of  a  country  which  is  not  overstocked  with 
inhabitants,  into  one  where  that  power  has  claims  and  possessions,  unless 
it  was  assured  of  retaining  the  right  of  supremacy  over  those  emigrated 
subjects  ?  Is  it  reasonable  to  think  that  a  power  would  thus  weaken 
itself?  And  is  not  the  right  of  supreme  taxation  inseparably  connected 
with  the  right  of  supreme  government  ? 

Again  :  when  one  of  our  kings  granted  a  charter  to  the  colonists,  did 
he  not  grant  it  as  being  the  head  of  the  legislative  power  of  Great 
Britain  :  a  power  this  whose  ships  had  taken  possession  of  North 
America  ?  Was  it  not  as  the  representative  of  all  this  power,  that  he 
signed  the  charter  ?  Suppose  the  lord  mayor  of  London,  as  political 
head  of  that  city,  had  granted  me  leave  to  build  a  house  upon  some 
waste  ground  belonging  to  the  city  ;  and  suppose  he  had  helped  me  to 
build  it  with  some  materials,  the  property  of  the  city,  and  had  from  time 
to  time  preserved  it  from  being  robbed  and  burned,  by  sending  me 
watchmen,  firemen,  and  fire  engines  from  the  city,  would  it  be  right  in 
me  to  say,  I  acknowledge  myself  indebted  to  the  lord  mayor,  as  a  lord  ; 
but  as  for  his  London  mayoralty,  and  the  council  of  aldermen,  I  bid 
them  defiance,  and  deny  my  being  under  the  least  obligation  of  submit- 
ting myself  to  them.  In  short,  I  am  willing  that  the  mayor  of  London 
should  be  my  governor ;  but  if  the  body  of  the  corporation  claim 
authority  over  me,  and  demand  of  me,  who  am  neither  one  of  the  livery 
nor  a  freeman,  city  rates  to  pay  the  watchmen  or  buy  new  fire  engines, 
I  will  show  both  them  and  the  lord  mayor  that  I  am  a  patriot,  and  that 
I  can  defend  my  property  and  protect  my  person.  Could  you  help 
smiling  at  the  absurdity  of  such  a  speech  ?  And  think  you  Dr.  Price 
himself  could  prove  that  the  distinction  which  the  colonists  make  between 
the  king  and  the  parliament,  between  the  head  and  the  body  of  the  British 
legislature,  is  not  as  trifling  and  ungenerous  as  the  distinction  I  make 
between  the  lordship  of  the  mayor  of  London,  and  the  London  mayor- 
alty, or  between  the  head  and  the  body  of  that  respectable  corporation  ? 

To  return.  After  saying  that  the  arguments  drawn  from  the  charters 
for  the  colonies  appear  to  him  "greatly  to  outweigh  the  arguments  against 
them,"  Doctor  Price  speaks  thus:  "But  I  lay  no  stress  on  charters. 
They  [the  colonies]  derive  their  rights  from  a  higher  source.  It  is  in- 
consistent with  common  sense  to  imagine  that  any  people  would  ever 
think  of  settling  in  a  distant  country,  on  any  such  condition,  as  that  the 
people  from  whom  they  withdrew  should  for  ever  be  masters  of  their 
property,  and  have  power  to  subject  them  to  any  modes  of  government 
they  pleased."     The  flaw  of  this  argument  consists  in  imputing  to  Great 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  513 

Britain  false  claims,  which  never  entered  into  the  minds  of  our  legisla- 
tors. When  did  the  parliament  say  they  would  "  for  ever  be  masters 
of  the  property  of  the  colonists,"  any  otherwise  than  they  are  masters  of 
the  property  of  Englismen?  If  the  king  and  parliament  claim  the  ri^ht 
of  "  making  statutes  of  sufficient  force  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,"  does  not  candour  dictate,  that  they  only  mean  all  cases 
wherein  they  have  power  to  bind  Englishmen  ?  And  is  not  Doctor 
Franklin  too  warm,  when,  availing  himself  of  the  laconic  manner  in 
which  this  reasonable  claim  is  expressed,  he  renders  the  legislative 
power  odious,  by  insinuating  that  it  pretends  to  the  authority  of  "  com- 
pelling the  colonists,  if  it  pleases,  to  worship  the  devil  ?"  Once  more  : 
when  did  the  British  legislature  claim  the  right  of  "  subjecting  the 
Americans  to  any  modes  of  government  they  please,"  be  these  modes 
ever  so  foolish  or  tyrannical  1  Is  it  not  wrong  in  Doctor  Price  and  Doc- 
tor Franklin  to  fix  upon  our  doctrine  invidious  consequences,  which  have 
not  the  least  connection  with  our  principles  ?  What  character  could  I 
not  blast,  and  whom  could  I  not  represent  as  a  rapacious  tyrant,  if  I  in- 
timated, that  whenever  a  master  claims  the  authority  of  reasonably  com- 
manding his  servants  in  all  things,  he  assumes  the  authority  of  making 
them  "worship  the  devil,  if  he  pleases;"  and  that,  whenever  the  lord 
of  a  manor  insists  on  his  chiefrie,  a  lawyer  on  his  fees,  a  minister  on  his 
tithes,  and  a  sovereign  on  reasonable  taxes,  they  pretend  to  be  "  for 
ever  masters  of  the  property"  of  their  vassals,  tenants,  clients,  flocks, 
and  subjects  ;  so  that  the  abject  slaves  can  call  nothing  which  they  have 
their  own  ?  Can  we  lament  too  much  the  mistakes  of  divines,  who,  by 
such  ungenerous  insinuations,  inflame  the  heated  patriots,  and  pour  con- 
tempt on  their  rightful  governors? 

Page  49,  you  continue  to  quote  Doctor  Price  thus  :  "  Had  there  been 
express  stipulations  to  this  purpose  in  all  the  charters  of  the  colonies, 
they  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  no  more  bound  by  them  than  if  it  had  been 
stipulated  with  them,  that  they  should  go  naked,  or  expose  themselves  to 
the  incursions  of  wolves  and  tigers."  The  doctor  is  highly  worthy  to 
be  your  second,  sir.  We  have  seen  how  you  confound  the  right  which 
the  protecting  power  has  to  reasonable  taxes,  with  the  right  which  a 
highwayman  has  to  a  traveller's  money  :  and  we  see  here  that  Doctor* 
Price  absurdly  compares  a  Scriptural  demand  of  moderate  taxes,  with 
an  immodest  command  of  going  naked  ;  and  with  a  tyrannical  edict  of 
encountering  "wolves  and  tigers."  If  such  method  of  arguing  is  con- 
sistent either  with  sound  logic  or  Christian  candour,  I  consent  that  the 
doctor's  gold  box  be  set  with  rubies  and  diamonds. 

The  doctor's  argument  is  not  only  founded  on  an  absurd  comparison, 
but  it  can  also  be  retorted  in  this  manner  :  "I  lay  no  stress  on  charters  :" 
the  king  and  parliament  "derive  their  rights"  of  taxing  their  American 
subjecis  "  from  a  higher  source."  "  Had  there  been  express  stipula- 
tions in  all  the  charters,"  that  the  colonies  should  ever  be  protected  by 
Great  Britain,  without  paying  proportionable  taxes  as  other  subjects,  it 
may  be  queried  if  the  king  and  parliament  would  be  any  more  bound  by 
such  stipulations,  than  they  would  be  bound  by  a  charter  of  the  late  king, 
supposing  he  had  granted  to  all  the  Scotchmen  and  Yorkshiremen  who 
have  no  vote,  the  privilege  of  paying  no  taxes  to  the  government  for 
ever.     Might  not  such  a  charter  be  repealed  on  account  of  its  unjust 

Vol.  IV.  33 


514  AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM. 

partiality  ?  Should  not  the  taxes  be  laid  as  proportionally  as  it  is  pos- 
sible upon  all  the  subjects  ?  Can  the  king  absolutely  give  up  the  rights 
of  one  part  of  his  subjects  to  the  other,  any  more  than  he  can  justly  say, 
that  when  the  parliament  lays  a  tax  of  4*.  in  the  pound,  Middlesex  shall 
pay  nothing  for  ever,  because  the  trade  of  London  brings  in  an  immense 
revenue  to  the  government  ?  If  these  queries  recommend  themselves  to 
your  reason,  sir,  is  it  not  evident  that  Dr.  Price's  argument  can  be  pro- 
perly retorted,  and  that  he  is  equally  mistaken,  whether  he  appeals  to 
"  charters,"  or  to  "  a  higher  source  ?" 

Pass  we  on  to  his  doctrine  concerning  the  origin  of  power.  Page 
69,  you  introduce  him  as  speaking  thus  :  "I  am  sensible  that  all  I  have 
been  saying  would  be  very  absurd,  were  the  opinions  just,  which  some 
have'  maintained  concerning  the  origin  of  government.  According  to 
these  opinions,  government  is  not  the  creature  of  the  people,  or  the  re- 
sult of  a  convention  between  them  and  their  rulers  :  but  there  are  certain 
men  who  possess  in  themselves,  independently  on  the  will  of  the  people, 
a  right  of  governing  them,  which  they  derive  from  the  Deity."  From 
this  quotation  it  is  evident,  that,  according  to  Doctor  Price's  principles  and 
your  own,  "  government  is  the  creature  of  the  people."  In  full  opposi- 
tion to  this  doctrine,  I  assert,  that  government  is  the  creature  of  God. 
It  is  as  absurd  to  say  that  government  is  the  creature  of  the  people,  as 
to  maintain  that  religion  and  marriage  are  the  creatures  of  the  people. 
All  that  I  can  reasonably  grant  the  doctor  is,  that  as  adultery  and  forni- 
cation, superstition  and  idolatry,  are  the  creatures  of  immoral  and  irre- 
ligious men  ;  so  bad  government,  which  includes  confusion  and  tyranny, 
is  the  creature  of  wicked  men. 

Government  is  not  less  necessary  in  the  moral  world,  than  the  subor- 
dinate motion  of  the  planets  in  the  natural.  As  God  appointed  the 
greater  luminaries  to  rule  the  day  and  the  night ;  so  he  appointed  the 
higher  powers  to  rule  the  less.  When  he  manifested  himself  to  rationals 
by  his  works  or  his  word,  and  impressed  their  minds  with  a  sense  of 
their  high  obligations  to  him,  he  instituted  religion.  When  he  said,  "  I  will 
make  man  a  help  meet  for  him,"  and  joined  Adam  and  Eve  together  in 
their  human  capacity,  bidding  them  increase  and  multiply,  he  instituted 
*  marriage.  And  when  he  said  to  them,  in  their  regal  capacity,  "  Have 
dominion  ;"  he  delegated  governing  power,  and  instituted  government  on 
earth ;  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  he  caused  that  celestial  plant  to  take 
root  in  paradise  ;  whence,  with  divers  degrees  of  degeneracy,  it  has 
overspread  the  civilized  parts  of  the  earth.  If  this  be  the  case,  is  not 
Doctor  Price  under  a  capital  mistake  when  he  makes  government  "  the 
creature  of  the  people  V  And  does  he  not  flatly  contradict  St.  James, 
who  says,  "  Do  not  err  :  every  good  gift  [and  consequently  government, 
one  of  the  be3t  public  gifts]  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the 
Father  of  lights  ?" 

You  will  probably  endeavour  to  render  this  doctrine  odious  by  insinu- 
ating, that  it  makes  the  people  altogether  passive  in  matters  of  govern- 
.  ment,  religion,  and  marriage.  Nay,  Doctor  Price  does  it  already  where 
he  says,  that,  according  to  the  scheme  he  opposes,  some  men  possess  a 
right  of  governing  "independently  on  the  will  of  the  people."  This  as- 
sertion is  true  in  one  sense,  and  false  in  another.  It  is  true  that  the 
higher  power  must  govern  the  less,  and  that  sovereigns  have  a  right  of 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  515 

ruling  their  subjects  for  good,  "  independently  on  the  will  of  the  peo 
pie."  That  is,  supposing  the  people  wantonly  dethroned  their  sove- 
reigns, to  set  up  anarchy  on  the  ruins  of  every  legislature ;  it  is  true 
that  such  sovereigns  would  still  have  a  right  to  rule  such  unruly  subjects, 
just  as  a  captain,  against  whom  his  soldiers  wantonly  rise,  has  still  a  righJ 
to  command  them,  whether  they  will  be  commanded  or  not.  If  this 
were  not  true,  rebellion  and  treason  were  no  sin  at  all ;  the  heinousness 
of  those  crimes  consisting  in  a  wanton  resisting  of  a  power,  which  pos- 
sesses a  right  of  governing  us,  whether  we  will  be  governed  or  not. 
But  if  Doctor  Price  intimates  that  our  doctrine  supposes  tbe  will  of  the 
people  has  absolutely  no  share  in  our  doctrine  of  government,  he  greatly 
mistakes  ;  for  we  think  that  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  for  the  support  of  civil  government  in  the  state,  as  the 
will  of  a  majority  of  the  soldiers  is  necessary  to  the  support  of  a  military 
government  in  the  army.  Nevertheless,  the  consent  of  the  people  to  be 
governed  by  their  sovereign,  and  of  the  soldiers  to  be  commanded  by 
their  general,  is  not  the  ground  or  origin  of  the  sovereign's  and  general's 
authority.  It  is  only  [causa  sine  qua  noii]  a  requisite  without  which 
sovereigns  and  generals  cannot  exercise  their  authority. 

Some  illustrations  may  help  you  to  understand  this  nice  point  of  doc- 
trine. Men  are  bound  to  pay  God  a  reasonable  service,  whether  they 
will  or  not.  A  wife  is  bound  to  obey  her  husband  in  all  reasonable 
things,  whether  willingly  or  unwillingly.  And  subjects  are  bound  to 
obey  their  sovereign  in  all  reasonable  and  lawful  things,  however  averse 
they  may  be  to  it.  Nor  is  it  less  absurd  to  make  a  lawful  sovereign's 
claim  to  the  obedience  of  his  subjects  depend  upon  their  will,  than  to 
make  the  right  which  a  husband  has  of  ruling  his  wife  depend  upon 
her  caprice,  or  the  right  which  God  has  to  our  adoration  turn  upon  our 
consent.  Nevertheless,  if  wives  will  absolutely  refuse  to  submit  to  their 
husbands,  sinners  to  their  God,  and  subjects  to  their  king,  they  can  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  subjection,  and  affect  domestic,  religious,  and  civil  inde- 
pendence. But  then  the  purposes  of  marriage,  religion,  and  govern- 
ment, are  defeated,  and  a  threefold  rebellion  takes  place. 

It  will  be  proper  here  to  trace  back  to  its  source  the  error  about 
liberty,  which  Dr.  Price  has  adopted  from  Rousseau,  the  great  Geneva 
patriot ;  a  fatal  error  this,  by  which  that  fanciful  politician  has  kindled 
the  flame  of  discord  in  his  own  country.  This  error  consists  in  infer- 
ring that,  because  a  savage,  who  lives  alone  in  a  wood,  is  his  own 
governor,  and  can  legislate  for  himself,  a  man  who  lives  in  civil  society 
can  do  the  same.  But  is  not  this  as  absurd  as  to  suppose  that  because 
a  man  who  is  not  listed,  and  of  course  is  under  no  military  government, 
can  go  backward  or  forward  as  he  pleases ;  therefore  a  soldier  in  the 
field  of  battle  has  a  right  to  legislate  for  himself,  and  advance  or  retire, 
just  when  he  thinks  proper  1 

I  grant,  that  if  a  number  of  savages,  living  like  wild  beasts,  without 
religion,  marriage,  and  government,  could  be  prevailed  on  to  enter  upon 
a  religious,  conjugal,  and  civil  life,  among  all  the  religions,  women,  and 
governments  which  they  could  choose,  they  might  undoubtedly  choose 
those  which  they  thought  best.  This,  after  a  close  inquiry,  would  be 
both  their  right  and  their  duty.  And  suppose  they  had  mistaken  idola- 
try for  religion,   an   incestuous   union  for  marriage,  and  tyranny  for 


516  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

government ;  they  would  be  bound  to  alter  their  plan,  because  such 
capital  mistakes  are  destructive  of  the  salutary  ends  proposed  in  religion, 
marriage,  and  government.  Again  :  when  they  had  agreed  to  embrace 
a  religious,  conjugal,  and  civil  life,  they  might  agree  to  worship  God 
standing  or  kneeling,  in  open  air,  or  in  a  place  of  worship,  in  hymns  or 
in  prayers,  &c.  They  might  agree  to  marry  before  two  witnesses,  or 
two  hundred,  and  to  do  it  by  giving  and  receiving  a  ring,  or  only  by 
joining  hands.  And  they  might  embrace  a  monarchical,  aristocratical, 
or  democratical  government ;  or  they  might,  as  the  English  have  done, 
combine  those  three  sorts  of  governments,  and  submit  at  once  to  a  king, 
a  house  of  lords,  and  a  house  of  commons.  But  if  they  had  once 
espoused  a  true  religion,  lawful  wives,  and  a  lawful  government,  they 
would  sin  against  God,  their  neighbour,  and  their  own  souls ;  they 
would  be  guilty  of  impiety,  adultery,  and  rebellion,  if  they  wantonly 
changed  their  religion,  their  wives,  and  their  sovereign. 

The  reason  is  evident :  men  who  never  had  any  religion,  wife,  or 
sovereign,  are  tied  to  no  religion,  wife,  or  sovereign.  But  as  soon  as 
they  are  bound  by  sacramental  ordinances  to  profess  a  certain  religion  ; 
by  conjugal  promises  to  cleave  to  a  certain  woman  ;  and  by  oaths  of 
allegiance  to  submit  to  a  certain  sovereign ;  they  are  highly  guilty  if 
they  break  through  their  engagements  without  a  capital  reason.  I  say 
without  a  capital  reason,  because  as  God  allows  divorce  in  case  of 
undeniable  adultery,  so  he  permits  our  renouncing  a  Church  undeniably 
and  capitally  corrupt,  and  our  withdrawing  from  a  government  undenia- 
bly and  capitally  tyrannical.  I  lay  a  peculiar  emphasis  upon  the  words 
undeniably  and  capitally,  to  make  room  for  the  Scriptural  doctrine 
which  you  advance,  page  66,  "  The  personal  vices  of  our  governors, 
and  any  slight  error  in  their  administration,  will  not  justify  our  resisting 
them  ;"  much  less  will  an  imaginary  error,  or  a  groundless  suspicion, 
do  it.  And  of  this  nature  are  undoubtedly  the  American  conceits,  that 
reasonable,  legal  taxes  are  not  due  by  subjects  to  the  supreme  power 
which  protects  them ;  that  a  direct  and  equal  representation  in  parlia- 
ment is  constitutionally  necessary  to  the  lawfulness  of  a  money  bill ;  and 
that  the  British  legislature  uses  the  colonists  in  a  tyrannical  manner, 
because  it  insists  upon  satisfaction  for  the  depredations  wantonly  com- 
mitted by  the  mobbing  Bostonians.  From  the  whole,  I  hope  I  may 
safely  conclude,  that  the  foundation  of  Dr.  Price's  peculiar  patriotism  is 
laid  in  a  gross  mistake  ;  a  mistake  which  consists  in  confounding  the 
lawless  liberty  of  a  savage,  who  lives  under  no  sort  of  government,  with 
the  lawful  liberty  of  a  subject  who  is  protected  by  a  civil  government ; 
and  that  government,  instead  of  being  the  creature  of  the  people,  or  the 
result  of  a  convention  between  them  and  their  rulers,  is  the  creature  of 
God,  and  (when  considered  in  the  theory)  is  the  cause,  and  not  the  result, 
of  such  a  convention  as  the  doctor  speaks  of. 

Page  69,  you  continue  to  quote  him  thus :  "  It  is  a  doctrine  which 
avowedly  subverts  civil  liberty."  No  ;  it  is  a  doctrine  which  avowedly 
secures  a  due  submission  to  the  governors  that  guard  our  civil  liberty. 
"  It  represents  mankind  as  a  body  of  vassals,  formed  to  descend  like 
cattle  from  one  set  of  owners  to  another,  who  have  an  obsolute  dominion 
over  them.  It  is  a  wonder  that  those  who  view  their  species  in  a  light 
so  humiliating,  should  ever  be  able  to  think  of  themselves  without  regret 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  517 

and  shame."  This  argument  appears  to  me  illogical  and  invidious. 
(1.)  Illogical.  Logic  forbids  us  to  alter  the  terms  of  a  proposition. 
This  Dr.  Price  does  when  he  substitutes  the  words  "  absolute  dominion," 
for  reasonable  dominion,  which  our  doctrine  requires.  I  am  so  far  from 
asserting  that  human  sovereigns  have  an  "  absolute  dominion"  over  their 
subjects,  that  I  steadily  oppose  the  pretended  orthodoxy  of  the  men  who 
ascribe  such  a  dominion  to  God.  I  need  not  inform  either  you,  sir,  or 
Dr.  Price,  that  there  are  divines  in  England  who  teach  that  God's 
dominion  over  his  unborn  creatures  is  so  absolute,  that  he  not  only  can, 
but  does  absolutely  reprobate  some  of  them,  and  appoint  them  to  una- 
voidable and  eternal  ruin,  before  they  hang  yet  at  their  mothers'  breasts  ; 
nor  need  I  remind  you  that,  in  opposition  to  these  men,  I  assert  that 
God's  sovereignty,  far  from  being  thus  absolute,  is  always  circumscribed 
by  his  goodness,  wisdom,  and  justice.  (2.)  The  doctor's  argument  is, 
I  fear,  invidious.  What  would  he  think  of  my  candour,  if,  treading  in 
his  steps,  I  reflected  on  the  subordination  of  wives  to  their  husbands, 
soldiers  to  their  generals,  flocks  to  their  pastors,  servants  to  their  mas- 
ters, and  creatures  to  their  Creator,  in  the  same  manner  in  which  he 
reflects  on  the  subordination  of  subjects  to  their  sovereigns  1  I  shall 
apply  his  argument  only  to  the  case  of  married  women,  thus  :  "  The 
doctrine  of  the  reasonable  dominion,  which  all  husbands  have  over  their 
wives,  represents  womankind  as  a  body  of  vassals.  And  those  who 
marry  two  or  three  husbands,  one  after  another,  are  formed  to  descend 
like  cattle  from  one  owner  to  another,  who  has  an  absolute  dominion 
over  them.  It  is  a  wonder  that  those  who  view  their  sex  in  a  light  so 
humiliating,  should  ever  be  able  to  think  of  themselves  without  regret 
and  shame."  For  my  part,  far  from  being  brought  over  to  American 
patriotism  by  this  logic,  I  think  it  is  a  wonder  that  reasonable  and  good 
men  should  ever  be  able  to  think,  without  regret  and  shame,  upon  the 
public  encomiums  and  rewards  with  which  they  have  crowned  such 
illogical  and  dangerous  arguments. 

The  rest  of  your  quotation  from  Dr.  Price  is  an  insinuation  that  arts 
and  sciences  flourish  no  more  in  a  country  where  the  people  submit  to  a 
monarch  who  will  be  obeyed,  whether  high  republicans  will  submit  or 
not.  The  whole  of  his  argument  is  summed  up  in  these  concluding 
lines  :  "  With  what  lustre  do  the  ancient  free  states  of  Greece  shine  in 
the  annals  of  the  world  !  How  different  is  that  country  now,  under  the 
great  Turk !  The  difference  between  a  country  inhabited  by  men,  and 
by  brutes,  is  not  greater."  I  am  not  for  an  absolute  monarchy.  I 
repeat  it,  the  English  constitution,  which  places  the  legislative  power  in 
a  king,  a  body  of  patrician  senators,  and  a  house  of  plebeian  lawgivers, 
appears  to  me  the  most  perfect  upon  earth  ;  because  it  collects  in  one 
political  focus  all  the  advantages  of  the  French  monarch,  the  Venetian 
aristocracy,  and  the  new  American  democracy.  Nevertheless,  as  a 
lover  of  truth  and  matter  of  fact,  I  shall  venture  to  propose  some  queries 
relative  to  Dr.  Price's  insinuation.  What  people  are  more  self  governed, 
or  more  free  from  supreme  authority,  than  the  Hottentots ;  and  what 
people  can  come  nearer  than  they  to  the  wildness  and  stupidity  of  brutes  ? 
Were  not  the  Lacedemonians,  with  all  the  ado  they  made  about  liberty, 
surprisingly  regardless  of  arts  and  sciences  1  Did  not  learning  so 
flourish  in  Egypt  and  Babylon,  under  absolute  princes,  that  the  Greeks 


518  AMEKICAN  PATHIOTISM. 

formerly  went  thither  for  improvement,  as  we  now  do  to  our  renowned 
universities  ?  When  did  arts  and  sciences  flourish  more  in  Judea,  than 
in  Solomon's  reign  ;  and  whoever  was  a  more  absolute  monarch  ?  When 
did  they  reach  a  higher  perfection  in  Rome,  than  under  the  reign  of 
Augustus  ?  And  yet  Augustus  was  a  despot.  What  king  ever  ruled 
the  French  with  a  higher  hand  than  Louis  XIV  ?  And  was  it  not  under 
his  reign  that  the  French  literature  shone  in  her  meridian  glory  ?  When 
did  Russia  emerge  out  of  a  sea  of  barbarity  and  rude  ignorance  ?  Was 
it  not  when  Peter  the  Great,  her  despotic  emperor,  lent  her  his  powerful 
hand  ?  And  do  not  at  this  day  arts  and  sciences  continue  to  make  rapid 
progress  there,  under  the  patronage  of  the  present  despotic  empress  1 
What  people  are  under  a  more  absolute  government  than  the  Prussians ! 
And  in  what  part  of  Germany  do  the  "  belles  lettres"  flourish  more  than 
in  Prussia  ?  If  Dr.  Price  do  these  hints  justice,  he  will  own  that  a  high 
monarchical  government  is  at  least  as  favourable  to  the  improvement  of 
arts  and  sciences,  as  a  high  republican  administration.  But  I  repeat  it, 
the  middle,  constitutional  way  is  preferable  to  both  these  extremes. 

Page  73,  .you  favour  me  with  another  quotation  from  Dr.  Price.  The 
doctrine  of  it  centres  in  the  last  paragraph,  which  runs  thus : — "  All 
delegated  power  must  be  subordinate  and  limited."  Granted.  All 
governing  power  is  delegated  from  the  King  of  kings,  and  therefore  it  is 
subordinate  to  him,  and  is  limited  by  the  bounds  which  he  has  fixed,  that 
is,  by  reason  and  Scripture,  and  the  apparent  good  of  the  people.  The 
doctor  goes  on  :  "  If  omnipotence  can,  with  any  sense,  be  ascribed  to  a 
legislature,  it  must  be  lodged  where  all  legislative  power  originates,  that 
is,  in  the  people." 

This  is  a  groundless  supposition,  which  the  doctor  and  you  take  for 
granted  ;  a  mischievous  supposition,  which  is  directly  contrary  to  Scrip- 
ture and  reason.  And  first,  to  Scripture  :  "  Put  them  in  mind  [says  the 
apostle]  to  be  subject  to  principalities  and  powers,  to  obey  magistrates." 
And  why  Christians  are  to  be  thus  subject,  he  informs  us  where  he  says 
that  "  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God,  [not  of  the  people  ;  and 
that]  they  who  resist,  resist  the  ordinance  of  God,"  and  not  of  the  peo- 
ple. A  people  who  have  no  governors,  may,  indeed,  choose  their 
governors,  just  as  a  single  woman  may  choose  a  husband ;  but  the 
authority  of  the  governors,  once  chosen,  depends  upon  the  people  no 
more  than  the  authority  of  a  husband  depends  upon  his  wife,  though 
she  choose  him  preferably  to  all  other  men ;  no  more  than  the  legisla- 
tive authority  of  our  plebeian  lawgivers  depends  upon  the  freeholders  or 
burgesses  who  elected  them  preferably  to  other  gentlemen. 

This  will  probably  offend  our  republican  levellers,  who  fancy  they 
are  all  born  legislators,  and  can  confer  the  power  of  legislation  on  the 
members  of  the  house  of  commons,  just  as  the  king  can  confer  the  honour 
of  knighthood  upon  a  gentleman.  But  I  must  speak  the  truth,  and  do 
my  subject  justice,  whoever  is  displeased  at  me  for  it.  And  I  am  ready 
to  defend  the  following  proposition  against  all  our  levellers  and  mistaken 
patriots.  The  people,  that  is,  the  governed,  can  no  more  create  govern- 
ing or  legislative  power,  and  bestow  it  upon  the  members  of  parliament 
whom  they  choose,  than  the  aldermen,  who  have  the  right  of  choosing  a 
mayor,  can  create  a  mayoralty  ;  no  more  than  the  women,  who  have  the 
right  of  choosing  a  husband,  can  create  masculine  supremacy  ;  no  more 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  519 

than  the  servants  who  have  chosen  a  master,  can  create  masterly  power  ; 
or  the  soldiers,  who  choose  to  list  under  this  or  that  captain,  rather 
than  another,  can  create  the  military  authority  to  which  they  submit. 

You  possibly  reply,  What,  is  not  Edmund  Burke,  Esq.,  mv  represent- 
ative ?  Did  not  I  choose  him  to  represent  me  in  parliament  ?  Did  not 
I  invest  him  with  my  legislating  power  1  And  do  not  I,  in  his  person, 
share  in  the  government  of  Great  Britain  ?  Indeed  you  do  not,  sir,  anv 
more  than  I  partake  of  the  royal  dignity  in  the  person  of  the  king. 
Permit  me  to  hand  you  out  of  your  imaginary  paradise  of  legislation, 
by  the  following  important  distinction  : — Every  member  of  the  house  of 
commons  has  two  characters.  The  first  is  that  of  representative  of  the 
commons  of  all  the  British  empire  in  general,  and  of  a  certain  borough 
or  shire  in  particular.  The  second  and  nobler  character  of  a  member 
of  parliament  is  that  of  representative  of  God  himself.  According  to 
the  former  character,  he  is  an  agent  of  the  people  :  but  with  respect  to 
the  latter,  he  is,  in  his  degree,  the  substitute  of  God.  According  to  the 
former  capacity,  he  spreads  before  the  legislature  the  wants  or  wishes 
of. the  people  in  general,  and  of  his  borough  or  shire  in  particular  ;  and, 
according  to  the  latter  capacity,  he,  in  his  degree,  makes  laws,  if  the 
majority  of  the  legislating  body  concur  with  him. 

Should  you  say  that  this  is  a  political  refinement,  which  originates 
from  my  fancy,  I  reply,  that  it  is  a  solid  distinction,  which  has  its  source 
in  the  very  nature  of  things :  and  I  prove  it  by  a  parallel  case,  which 
will  strike  you  so  much  the  more,  as  it  is  probably  your  own.  The 
majority  of  a  certain  congregation  of  Protestants  in  Bristol  expressed 
a  desire  to  have  you  for  their  pastor,  and  upon  this  title  you  were 
ordained.  But  does  it  follow  that  your  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel 
ascends  from  your  flock  to  you  1  If  your  congregation  insisted  upon 
your  preaching  to  them  smooth  things,  and  prophesying  deceits,  because 
they  chose  you  to  be  their  minister,  would  you  not  directly  convince 
them  of  their  folly,  by  a  distinction  similar  to  mine  ?  Would  you  not 
say,  Gentlemen,  though  I  am  your  minister,  and  though  I  was  ordained 
in  consequence  of  your  suffrages,  yet,  now  I  am  ordained,  I  have  an 
authority  which  you  never  gave,  nor  can  give.  I  am  the  minister  of 
God,  as  well  as  your  pastor.  My  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  I 
have  received  from  Christ,  and  not  from  you  ;  and  by  order  of  that  com- 
mission, whether  you  will  hear,  or  whether  you  will  forbear,  I  must 
preach  to  you  severe  as  well  as  soothing  truths.  Apply  this,  sir,  to  our 
political  question,  and  you  will  see  that  the  members  of  parliament,  in 
their  capacity  of  legislators,  are  no  more  authorized  by  the  people  to 
make  laws,  and  bound  to  vote  according  to  the  directions  of  their  con- 
stituents, than  you  and  I  receive  authority  from  our  flocks  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  and  are  bound  in  the  delivery  of  our  message  to  the  people  to 
consult  their  various  humours  ;  because  legislators  derive  their  authority 
from  God,  just  as  Gospel  ministers  receive  their  commission  from  Christ. 
Were  this  observation  properly  attended  to,  our  lawgivers  would  study 
Christian  politics  with  assiduity,  that  they  might  fully  understand  the 
will  of  God,  the  supreme  Lawgiver  whom  they  represent,  and  to  whom 
they  shall  one  day  give  a  strict  account  for  the  precious  talent  of  legis- 
lation with  which  they  are  entrusted ;  and  Dr.  Price  would  no  longer 
poison  the  minds  of  thousands  with  the  antichristian  doctrine  that  every 


520  AMERICAN    PATRIOTISM. 

man  is,  or  ought  to  be,  his  own  legislator,  and  that  legislative  power 
ascends  from  the  people,  and  governing  power  from  the  governed. 

Secondly.  As  this  notion  is  contrary  to  Scripture,  so  is  it  to  reason. 
For  reason  dictates,  that  if  governing  power  came  from  the  people,  the 
people  might,  whenever  they  pleased,  choose  to  disobey  their  governors, 
and  would  have  a  right  to  do  so.  A  parallel  case  will  make  you  sensi- 
ble of  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  Supreme,  legislative  authority  belongs 
to  me  within  the  narrow  compass  of  my  family,  as  you  suppose  that  it 
belongs  to  the  people  throughout  the  wide  extent  of  the  British  dominions. 
I  may,  if  I  please,  delegate  to  my  servant  the  right  of  making  house- 
hold  regulations.  And  if  I  had  delegated  my  right,  and  in  consequence 
of  this  delegation  my  servant  commanded  me  to  breakfast  at  eight  o'clock, 
is  it  not  evident  that,  if  I  pleased,  I  might  instantly  resume  my  delegated 
power,  and  say,  You  are  only  my  representative  ;  my  authority  exceeds 
yours  ;  I  insist  upon  breakfasting  an  hour  later  ?  Leaving  the  applica- 
tion of  my  simile  to  your  good  sense,  I  conclude,  that  whenever  you 
and  Dr.  Price  teach  that  the  power  of  the  governors  originates  from, 
or  is  delegated  by  the  governed,  you  sap  the  foundation  of  all  govern- 
ment, and  indirectly  bring  in  the  lawless  democracy  which  a  sacred 
historian  describes,  where  he  says,  "  In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in 
Israel  :  every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes." 

But  the  doctor  adds,  "  For  their  [the  people's]  sakes  government  was 
instituted  ;  and  theirs  is  the  only  real  omnipotence  !"  And  what  if  it  be, 
does  this  prove  that  governing  power  is  delegated  by  the  governed  ? 
Would  not  the  meanest  corporation  in  the  kingdom  dishonour  itself,  if  it 
complimented  me  for  saying  military  government  is  instituted  for  the 
sake  of  soldiers,  and  theirs  is  the  only  real  omnipotence  of  the  army ; 
therefore  the  power  of  the  general  and  other  officers  is  delegated  by, 
and  originates  from  the  soldiers.  Equally  conclusive,  O  ye  American 
patriots,  is  your  grand  argument  concerning  the  origin  of  power. 

Page  76,  introducing  the  doctor  for  the  last  time,  you  say:  "To 
prove  the  right  Great  Britain  has  to  tax  America,  it  is  very  common  to 
plead,  We  are  the  parent  state.  Hear  Dr.  Price  upon  this  subject." — 
"  These  are  the  magic  words  which  have,  fascinated  and  misled  us. 
The  English  came  from  Germany.  Does  that  give  the  German  states 
a  right  to  tax  us  ?"  To  this  triumphant  question  I  answer,  No  ;  because 
the  Germans  do  not  protect  us  :  but  if  the  German  Diet  had,  to  this  day, 
kept  up  fleets  to  guard  our  coasts,  and  an  army  to  fight  our  battles ;  and 
if  we  had  always  called  the  emperor  of  Germany  our  sovereign,  had 
received  his  lieutenants  as  our  governors,  and  admitted  his  coin  as  our 
lawful  money,  I  would  think  it  a  great  piece  of  disloyalty  and  injustice 
to  refuse  him  a  reasonable  tribute.  For  protection  and  reasonable  taxes 
are  equivalent  to  each  other,  as  the  customer's  money  is  equivalent  to 
the  tradesman's  goods.  Nor  is  it  less  unreasonable  in  the  colonists, 
vvho  have  got  their  immense  wealth  under  the  protective  wings  of  Great 
Britain,  to  refuse  Great  Britain  the  return  of  reasonable  taxes,  now  they 
are  able  to  pay  them,  than  it  would  be  in  you  to  receive  the  goods  of  a 
mercer,  and  to  refuse  making  him  a  proper  acknowledgment  by  paying 
the  reasonable  bill  he  sends  you,  when  he  thinks  you  can  discharge  it 
without  distressing  yourself.  And  as  it  would  be  a  shameful  excuse  in 
a  gentleman  to  say  to  his  tradesmen,  who  kindly  delayed  sending  in 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  521 

their  bills  till  he  had  received  their  rents,  Why  did  you  not  send  me 
your  bills  before  ?  So  it  is  an  unjust  excuse  in  the  colonists  to  say  to 
the  protective  power,  Why  did  you  not  pass  bills  of  internal  taxation 
before  the  stamp  act  ?  For  a  just  right,  founded  on  the  eternal  nature 
and  fitness  of  things,  can  never  be  lost,  though  it  should  never  be  exer- 
cised. If  you  pay  your  servant  wages  for  fifty  years,  without  ever 
commanding  him  to  go  on  one  single  errand,  and  at  last  order  him  to  do 
something  which  he  is  able  to  do,  he  cannot  plead  prescription  with  any 
decency.  He  would  betray  an  ingratitude  equal  to  his  insolence,  if  he 
said,  Sir,  you  never  commanded  me  to  go  on  your  errands  bejbre,  and 
therefore  you  have  lost  your  claim  to  my  obedience.  Had  such  a 
servant  a  grain  of  modesty  and  duty,  he  would  argue  in  a  manner 
diametrically  opposite ;  he  would  say,  I  am  doubly  bound  to  go  on  all 
your  errands  to  the  utmost  of  my  power.  Your  not  calling  upon  me 
to  exert  my  strength  for  you  before,  lays  me  under  a  double  obligation 
to  do  it  now  with  cheerfulness. 

This  brings,  to  my  mind  another  curious  argument  of  Dr.  Price.  "  Had 
the  colonies  [says  he]  been  communities  of  foreigners,  over  whom  we 
wanted  to  acquire  dominion,  &c,  they  [some  Englishmen]  are  ready  to 
admit  that  their  resistance  would  have  been  just.  In  my  opinion,  this 
is  the  same  with  saving,  that  the  colonists  ought  to  be  worse  off  than  the 
rest  of  mankind,  because  they  are  our  brethren."  To  show  the  incon- 
clusiveness  of  this  argument  I  need  only  bring  it  to  open  light,  thus : 
You  have  more  right  to  command  your  own  children  and  servants,  than 
to  command  strangers ;  and  therefore  your  own  children  and  servants 
are  worse  off  than  strangers.  Or  thus  :  The  British  legislature  has  more 
right  to  tax  British  subjects  than  the  subjects  of  France  or  Spain  ;  and 
therefore  British  subjects  are  worse  off  than  Frenchmen  and  Spaniards. 
The  subjects  of  France  and  Spain  would  justly  rise  against  British  taxa- 
tion, and  therefore  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  may  also  justly  rise 
against  it.  Or  thus  :  Englishmen  have  more  authority  over  their  wives 
than  over  the  wives  of  the  Turks;  therefore  English  women  are  worse 
off  than  the  rest  of  womankind,  yea,  than  the  wives  of  Turks,  because 
they  are  our  wives.  I  am  grieved  to  see  a  doctor  in  divinity  prostitute, 
by  such  arguments,  Christianity,  morality,  and  logic  to  the  infatuation 
of  a  restless,  levelling  patriotism. 

The  preceding  argument  of  Dr.  Price  is  introduced  by  the  levelling 
proposition  which  follows  : — 

"  Unless  different  parts  of  the  same  community  are  united  by  an 
equal  representation,  all  such  authority  [that  is,  all  the  authority  exercised 
by  one  part  of  the  community  over  the  other]  is  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  civil  liberty,"  and  "cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  servi- 
tude of  one"  part  "  to  another."  If  this  doctrine  be  true,  are  not  the 
lord  mayor,  the  aldermen,  and  the  freemen  of  the  city  of  London, 
chargeable  with  tyranny  ;  as  well  as  the  king,  the  parliament,  and  the 
electors  of  Great  Britain  ?  Is  not  Middlesex  filled  with  slaves,  as  well  as 
America?  And  may  I  not  address  the  London  patriots  thus: — Gentlemen, 
if  Dr.  Price's  levelling  doctrine  be  false,  why  do  you  honour  and  reward 
him  for  propagating  it  ?  And  if  it  be  true,  why  do  you  not  follow  it  1 
Why  do  you  not  begin  to  level  authority  in  your  own  jurisdiction,  as  you 
want  the  king  and  parliament  to  do  in  theirs  ?    In  a  word,  why  do  you 


522  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

not  unite  the  different  parts  of  your  community  by  an  equal  representa- 
tion ?  Your  community  is  made  up  of  two  sorts  of  men  :  freemen,  and 
men  who  have  not  the  freedom  of  your  city.  These,  who  make  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  your  community,  have  no  share  in  the  government 
of  it.  By  keeping  the  right  of  legislating  for  the  city  in  your  own  hands, 
you  exclude  them  from  an  equal  representation,  and  according  to  the 
admired  principles  of  your  champion,  your  authority  cannot  be  distin- 
guished from  the  servitude  of  one  part  of  the  city  to  the  other ;  from  the 
servitude  of  non-freemen  to  yourselves ;  and  therefore  you  yourselves 
are  as  much  involved  in  the  guilt  of  enslaving  your  fellow  creatures,  as 
your  scheme  supposes  the  king  and  parliament  to  be.  Let  your  principles 
of  civil  liberty  take  place  at  home  :  level  authority  in  the  city ;  or,  for 
decency's  sake,  never  more  reflect  upon  our  legislators  because  they  do 
not  level  it  in  the  empire. 

Dr.  Price  presents  us  with  another  bold  plea  for  levelling  patriotism ; 
and  it  is  so  much  the  more  curious,  as  it  is  a  perfect  jest  upon  die  free- 
dom of  the  city  of  London  with  which  the  patriots  have  presented  him. 
This  plea  runs  thus  :  "  We  [non-voters]  submit  to  a  parliament  that  does 
not  represent  us,  and  therefore  they  [the  colonists]  ought.  How  strange 
an  argument  is  this !  It  is  saying  we  want  liberty,  and  therefore  they 
ought  to  want  it.  Suppose  it  true,  that  they  are  indeed  contending  for 
a  better  constitution  of  government,  and  more  liberty  than  we  enjoy : 
ought  this  to  make  us  angry  ?  Is  it  generous,  because  we  are  in  a  sink, 
to  endeavour  to  draw  them  into  it  1  Ought  we  not  rather  to  wish  ear- 
nestly that  there  may  be  at  least  one  free  country  left  upon  earth,  to 
which  we  may  flee  when  venality,  luxury,  and  vice  have  completed  the 
ruin  of  liberty  here  ?"  I  own  to  you,  sir,  that  if  I  were  the  author  of  Dr. 
Price's  Observations,  and  the  patriots  of  London  rewarded  me  for  my 
book,  by  giving  me  the  freedom  of  their  city,  I  would  reject  that  honour 
with  detestation,  and  say,  Gentlemen,  what  do  you  mean  by  presenting 
me  with  the  freedom  of  your  eity  ?  Is  not  your  intended  favour  a  glaring 
proof  that  you  enslaved  me  before,  as  you  do  all  my  fellow  citizens  who 
are  not  freemen  ?  Will  you  bribe  me  into  tyranny  by  a  gold  box  ?  Far 
from  accepting  a  place  in  your  partial  legislature,  I  will  excite  my  en- 
slaved fellow  citizens  to  rise  against  you.  I  will  contend  for  a  better 
constitution  of  city  government,  and  more  liberty  than  we  enjoy :  ought 
this  to  make  you  angry  ?  Is  it  generous,  because  the  non-freemen  are  in 
a  sink,  to  endeavour  to  keep  them  in  it  ?  Ought  we  not  rather  to  wish 
earnestly,  that  there  may  at  least  be  one  free  city  left  in  Great  Britain, 
to  which  we  may  flee  when  venality,  luxury,  and  vice  have  completed 
the  ruin  of  liberty  in  the  kingdom  ?  Till  Dr.  Price  acts  in  this  manner, 
and  the  city  patriots  recant  their  encomiums  of  his  book,  or  abolish  the 
distinction  between  freemen  and  non-freemen  in  their  community,  they 
must  give  the  unprejudiced  world  leave  to  consider  them  as  inconsistent 
men,  who  say  and  do  not :  as  partial  men,  who  lay  upon  other  com- 
munities heavy  burdens,  which  they  will  not  suffer  their  own  community 
to  touch  :  and  as  restless,  imperious  subjects,  who  insist  upon  our  legis- 
lators levelling  authority  in  America,  when  they  themselves  will  not  level 
it  in  England  ;  no,  not  in  the  city  of  London,  where  American  patriotism 
has  set  up  its  standard.     But  I  return  to  taxes. 

You  will  perhaps  object,  that  if  the  colonists  once  owed  taxes  to  the 


AMEKICAN   JfATKlOTISM.  523 

British  legislature  for  protection,  yet  they  owe  them  now  no  more,  be- 
cause all  ties  and  natural  contracts  are  now  broken  ;  the  mother  country 
having  turned  her  protection  into  acts  of  open  hostility  ;  I  reply,  that 
Great  Britain  chastises  the  colonies  for  their  disobedience  with  the 
reluctance  of  a  fond  parent,  who,  when  she  corrects  an  undutiful  child, 
is  ready  to  take  his  part  against  a  murderer.  Were  it  not  for  the  terror 
of  our  fleets,  some  greedy  European  powers  would,  perhaps,  at  this  very 
time,  fall  upon  the  colonies,  and  endeavour  to  annex  them  to  their  do- 
minions. Again  :  if  your  servant  or  your  son  had  abused  you,  and  you 
gave  him  correction  to  bring  him  to  a  sense  of  his  duty,  would  he  not 
add  folly  to  wickedness  if  he  said,  Sir,  my  obligation  to  obey  you  ceases; 
for  instead  of  using  me  as  a  master,  or  a  father,  you  prepare  to  correct 
me ;  nay,  you  strike  me !  Every  relation,  therefore,  is  now  at  an  end 
between  us.  You  have  cut  the  last  knot  which  tied  me  to  you,  and  I  will 
now  fight  you  as  an  open  enemy.  This  immoral  excuse  brings  to  my 
remembrance  the  obstinacy  of  some  incorrigible  men,  whom  David 
describes  thus  :  "  The  wrath  of  God  came  upon  them"  for  their  disobe- 
dience, "and  slew  the  fattest  of  them.  For  all  this  they  sinned  still — yea, 
they  sinned  yet  more  against  him" — their  Divine  Sovereign.  But  I  hope 
better  things  of  our  pious  American  brethren.  Notwithstanding  the 
unwearied  endeavours  of  some  patriots  to  confirm  them  in  their  unnatural 
resistance,  they  will,  I  trust,  submit  to  God  and  the  king. 

Page  76,  you  continue  to  quote  the  doctor  thus  :  "  Children  having 
no  property,  and  being  incapable  of  guarding  themselves,  the  Author  of 
nature  has  committed  the  care  of  them  to  their  parents,  and  subjected 
them  to  their  absolute  authority.  But  there  is  a  period  when,  having 
acquired  property,  and  a  capacity  of  judging  for  themselves,  they  become 
independent  agents ;  and  when,  for  this  reason,  the  authority  of  their 
parent  ceases,  and  becomes  nothing,  but  the  respect  and  influence  due 
to  benefactors."  This  argument  is  as  illogical  as  it  is  ingenious :  the  flaw 
of  it  consists  in  confounding  the  double  relation  which  the  colonists  sus- 
tain, namely,  that  of  sons,  and  that  of  subjects  of  Great  Britain  ;  grant- 
ing, therefore,  to  Dr.  Price,  that  according  to  the  law  of  nature,  there  is 
a  time  when  children  become  independent  by  acquiring  property  and 
wisdom  ;  yet  this  is  not  the  case  with  respect  to  subjects ;  but  whatever 
be  their  wealth  and  age,  and  whatever  capacity  they  have  of  judging  for 
themselves,  they  continue  to  be  dependent  agents ;  being  still  bound  to 
obey,  in  all  reasonable  things,  the  legislative  power  under  which  Provi- 
dence has  placed  them.  The  plausible  argument  of  your  second,  when 
touched  with  the  finger  of  sound  logic,  shrinks,  therefore,  into  a  sophism 
as  glaring  as  that  which  follows:  when  the  prince  of  Wales  shall  be 
of  age,  he  shall  be  independent  on  his  father,  and  therefore  he  shall  also 
be  independent  on  the  king.  He  shall  have  the  liberty  of  taking  a  ride, 
whether  his  father  consent  or  not,  and  therefore  he  shall  also  have  the 
liberty  of  commanding  the  fleet  and  the  army,  whether  his  king  consent 
or  not.  If  you  would  be  frightened  at  my  wickedness,  were  I  to  stir  up 
the  prince  to  rebellion  by  such  sophistry ;  why  do  you  recommend  as 
"  excellent,"  a  pamphlet  which  supports  the  American  revolt  by  so  weak 
an  argument  ? 

You  continue  to  quote  the  doctor :  "  Supposing,  therefore,  that  the 
order  of  nature,  in  establishing  the  relation  between  parents  and  children, 


524  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

ought  to  have  been  the  rule  of  our  conduct  to  the  colonies,  we  should 
have  been  gradually  relaxing  our  authority  as  they  grew  up."  Another 
great  mistake  this,  of  which  you  will  be  sensible  if  you  apply  the  doctor's 
simile  to  the  case  in  hand,  thus  : — If  the  sovereign  ought  to  consider  the 
colonists  as  the  children  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  treat  them  in  a  parental 
manner ;  as  they  grew  up  in  power  he  should  have  been  gradually  les- 
sening their  burdens.  But  is  not  the  inference  big  with  absurdity  ?  Be- 
cause parents  lay  no  burden  upon  a  sucking  child,  does  it  follow  that 
they  are  to  lay  gradually  less  and  less  upon  him  as  he  grows  up  ?  Does 
not  every  unprejudiced  person  see  that,  if  a  parent  wants  his  children's 
assistance,  he  may  increase,  and  has  a  right,  as  they  grow  up,  gradually 
to  increase  the  little  burdens  he  wants  them  to  carry ;  and  that  nothing 
would  be  more  absurd  than  "  gradually  to  relax  his  authority"  in  this 
respect,  when  their  increasing  strength  begins  to  render  that  authority 
valuable  1  But  supposing  parents  ought  to  require  less  and  less  of  their 
children  as  they  grow  up,  does  it  follow  that  sovereigns  ought  to  do  so 
too  with  respect  to  their  subjects  ?  Is  there  a  legislature  in  all  the  uni- 
verse so  far  sunk  in  stupidity  as  to  say  to  their  subjects,  You  have  paid 
taxes  to  the  sovereign  for  above  a  thousand  years,  you  are  now  grown 
up  into  an  ancient  kingdom  ;  the  American  patriots  have  insinuated  that, 
as  our  subjects  are  our  children,  we  should  gradually  relax  our  authority 
of  taxing  them  as  they  grow  up,  and  therefore  we  enact  that  you  shall 
pay  but  one  half  of  our  taxes  for  fifty  years,  and  in  a  hundred  years  you 
shall  pay  nothing,  for  the  government  will  be  old  enough  to  support 
itself  without  any  taxes  at  all :  so  shall  we  show  the  world  that  we  are 
grey-headed  lawgivers,  that  you  "  are  no  children,"  and  that  our  once 
childish  constitution  is  grown  to  manly  wisdom  and  strength.  Such  are 
the  reasonings  of  Dr.  Price's  "  most  excellent  pamphlet !"  Can  feathers 
be  lighter  than  these  arguments,  with  which  the  American  patriots  hope 
to  batter  down  British  patriotism  ?  Feathers  however  may  do  mischief, 
when  they  are  closely  compacted  in  a  strong  paper  vehicle ;  when  they 
are  rendered  ponderous  by  the  weight  of  a  gold  box,  and  when  busy 
prejudice  hurls  them  through  town  and  country  with  incredible  ardour. 

This  part  of  the  American  controversy  is  so  important,  that  I  beg 
leave  to  throw  light  upon  it  by  an  apposite  illustration.  I  live  in  a  pa- 
rish where  the  wealth  of  several  men  consists  in  the  number  and  strength 
of  their  children.  A  poor  collier  has,  it  may  be,  five  or  six  sons.  He 
works  night  and  day  to  maintain  them,  in  hopes  that  they  will  one  day 
help  to  maintain  him,  and  borrows  money  to  build  a  house  ;  flattering 
himself  that  by  the  assistance  of  his  children,  as  they  grow  up,  he  shall 
soon  discharge  the  debt.  When  they  are  eight  years  of  age,  they  get 
him  a  groat  a  day  ;  at  fourteen,  a  shilling  ;  and  at  nineteen,  eighteen 
pence  :  so  that  the  poor  man  has  a  fair  prospect  of  being  soon,  as  he 
says,  "on  a  level  with  the  world."  But  alas!  His  hope  proves  abor- 
tive :  a  busy  body,  an  envious  neighbour,  or  some  designing  person, 
poisons  the  minds  of  his  dutiful  children  with  the  politics  of  Dr.  Price, 
and  says,  Your  father  does  not  use  you  well.  He  is  a  tyrant.  The 
stronger  you  grow,  the  more  burdens  he  lays  upon  you  ;  whereas  he 
should  lav  less  and  less.  You  "  are  no  children :"  you  can  maintain 
yourselves,  and  spend  your  own  money.  If  I  were  in  your  place,  this 
very  day  I  would  leave  the  old  man  and  set  up  for  myself.     Too  many 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  525 

of  these  deluded  youths  have  I  seen,  first  using  their  parent  ill  through 
such  mischievous  insinuations ;  and  then  turning  their  back  upon  him, 
to  go  and  squander  in  riot  and  bloody  sports,  the  money  which  they 
should  have  applied  to  the  discharge  of  the  family  debt,  which  was 
contracted  to  build  the  house  where  they  have  lived  rent  free  all  their 
lives. 

If  1  blame  this  conduct  in  my  young,  undutiful  parishioners,  can  I 
approve  of  it  in  my  American  fellow  subjects,  who  despise  a  legislative 
power  possessed  of  royal,  as  well  as  parental  authority?  Is  it  right  in 
them  to  turn  their  backs  upon  their  mother  country  when  she  groans 
under  the  weight  of  a  debt,  which  has  been  in  part  contracted  for  their 
sake  ?  And  can  we  wonder  enough  at  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Price,  who  tells 
us  of  "the  ruin  with  which  the  national  debt  threatens  us;  a  debt  much 
heavier  than  that  which,  fifty  years  ago,  the  wisest  men  thought  would 
necessarily  sink  us ;"  an  immense  debt  which  we  have  no  fair  prospect 
of  discharging  but  by  the  prudent  management  of  growing  taxes,  and  by 
the  loyal,  filial,  and  brotherly  assistance  which  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  the  colonies  ;  can  we,  I  say,  wonder  enough  at  the  strange  conduct 
of  Dr.  Price,  who,  while  he  tries  to  frighten  us  with  the  awful  aspect  of 
this  national  debt,  says  all  he  can  to  render  us  odious  and  contemptible  to 
the  colonies,  by  whose  friendly  and  proportionable  help  we  are  in  hopes 
of  discharging  it '.' 

This  conduct  of  Dr.  Price  is  so  much  the  more  surprising,  as  he  inti- 
mates, in  his  conclusion,  that  "  the  debt  of  England,  &c,  might  be  ac- 
knowledged the  debt  of  every  individual  part  of  the  whole  empire,  Asia, 
as  well  as  America,  included."  For  my  part,  supposing  subjects  had  a 
right  to  retire  from  their  "sovereigns,  as  grown-up  children  have  to  leave 
their  parents,  I  do  not  see  how  the  colonies  could  in  conscience  desire 
to  set  up  for  themselves,  and  form  a  separate  empire  before  they  have 
helped  their  mother  country  to  extricate  herself  out  of  the  difficulty  of 
her  national  debt ;  nor  can  I  conceive  how  the  sovereign  could  justly 
permit  them  to  commence  independent ;  because  the  strength  and  wealth 
of  all  the  British  empire  are  the  double  security  on  which  thousands  of 
people  have  placed  either  the  whole  or  a  part  of  their  fortune  in  the 
stocks ;  and  it  would  be  wronging  the  public  to  let  so  considerable  a  part 
of  that  security,  as  America,  be  lost. 

However,  (says  Dr.  Price,  who  is  always  unhappily  ingenious  in  find- 
ing fault  with  the  sovereign's  conduct,)  "  had  we  nourished  and  favoured 
America,  with  a  view  to  commerce,  instead  of  considering  it  as  a  coun- 
try to  be  governed,  &c,  a  growing  surplus  in  the  revenue  might  have 
been  gained,  which,  invariably  applied  to  the  gradual  discharge  of  the 
national  debt,  would  have  delivered  us  from  the  ruin  with  which  it 
threatens  us."  "This  trade  [with  the  colonies]  was  not  only  an  increas- 
ing trade,  but  it  was  a  trade  in  which  we  had  no  rivals — a  trade  certain, 
constant,  and  uninterrupted." 

But  why  was  this  trade  "  an  increasing  trade,  in  which  we  had  no 
rivals  ?"  Was  it  not  because  the  colonists  were  so  taken  up  with  clear- 
ing ground,  planting,  and  building,  that  they  had  no  time  to  apply  them- 
selves to  the  culture  of  less  necessary  arts  ?  But  now  that  their  houses 
are  built,  their  fields  in  proper  order,  and  their  numbers  multiplying  fast, 
they  must  either  idly  look  one  at  another,  or  erect  manufactures,  and 


526  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

provide  themselves  with  a  hundred  articles  with  which  they  have  been 
supplied  from  England.  So  shall  they  themselves  naturally  become  our 
"  rivals"  in  manufactures,  and  the  moment  this  is  the  case,  our  trade 
with  them  will  naturally  decrease,  and  Dr.  Price's  scheme  for  discharg- 
ing the  national  debt  will  prove  an  idle  speculation,  unless  we  should  act 
so  tyrannical  a  part  as  to  put  a  total  stop  to  industry  among  them. 
Hence  appears  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  internal  taxes,  in  order  to 
obtain  from  them  a  revenue,  which  may  be  at  once  rational,  Scriptural, 
constitutional,  and  sure. 

Again  :  why  has  our  trade  with  the  colonies  been  hitherto  "  a  trade 
certain,  constant,  and  uninterrupted  ?"  Was  it  not  because  Great  Bri- 
tain, by  maintaining  her  supremacy  over  the  colonies,  could  confine  their 
trade  and  make  it  fiow  in  British  channels  ?  If  she  give  up  her  supre- 
macy, will  she  be  able  to  confine  the  colonies  to  trade  with  her,  more 
than  with  France,  Holland,  or  Spain  ?  Is  it  not  evident,  that  in  the  same 
year  when  she  loses  her  supremacy,  not  only  her  American  dominions 
and  taxes,  but  likewise  her  American  ports  and  trade  will  be  lost  for 
ever,  unless  the  colonists  can  get  more  by  us  than  by  other  nations  ?  I 
should  wonder  that  so  obvious  a  thought  escaped  so  penetrating  a  genius 
as  Dr.  Price ;  if  I  did  not  know  that  the  peculiar  patriotism,  which 
I  oppose,  is  so  intent  upon  looking  for  defects  in  the  constitution,  and  for 
blemishes  in  our  governors,  that  it  frequently  overlooks  the  most  glaring 
truths. 

Return  we  now  to  your  quotation,  and  let  us  see  if  the  conclusion  is 
preferable  to  the  beginning.  Dr.  Price  goes  on  :  "  But,  like  mad  parents, 
we  have  done  the  contrary ;  and  at  the  very  time  when  our  authority 
should  have  been  most  relaxed,  we  have  carrie'd  it  to  the  greatest  extent, 
and  exercised  it  with  the  greatest  vigour.  No  wonder  then  that  they 
[the  colonists]  have  turned  upon  us,  and  obliged  us  to  remember,  that 
they  are  not  children."  Bring  the  doctor's  meaning  to  open  light ; 
unfold  his  argument,  and  you  will  find  the  following  propositions,  which 
may  be  considered  as  the  political  creed  of  Dr.  Price  and  the  American 
patriots:  (1.)  Parents  who  do  not  relax  their  authority  of  laying  some 
easy  burdens  upon  their  children,  as  their  children  grow  more  able  to 
bear  such  burdens,  are  "  mad  parents."  (2.)  Our  political  parents,  that 
is,  our  legislators,  who  have  not  relaxed  their  authority  of  laying  some 
easy  taxes  upon  their  American  children,  as  these  children  grew  more 
able  to  pay  such  taxes,  are  "  mad"  legislators.  (3.)  When  children  grow 
up  and  have  got  strength  enough  to  bear  a  little  burden  for  their  heavy- 
laden  parents  ;  and  when  such  parents  desire  their  children  to  give  them 
some  filial  assistance,  it  is  no  wonder  that  grown-up  children  turn  upon 
their  parents,  and  oblige  them  "  to  remember  that  they  are  not  children." 
(4.)  The  colonies  have  now  got  strength  enough  to  ease  Great  Britain 
by  bearing  some  small  proportion  of  the  taxes  with  which  she  is  loaded  ; 
and  therefore  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  turn,  sword  in  hand,  upon  their 
mother  country,  and  oblige  her  to  remember  that  they  are  not  children. 
Such  is  the  manner  in  which  a  doctor  in  divinity  enforces  the  fifth  com- 
mandment ! 

If  this  doctrine  shock  you,  sir,  what  would  you  think  of  it,  were  I  to 
apply  it  to  the  character  of  subjects  of  Great  Britain  ;  a  character  this, 
which  the  colonists  bear,  as  well  as  that  of  sons  of  Britons  ?    In  this 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  527 

view  of  things,  the  doctor's  patriotic  creed  naturally  swells  with  the  fol- 
lowing  articles:  (1.)  A  sovereign  who  does  not  relax  his  authority  of 
laying  reasonable  taxes  upon  his  subjects,  as  they  grow  more  able  to 
pay  such  taxes,  acts  like  a  "  mad"  sovereign.  (2.)  When  subjects  have  got 
strength  and  wealth  enough  to  pay  such  taxes,  they  may  "turn  upon" 
their  sovereign,  and  oblige  him  to  .remember  that  they  are  no  impotent 
subjects.  And  lastly,  to  make  an  application  of  the  whole,  the  king  and 
parliament  have  acted  like  mad  lawgivers,  by  laying  a  reasonable  tax 
upon  their  American  subjects ;  and  the  colonists  only  oppose  madness, 
when  they  rise  up  in  arms  against  their  sovereign,  rather  than  pay  the 
reasonable  tax  laid  upon  them.  If  there  be  a  grain  of  piety,  morality, 
or  good  sense  in  one  article  of  this  patriotic  creed,  I  consent  to  forfeit  my 
claim  to  a  grain  of  common  sense. 

Dr.  Price  may  possibly  attempt  to  prove  that  the  last  articles  of  this 
creed  do  not  belong  to  his  doctrine ;  for  he  insinuates  that  the  colonists 
are  not  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain.  Take  his  own  words  : — "  The  peo- 
ple of  America  are  no  more  the  subjects  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
than  the  people  of  Yorkshire  are  the  subjects  of  the  people  of  Middlesex." 
This  proposition  is  true,  if  the  doctor  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain  mean 
you,  me,  and  our  British  fellow  subjects.*  But  who  ever  pretended  that  the 
colonists  are  the  subjects  of  Yorkshiremen  or  Cornishmen  ?  No  Briton 
but  the  king  can  say  to  a  colonist,  You  are  my  subject.  And  if  George 
the  Third  has  a  right  to  say  it  to  every  colonist,  it  is  only  as  he  is  the 
head  and  representative  of  the  whole  legislative  power,  and  can  say  it 
to  every  Englishman.  When  we  assert  that  the  colonists  are  the  subjects 
of  Great  Britain,  we  do  not  set  ourselves  above  them.  We  only  mean 
that  they  are  under  the  legislative  power  of  Great  Britain  as  well  as  we. 
And  Dr.  Price  inadvertently  grants  it,  when  he  adds,  "  They  are  our 
fellow  subjects."  For  if  they  are  our  fellow  subjects,  they  are  bound  to 
obey  the  British  legislature  as  much  as  we  are  ;  as  much  at  least  as  the 
body  of  non-voters  in  England  ;  a  countless  body  this,  which  far  exceeds 
the  number  of  all  the  American  colonists,  as  appears  from  the  account 
which  Dr.  Price  himself  gives  us  of  the  inequality  of  our  representation, 
and  the  prodigious  difference  which  the  constitution  makes  between 
Briton  and  Briton,  with  regard  to  the  privilege  of  voting  at  elections. 
"  In  Great  Britain,  (says  he,)  consisting  of  near  six  millions  of  inhabit- 
ants, five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  persons,  most  of 
them  the  lowest  of  the  people,  elect  one  half  of  the  house  of  commons  ; 
three  hundred  and  sixty-four  votes  choose  the  ninth  part."  According 
to  this  account,  and  that  which  in  other  places  he  gives  us  of  the  colo- 
nies, which  he  says  consist  of  "  near  three  millions  of  people,"  it  follows 
that  when  the  parliament  taxes  the  non-voters  in  England,  it  taxes  at 
least  two  millions  of  persons  more  than  when  it  taxes  all  British 
America. 

With  respect  to  the  prerogative  which  Britons,  as  a  more  ancient  peo- 
ple, enjoy  when  they  choose  parliament  men,  it  may  be  as  reasonably 
and  legally  invested  in  an  elder  community  of  subjects,  as  a  family  pre- 
rogative is  invested  in  an  elder  brother.  Add  to  this,  that,  by  paying 
heavier  taxes,  we  now  make,  and  I  hope  shall  always  equitably  make,  a 
compensation  to  the  colonies  for  the  superior  privileges  annexed  to  our 
eldership.    Nor  is  it  more  just  in  the  colonies  to  levy  war  against  Britons 


528  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

on  the  present  occasion,  than  it  would  be  in  younger  brothers  to  fall 
sword  in  hand  upon  their  elder  brother,  because  custom  and  law  allow 
him  peculiar  rights  necessary  to  support  the  dignity  of  their  family, 
which,  as  the  first-born  son,  he  peculiarly  represents. 

Should  you  say  that,  according  to  this  doctrine,  the  colonists  lose  the 
birthright  transmitted  to  them,  as  sons  of  free-born  Englishmen,  namely, 
the  right  of  being  their  own  legislators ;  a  sacred  right  this,  "  without 
which  government  is  a  curse,"  and  subjection  "abject  slavery ;"  I  re- 
ply, that  what  the  people  of  England  never  had,  cannot  be  lost  by  the 
people  of  England,  much  less  by  the  people  of  America.  "What  !  (says 
your  scheme)  have  not  the  voters  in  England  the  right  of  making  their 
own  laws  1"  No,  sir,  no  more  than  angels  in  heaven,  and  Frenchmen 
on  earth.  "  What !  do  we  not  choose  our  own  representatives  ?  And 
are  not  our  representatives  lawgivers  ?"  Yes,  sir,  but  they  are  not  law- 
givers, as  they  are  our  agents  and  representatives  ;  but  as  they  are  the 
agents  and  representatives  of  the  great  Lawgiver,  who  ordains  the  powers 
that  are.  "  However,  they  legislate  in  consequence  of  our  choice." 
True  ;  but  not  through  any  legislative  power  communicated  to  them  by 
virtue  of  our  choice.  You  rule  your  own  wife,  if  you  have  one,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  choice  she  made'  of  you  for  a  husband  ;  but  not  by  any 
authority  she  conveyed  to  you.  If  you  have  sons,  and  give  them  the 
choice  of  half  a  dozen  masters,  he  whom  they  choose  acquires  a  right 
to  command  them  in  consequence  of  their  choice,  but  not  through  any 
authority  conveyed  to  him  by  virtue  of  that  choice.  The  authority  of 
commanding  your  sons  must  come  from  a  higher  source  than  their  elec- 
tion. If  they  could  bestow  magisterial  authority,  they  could  resume  it 
as  often  as  they  are  inclined  to  play  the  truant.  "What !  according  to 
the  British  constitution,  is  it  not  the  prerogative  of  certain  men,  whom 
we  call  freeholders  and  burgesses,  to  give  their  vote  to  certain  gentlemen, 
who,  in  consequence  of  those  votes,  are  admitted  as  members  of  the  house 
of  commons,  in  which  a  large  share  of  the  legislative  power  is  lodged  ?" 
True  :  this  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  British  government,  just  as  it  is  a  pe- 
culiarity of  the  Church  of  England,  that  some  men  called  rectors,  vicars, 
and  patrons,  can  give  a  student  in  divinity  a  title,  in  consequence  of 
which  he  is  invested  with  authority  to  be  an  ambassador  of  Christ,  and 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  But  observe  !  this  authority  comes  not  from  the 
rector,  vicar,  or  patron ;  it  descends  from  Christ  himself.  If  I  fancied, 
that  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel  originates  from  me,  because  I  can 
give  a  candidate  for  orders  a  title,  in  consequence  of  which  he  may  be 
admitted  into  holy  orders,  and  preach  for  me,  and  to  me,  I  should  betray 
my  spiritual  vanity  in  the  Church,  as  much  as  those  men  betray  their 
political  pride  in  the  state,  who  fancy  that  they  are  born  legislators,  and 
that  they  can  convey  the  power  of  making  laws  to  the  gentlemen  for  whom 
they  vote  at  an  election,  just  as  you  can  convey  the  authority  of  dress- 
ing your  horse  to  the  man  whom  you  choose  for  your  groom.  I  have 
dwelt  the  more  upon  this  part  of  our  controversy,  because  the  notion  of 
self  government  and  self  legislation  naturally  belong  to  all  men  in  gene- 
ral, and  to  the  people  and  colonies  of  Great  Britain  in  particular,  is  the 
■sspunv-^svSog,  tbe  capital  error,  from  which  flows  your  American  patri- 
otism. The  moment  that  error  is  discovered,  this  boasted  virtue  visibly 
degenerates  into  a  vice  compounded  of  one  or  more  of  the  following 


AMERICAN  PATKIOTISM.  529 

ingredients — inattention,  prejudice,  ignorance,  conceit,  pride,  ambition, 
envy,  refractoriness,  and  civil  Antinomianism. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  preceding  letter,  how  greatly  you  have  wronged 
the  sovereign  in  pointing  out  the  cause  of  the  war  with  America ;  let  us 
see  if  Dr.  Price  does  the  king  and  parliament  more  justice  than  you  do. 
"  The  present  contest  (says  his  pamphlet)  is  for  dominion  on  the  side  of 
the  colonies,  as  well  as  on  ours ;  but  with  this  difference  :  we  are 
struggling  for  dominion  over  others  ;  they  for  self  dominion,  the  noblest 
of  all  blessings.  I  am  persuaded,  that  were  pride,  the  lust  of  dominion, 
exterminated  from  every  heart  among  us,  &c,  this  quarrel  would  soon 
be  ended.  To  sheath  our  swords  in  the  bowels  of  our  brethren — for  no 
other  end  than  to  oblige  them  to  acknowledge  our  supremacy  :  how 
horrid  !  This  is  the  cursed  ambition  that  led  a  Cesar,  and  an  Alexander, 
and  many  other  mad  conquerors,  to  attack  peaceful  communities,  and  to 
lay  waste  the  earth.  This  war  can  have  no  other  object  than  the  ex- 
tension  of  power."  These  patriotic  assertions  appear  to  me  big  with 
absurdity  and  gross  injustice.  Does  Great  Britain  aim  at  an  "  extension 
of  power,"  when  she  protects  our  injured  merchants,  her  oppressed  sub- 
jects ?  Have  not  all  sovereigns  the  right  to  defend  wronged  innocence  ? 
Nay,  is  it  not  their  bounden  duty  so  to  do  with  respect  to  their  own 
subjects?  Does  our  legislature  "  extend  her  power"  when  she  taxes  the 
Americans  ?  Has  not  Dr.  Price  himself  granted  that  they  were  taxed 
in  the  late  reign?  And  does  not  his  own  conscience  declare,  that  pro- 
tective powers  have  the  right  of  reasonably  taxing  the  protected  ;  and 
that  this  right  has  been  enjoyed  by  all  sovereigns  in  all  ages  ? 

Again  :  if  the  king  of  Great  Britain  is  the  lawful  sovereign  of  the  colo- 
nies, and  has  as  much  right  to  command  them  as  to  command  us ;  if  all  the 
men  in  power  among  them  before  the  revolt  took  oaths  of  fidelity  to  him, 
as  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  who  is  inseparably  connected  with  his  British 
parliament  ;  and  if  they  have  always  submitted  to  British  laws,  and 
"  always  looked  to  this  country  as  their  home,"  if  this  is  the  case,  I  say, 
can  any  thing  be  more  unreasonable  and  unjust  than  to  pour  floods  of 
odium  upon  the  efforts  which  the  sovereign  makes  to  bring  back  the 
colonists  to  their  former  allegiance  ;  and  to  compare  those  efforts  to  the 
lust  of  power  which  intoxicated  Cesar  and  Alexander,  when  without  any 
provocation  they  attacked  and  conquered  foreign  kingdoms  ?  If  a  second 
Ket  should  arise  in  England,  affect  independency,  play  the  tyrant,  draw 
all  the  country  people  from  their  work,  and  engage  half  a  dozen  coun- 
ties to  revolt,  would  any  man,  except  an  American  patriot,  dare  to  say 
that  it  would  be  "  savage  folly  to  address  the  throne"  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  growing  mischief?  Could  you  insinuate,  with  candour,  that 
;f  the  king  exerted  his  power  on  such  an  occasion,  he  would  act  the  part 
of  a  "mad  conqueror?"  And  would  not  your  blood  run  cold,  if  you 
heard  a  Christian  doctor  put  this  wild  plea  into  the  mouth  of  a  Ket  and 
his  adherents  :  "  O  king,  the  spirit  of  domination  and  the  lust  of  power 
make  thee  mad. ,  Thou  wilt  sheath  thy  sword  in  our  bowels,  and  spread 
misery  among  a  happy  people  for  no  other  end  than  to  oblige  them  to 
acknowledge  thy  supremacy.  We  confess  that  the  present  contest  is 
for  dominion  on  our  side  as  well  as  on  thine ;  but  with  this  essential 
difference ;  thou  art  struggling  for  dominion  over  others ;  we  for  self 
dominion,  the  noblest  of  all  blessings?" 

Vol.  IV.  34 


530  AMERICAN  1'ATKIOTISJtt. 

This  seditious  sophism  is  sufficient  to  fill  us  with  a  just  detestation  of 
Dr.  Price's  politics.  But  a  scheme  which  has  a  direct  tendency  so  to 
level  authority,  as  to  subvert  all  government,  and  abolish  all  subordination 
in  the  universe — such  a  scheme,  I  say,  cannot  be  too  strongly  opposed  : 
it  should  be  totally  extirpated.  Archimedes  said  once,  "  Give  me  a  point 
on  which  I  may  fix  my  engine,  and  I  will  move  the  earth  out  of  its  place." 
And  I  may  say,  Give  me  Dr.  Price's  political  principles,  and  I  will  move 
all  kings  out  of  their  thrones,  and  all  subjection  out  of  the  world.  To 
convince  you  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  I  need  only  work  a  moment 
his  patriotic  engine  in  your  presence. 

The  collector  of  the  land  tax  is  at  the  door :  fired  with  Dr.  Price's 
patriotism,  I  run  to  him  and  say,  Sir,  I  am  a  freeman.  You  shall  treat 
me  neither  as  a  beast,  nor  as  a  slave.  I  never  yet  chose  a  parliament 
man  in  all  my  life ;  nor  will  I  be  taxed  till  I  am  directly  and  adequately 
represented  in  parliament.  And  suppose  I  were,  I  could  not  in  con- 
science pay  taxes  to  maintain  a  government,  which  enslaves  millions  of 
my  free-born  fellow  creatures,  who  are  taxed  without  being  directly  or 
adequately  represented.  Beside,  I  pay  parish  rates,  and  the  levies  of 
my  hundred ;  and  must  I  submit  to  be  triple  taxed  ?  Will  those  who 
send  you  insist  upon  such  a  supremacy  over  me,  as  will  leave  me  nothing 
that  I  can  call  my  own  ?  Would  you  let  me  alone  and  suffer  me  to  enjoy 
in  security  my  property  and  parish  government,  instead  of  disturbing  me, 
I  would  thank  and  bless  you.  But  if  you  will  not,  I  have  a  right  to 
emancipate  myself  as  soon  as  I  can  :  I  will  show  you,  that  I  and  my 
hundred  have  the  right  of  legislating  for  ourselves.  This  blessing,  when 
lost,  we  have  always  a  right  to  resume :  and  I  resume  it  now  in  the 
name  of  all  the  non-electors  in  the  parish  and  hundred,  who  are  the 
majority,  and  who  should  be  as  glad  as  myself  to  pay  taxes  only  when 
they  have  a  mind.  Dulce  pro  parochia  mori !  But  suppose  they  choose 
to  be  enslaved,  I  do  not.  Dr.  Price  has  converted  me  to  patriotism.  I  act 
according  to  his  admired  doctrine,  which  is  summed  up  in  the  following 
propositions  :  "  In  a  free  state  every  man  is  his  own  legislator."  "  To 
be  free,  is  to  be  guided  by  one's  own  will ;  and  to  be  guided  by  the  will 
of  another  is  the  character  of  servitude."  "As  far  as,  in  any  instance 
the  operation  of  any  cause  comes  in  to  restrain  the  power  of  self  govern 
ment,  [whether  it  be  in  an  individual,  in  a  parish,  hundred,  colony,  pro- 
vince, principality,  or  kingdom,]  so  far  slavery  is  introduced.  Nor  do  ] 
think  that  a  preciser  idea  than  this  of  liberty  or  slavery  can  be  formed." 
According  to  this  doctrine,  I  can  not  only  refuse  paying  taxes  with  the 
majority  of  my  hundred,  but  alone,  by  virtue  of  my  own  personal  right. 
For  if  every  man  is  his  own  legislator,  it  is  plain  that  he  can  make  his 
own  laws.  Now,  as  I  am  a  man,  I  am  my  own  legislator  ;  and  as  such 
I  enact,  that  I  ought  not  to  pay  the  tax  you  demand  of  me.  Should 
you  say  that  the  parliament  has  enacted  I  shall  pay  it,  I  reply,  (in  Mr. 
Evans'  and  Dr.  Price's  words,)  "  What  a  man  has  is  absolutely  his  own  : 
no  man  has  a  right  to  take  it  from  him  without  his  consent,  expressed 
by  himself,  or  by  his  own  representative,"  that  is,  by  a  representative  of 
his  own  choosing.  What  authority  has  the  parliament  to  cede  my  pro- 
perty ?  "  Such  a  cession  being  inconsistent  with  the  unalienable  rights  of 
human  nature,  either  binds  not  at  all,  or  binds  only  the  individuals  who 
mad(!  it,"  and  the  men  who  chose  such  individuals  for  their  representa 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  531 

tives.  This  is  not  all :  Dr.  Price  asserts  that  "  all  taxes  are  free  gifts." 
And  can  any  thing  be  more  absurd  than  to  demand  a  free  gift,  as  if  it 
were  a  just  debt ;  especially  considering  that  I  never  promised  such  a 
gift,  no,  nor  the  majority  of  the  parish,  the  hundred,  the  county,  or  the 
kingdom  to  which  I  belong ;  the  majority  not  having  sent  any  member 
to  parliament  ?  A  free  gift  is  to  be  given  freely  ;  and  whoever  will  take 
it  from  us  against  our  own  will,  contradicts  himself,  tries  to  enslave  us, 
stabs  our  vitals,  and  commits  robbery.  And  is  not  such  a  gross  abuse  of 
power  sufficient  to  rouse  me  into  resistance  ?  Beside,  why  should  I  be 
so  much  afraid  of  raising  a  rebellion  ?  Does  not  Dr.  Price  say,  "  He 
who  will  examine  the  history  of  the  world  will  find  there  has  generally 
been  more  reason  for  complaining  that  they  have  been  too  patient,  than 
that  they  have  been  turbulent  and  rebellious  ?"  Should  you  object  that, 
upon  this  footing,  all  the  non-voters  will  soon  rise  against  the  voters  and 
their  representatives,  and  that  the  unity  of  the  kingdom  will  be  broken  : 
I  reply  in  the  doctor's  pious  language,  "  If  in  order  to  preserve  the  unity, 
one  half  of  it  [the  realm]  must  be  enslaved  to  the  other  half,  let  it,  in 
the  name  of  God,  want  unity."  "  Of  such  liberty,  as  I  have,  now  de- 
scribed, it  is  impossible  that  there  should  be  an  excess."  And  I  apply 
to  your  tyrannical  demand  the  patriotic  query,  which  he  makes  with 
respect  to  the  sovereign's  claims  on  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  : 
"  Can  there  be  any  Englishman,  who,  were  it  his  own  case,  would  not 
sootier  lose  his  heart's  blood,  than  yield  to  claims  so  pregnant  with 
evils,  and  destructive  to  every  thing  that  can  distinguish  a  free  man  from 
a  slave  ?" 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  wickedness  of  this  patriotic  speech  of  mine 
about  taxes,  except  the  insolence  of  that  which  follows.  I  suppose  it 
was  made  by  Satan  to  the  Son  of  God,  when,  according  to  Milton's 
fancy,  they  encountered  each  other  in  the  heavenly  plains.  I  meet  thee 
in  the  field  (says  the  fiend)  to  defend  my  freedom,  and  assert  the  liberty 
of  these  heavenly  legions.  Before  I  pierce  thy  side  with  my  spear,  let 
me  pierce  thy  conscience  with  my  arguments.  "  In  a  free  state  [much 
more  in  heaven,  where  liberty  is  perfect]  every  one  is  his  own  legislator. 
To  be  free  is  to  be  guided  by  one's  own  will ;  and  to  be  guided  by  the 
will  of  another,  is  the  character  of  servitude."  They  call  thee  Messiah 
the  Prince;  but  forasmuch  as  thou  sayest,  "I  do  nothing  of  myself," 
and  art  not  ashamed  to  add,  "  Father,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done  ," 
and  to  teach  the  mean  spirits  who  follow  thee  to  pray,  "  Thy  will  be  done 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  ;"  it  is  plain  that  thou  "  restrainest  the  power  of 
self  government,"  and  "  introducest  slavery."  Thou  art  lost  to  all  sense 
of  heavenly  patriotism.  Enslaved  thyself,  thou  comest  to  damp  the 
noble  flame  of  liberty  which  glows  in  these  angelical  bosoms ;  and  to 
make  us  wear  the  badge  of  the  most  abject  slavery  as  thou  dost.  Thou 
proud  and  base  tool  of  tyranny  !  Can  thy  reason  blame  us  for  our  noble 
struggle,  since  we  are  not  allowed  to  have  our  natural  right  of  legislating 
for  ourselves  ?  And  if  those  dastardly  spirits  who  compose  thy  hosts  say, 
"Neither  have  most  of  us;"  I  reply,  "Then  you  so  far  want  liberty, 
and  your  language  is,  We  are  not  free,  why  will  they  be  free  ?"  "  I 
have  no  other  notion  of  slavery,  but  being  bound  by  a  law  to  which  I  do 
not  consent."  Now  I  do  not  consent  to  the  law  which  says,  Thou  shalt 
obey  thy  Divine  Sovereign,  and  honour  thy  heavenly  Father :  I  never 


532  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

made  that  law.  And  suppose  I  and  my  legions  had  made  it,  we  have  a 
right  to  repeal  it.  For  "  government  is  an  institution  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people  governed,  which  they  have  power  to  model  as  they  please." 
"  Liberty  may  be  enjoyed  in  every  possible  degree."  "  Liberty  is  most 
complete  and  perfect,  when  the  people  have  most  of  a  share  in  govern- 
ment, and  of  a  controlling  power  over  the  persons  by  whom  it  is  ad- 
ministered."  Now  thou  and  thy  Father  are  the  persons  by  whom 
heavenly  government  is  administered.  "  A  spirit  of  domination,  and 
lust  of  power,  kindle  thee  into  rage.  The  only  object  of  the  war  thou 
wagest  against  us,  is  the  extension  of  dominion."  Thou  wilt  maintain 
thy  usurped  supremacy  over  us :  and  we  will  maintain  our  native  or 
acquired  supremacy  over  ourselves.  The  present  contest  is  for  dominion 
on  thy  side  as  well  as  ours :  but  (like  a  tyrant)  thou  art  struggling  for 
dominion  over  others ;  and  we  (like  free  spirits)  are  struggling  for  self 
dominion,  the  noblest  of  all  blessings.  "  Of  such  liberty  [or  self  dominion] 
as  I  have  now  described,  it  is  impossible  that  there  should  be  an  excess." 
I,  and  these  brave  legions,  will  therefore  fight  for  it,  at  the  hazard  of 
our  happiness  and  glory.  Self  government  and  supremacy  in  hell,  are 
preferable  to  servile  obedience  and  subordinate  grandeur  in  heaven. 

I  need  not  tell  you,  sir,  that  this  speech  of  the  patriotic  seraph  is 
formed  upon  the  principles  laid  down  in  Dr.  Price's  pamphlet.  You 
easily  discern  not  only  his  sentiments,  but  his  very  words  and  doctrine. 
Should  you  reply,  that  the  case  of  creatures  is  different  from  that  of  sub- 
jects, because  creatures  owe  more  to  God  than  subjects  to  an  earthly 
sovereign ;  I  grant  it,  and  assert,  that  on  this  account  obedience  to  the 
true  God  is  prescribed  in  the  first  table  of  the  law,  and  reasonable  sub- 
jection to  our  rightful  sovereign  in  the  second  table.  The  former  is  the 
first  and  great  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it  in  dignity 
and  importance.  Therefore,  says  St.  Peter,  "  Fear  God  and  honour  the 
king."  Give  both  God  and  Cesar  their  due.  Subject  yourselves  to  both 
in  their  place. 

To  return :  if  your  doctrine  directly  or  indirectly  strikes  at  the  au- 
thority of  God  and  Cesar,  as  the  two  preceding  speeches  show  it  does, 
how  dangerous  is  your  patriotism !  I  shall  not,  however,  brand  it  with 
the  epithets  which  Dr.  Price  applies  to  the  conduct  of  his  governors,  and 
loyal  fellow  subjects ;  nor  shall  I  borrow  from  him  the  words  "  cursed 
ambition — madness — rage — savage  folly,"  &c.  But  with  a  degree  of 
the  liberty  with  which  Paul  withstood  Peter  to  the  face,  because  he  was 
to  be  blamed,  I  shall  venture  to  expostulate  a  moment  both  with  him  and 
with  you.  You  are  not  only  men,  but  Britons,  patriots,  Christians,  and  minis- 
ters of  the  Gospel.  But  which  of  these  names  do  you  adorn,  when  you 
teach  tie  wretched  politics,  which,  I  trust,  I  have  refuted  in  these  pages? 
If  your  capital  arguments  are  irrational,  have  you  shown  yourselves 
men  ?  If  thev  sap  the  foundation  of  civil  government,  have  you  shown 
yourselves  civilized  men  ?  If  they  are  unconstitutional,  betray  Great 
Britain,  tend  to  rend  from  her  all  her  American  dominions,  and  pour 
undeserved  contempt  upon  our  rightful  lawgivers,  have  you  shown  your- 
selves Britons  and  patriots,  deservedly  so  called?  If  they  subvert  an 
important  part  of  Christ's  doctrine,  and  defeat  the  effect  of  his  loyal 
example,  have  you  shown  yourselves  Christians  ?  If  they  tend  to  kindle 
the  fire,  of  national  discontent,  to  make  uneasy  subjects  flee  to  arms,  or 


A21ZEXGAX  PATRIOTISM.  533 

rebellious  subjects  grasp,  with  new  transports  of  enthusiasm,  the  swords 
which  they  wantonly  bathe  in  floods  of  British  blood,  have  you  acted 
the  part  of  preachers  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  ?  Have  you  shown  that  you 
either  fear  God  or  honour  the  king  ?  If  you  have  called  all  the  powers 
of  sophistry  and  oratory  to  your  help,  to  hinder  millions  of  subjects  from 
paying  obedience  to  God  by  rendering  unto  Cesar  the  things  which  are 
Cesar's,  have  you  not  blown  the  trumpet  of  discord  ?  And  have  you 
not  sounded  a  false  alarm  through  the  British  dominions,  by  representing 
our  constitution  as  "almost  lost"  through  the  "weakness"  and  "violence" 
of  our  governors,  when,  if  there  is  any  likelihood  of  its  being  lost,  the 
danger  springs  from  the  weakness  or  violence  of  the  patriots,  whom  your 
publications  intoxicate  and  "  kindle  into  rage  ?"  And  shall  I  praise  you 
for  such  a  conduct  ?  No :  whoever  they  are  that  admire  you  as  bold 
spirited  citizens,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  to  consider  you  as  rash,  injudi- 
cious patriots,  who  have  more  wit  than  prudence,  and  intend  far  better 
than  you  perform. 

Should  you  say  that  you  have  the  approbation  of  the  minority  in  par- 
liament,  and  of  the  patriots  in  the  city  of  London ;  I  reply,  that  the  city 
patriots  will  not  be  your  comforters  on  your  death  beds,  nor  your  judges 
in  the  great  day.  And  what  if  the  majority  of  mankind  were  on  your 
side ;  could  they  cause  a  doctrine  which  is  irrational,  unscriptural,  and 
.unconstitutional,  to  be  agreeable  to  reason,  Scripture,  and  the  constitu- 
tion ?  Permit  me,  then,  my  dear,  mistaken  fellow  labourers  in  the  Gospel, 
to  beseech  you  to  review  our  controversy,  to  study  Christian  politics,  to 
drop  your  prejudices  against  our  governors,  to  embrace  genuine  patriot- 
ism, and  to  second  the  efforts  of  the  ministers  of  state  and  Gospel  ministers, 
who  try  to  stem  the  torrent  of  political  enthusiasm  which  deluges  America, 
and  threatens  to  overthrow  Great  Britain  itself.  So  shall  you  undo  the 
harm  which  you  have  undesignedly  done ;  and  our  revolted  fellow  sub- 
jects, instead  of  cursing  the  day  when  you  confirmed  them  in  their  sin, 
will  bless  you  for  giving  them  an  antidote  as  powerful  as  the  error  which 
now  poisons  their  minds  and  distracts  their  country. 

Should  you  wonder,  sir,  at  my  repeated  opposition  of  your  principles, 
I  should  urge  two  things  by  way  of  apology  for  it:  (1.)  Though  I  be- 
lieve that  you  and  your  second  mean  well,  yet  some  of  your  principles 
have,  I  fear,  a  tendency  to  raise  or  foment  a  spirit  of  disobedience,  sedi- 
tion, and  anarchy.  And,  (2.)  As  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England, 
I  have  subscribed  to  the  doctrine  of  the  homily  against  disobedience  and 
wilful  rebellion,  which  contains  this  remarkable  ejaculation  :  "  God  of 
his  infinite  mercy  grant  unto  us,  that  we  may  be  good,  natural,  loving, 
and  obedient  subjects  :  not  only  showing  all  obedience  ourselves,  but  as 
many  of  us  as  are  able,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  ability,  and  under- 
standing, [endeavouring]  to  stay  and  repress  all  rebels  and  rebellions 
against  God,  our  gracious  prince,  and  natural  country,  at  every  occasion 
that  is  offered  unto  us  !  And  that,  which  we  are  all  able  to  do,  unless  we 
do  it,  we  shall  be  most  wicked,  and  most  worthy  to  feel  in  the  end  such 
extreme  plagues,  as  God  has  ever  poured  upon  rebels."  I  produce  this 
ouotation,  not  to  charge  you,  sir,  or  Dr.  Price,  with  disobedience  and 
wilful  rebellion,  for  I  firmly  believe  you  intend  no  such  thing.  I  only 
want  to  remind  you,  that  by  my  subscription  as  a  minister,  my  baptism 
as  a  Christian,  and  my  oath  of  allegiance  as  a  subject,  I  am  bound,  ''  at 


534  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

the  occasion  offered  me"  by  your  reply  and  your  quotations,  "  to  do  what 
I  am  able  to  do,"  in  order  to  rectify  your  mistakes,  and  guard  my  readers 
against  what  appears  to  me  the  natural  tendency  of  your  principles. 
And  now,  sir,  having  cleared  my  conscience  with  respect  to  you,  and 
the  ingenious  Dr.  Price,  whom  you  have  called  to  your  assistance,  I 
quit  the  thankless  office  of  a  faithful  reprover,  and  resuming  that  of  a 
friendly  controvertist,  I  assure  you  that,  notwithstanding  the  difference 
of  our  political  and  religious  sentiments,  I  am,  with  Christian  sincerity 
and  love,  reverend  sir,  your  obedient  servant  in  Christ, 

John  Fletcher. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

In  my  first  letter,  I  have  omitted  an  important  answer  to  your  capital 
argument.  You  suppose,  sir,  that  the  colonists  are  enslaved  and  robbed, 
when  they  are  taxed  by  the  king  and  the  parliament,  because  "  every 
shilling  which  they  [the  members  of  the  British  parliament]  take  out  of 
the  pocket  of  an  American,  is  so  much  saved  in  their  own."  To  this  I 
object  the  improbability  that  a  British  legislator  would  so  far  demean 
himself,  as  to  save  a  dirty  shilling  in  his  purse,  by  oppressively  taking 
one  out  of  an  American's  pocket.  You  reply  by  insinuating  that  I  have 
not  so  high  an  opinion  of  the  honesty  of  our  legislators  as  I  express ; 
and  that,  if  I  lent  a  few  thousands  to  one  of  them,  I  should  take  care  not 
to  part  with  my  money  without  receiving  a  proper  bond.  To  the  answer 
which  I  have  given  you,  p.  498,  permit  me  to  add  that  which  follows : — 

Supposing  that  a  member  of  parliament  should  act  a  knave's  part  for 
the  sake  of  "  a  few  thousands"  wherewith  he  could  enrich  himself;  yet 
it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  he  would  turn  robber,  to  share  his  booty  with 
near  six  millions  of  people.  For  if  a  member  of  parliament  pick  an 
American's  pocket  by  taxing  him,  the  shilling  which  he  takes  from  the 
American  does  not  save  a  shilling  in  his  own  pocket,  as  you  insinuate ; 
it  is  only  a  shilling  saved  for  Great  Britain  in  general,  that  is,  for  near 
six  millions  of  people.  I  shall  not  say  then,  What  gentleman  is  there  in 
parliament,  but  what  felon  is  there  in  Newgate,  who  would  think  it  worth 
his  while  to  pick  an  American's  pocket  of  a  ■  shilling,  or  even  of  three 
million  of  shillings,  to  share  the  profit  of  his  villany  among  six  millions 
of  people  ?  Your  grand  argument,  therefore,  considered  in  this  light, 
wants  not  only  solidity,  but  even  plausibility ;  since  it  is  founded  on  an 
absurd,  uncharitable  probability,  which  falls  short  of  a  rational  probability, 
almost  as  much  as  a  single  unit  falls  short  of  six  millions. 

The  preceding  observation  is  applicable  to  your  doctrine  of  liberty. — 
Civil  liberty,  if  we  believe  you,  sir,  and  Dr.  Price,  is  one  and  the  same 
thing  with  the  power  of  making  our  own  laws  in  common  with  our  fel- 
low subjects.  According  to  this  notion,  supposing  that,  to  make  our 
own  laws,  we  repealed  all  the  laws  which  have  been  made  in  England 
by  former  legislators  ;  supposing  that  all  the  subjects  in  Great  Britain 
were  free  in  your  sense  of  the  word  ;  that  their  number  was  nine  mil- 
lions ;  and  that  one  had  as  much  right  to  make  laws  as  another ;  sup- 
posing this,  I  say,  upon  your  scheme  it  follows  that  the  degree  of  legis- 
lative power,  i.  e.  of  liberty,  which  falls  to  the  share  of  an  Englishman 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  535 

bears  as  insignificant  a  proportion  to  the  full  power  of  legislation,  i.  e.  to 
full  liberty,  as  a  single  voice  bears  to  eight  millions,  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  voices.     If  the  crown  itself,  and  the  power  annexed  to  it, 
were  divided  into  so  many  parts,  they  would  be  so  little  and  so  insignifi- 
cant, that  none  but  fools  would  think  it  worth  their  while  to  contend  an 
hour  about  one  such  part  of  the  royal  dignity.    But  this  is  not  all :  if  the 
old  adage,  Tot  capita,  tot  sensits.  be  true  ;  if  every  man  have  his  peculiar 
turn  for  legislation,  as  well  as  his  peculiar  complexion  and  look  ;    if  no 
one  be  free,  but  so  far  as  he  is  governed  according  to  his  own  legislative 
mind ;  if  nine  millions  of  British  subjects  have  as  much  right  to  make 
British  laws  as  Dr.  Price  ;  and  if  the  majority  are  to  carry  their  point 
against  the  minority ;  there  are  nine  million  degrees  of  probability  to 
one,  that  Dr.  Price,  upon  his  own  scheme,  will  be  forced  to  give  up  his 
own  legislative  will ;    and  that  the  laws  made  by  others  shall  prevail 
against  his  own  self-made  laws.     And  is  not  this  a  proof,  that  after  all 
the  ado  he  makes  about  liberty,  he  only  leads  us  to  a  liberty  which  is  as 
far  from  what  he  calls  complete  liberty,  as  a  single  unit  is  far  from  nine 
millions  ?  And  that  he  brings  us  as  near  the  state  which  you  are  pleased 
to  call  abject  slavery,  as  having  only  one  share  of  that  part  of  the  legis- 
lative power,  which  is  lodged  in  the  house  of  commons,  out  of  nine  mil- 
lions of  shares,  is  near  to  having  nothing  to  do  with  legislation  at  all  ? 
If  these  observations  be  just,  is  it  not  evident,  sir,  that  your  doctrine  of 
civil  liberty  rests  on  frivolous  and  irrational  refinements,  as  well  as  your 
American  patriotism  1 

Permit  me  to  make  one  more  remark  upon  taxation.  Page  508,  I 
have  quoted  you  and  Dr.  Price,  who  both  agree  to  mention  an  act  of 
parliament,  where  "  certain  duties,  &c,  are  said  to  be  given  and  granted 
by  the  parliament  to  the-  king."  Looking  now  into  your  pamphlet,  I 
take  notice  that  you  put  the  words  given  and  granted  in  italics.  Should 
you  do  it  to  insinuate,  that  the  taxes  which  we  pay  are  not  a  debt,  but  a 
free  gift  from  us  and  our  fellow  subjects,  permit  me,  sir,  to  answer  your 
indirect  argument  by  observing,  that  the  legislative  power  being  chiefly 
lodged  in  the  parliament,  as  the  executive  power  is  chiefly  lodged  in  the 
king,  the  legislative  power  may  with  propriety  give  and  grant  to  the 
executive  power  the  revenue  arising  from  such  and  such  taxes.  All 
that  can  therefore  be  reasonably  inferred  from  the  two  expressions,  on 
which  you  seem  to  lay  so  much  stress,  is  that  the  legislative  power  gives 
and  grants  supplies  to  the  king,  as  the  first  commander  of  the  fleet  and 
army.  But  to  conclude  from  thence  that  taxes  are  not  due  by  the  peo- 
ple to  the  legislative  and  protective  power,  is  as  absurd,  unscriptural,  and 
unconstitutional,  as  to  conclude  that  all  the  freeholders  are  legislators, 
that  all  who  have  no  vote  for  parliament  men  are  slaves,  and  that  the 
supreme  and  governing  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  governed  ; — three 
dangerous  opinions  these,  which  are  to  your  levelling  patriotism,  what 
the  three  heads  of  Cerberus  are  to  that  fabulous  monster. 


536  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM 


LETTER  IV. 

Observations  on  Dr.  Price's  awful  arguments  taken  from  our  immorality — ■ 
What  great  share  our  national  profaneness  had  in  the  ruin  of  the  king, 
and  in  the  subversion  of  the  Church  and  state  in  the  days  of  Cromwell — 
It  becomes  us  to  obviate  the  dangerous  argument  by  which  thousands  of 
rash  religionists  are  seduced  into  wild  patriotism. 

Reverend  Sir, — I  should  be  inexcusable  if  I  concluded  my  refutation 
of  Dr.  Price's  antichristian  politics  without  doing  him  the  justice  to  con- 
fess, that  he  has  advanced  a  Christian  argument,  which  I  cannot  pro- 
per y  answer,  and  which  is  so  awful,  that  it  highly  deserves  the  attention 
of  all  who  wish  well  to  Church  and  state  :  take  it  in  his  own  words : 
"  In  this  hour  of  tremendous  danger,  it  would  become  us  to  turn  our 
thoughts  to  heaven.  This  is  what  our  brethren  in  the  colonies  are  doing ! 
From  one  end  of  North  America  to  the  other  they  are  fasting  and  pray- 
ing. But  what  are  we  doing  ?  Shocking  thought !  we  are  ridiculing  them 
as  fanatics,  and  scoffing  at  religion.  We  are  running  wild  after  pleasure, 
and  forgetting  every  thing  serious  and  decent  at  masquerades.  We  are 
gambling  in  gaming  houses  ;  trafficking  for  boroughs  ;  perjuring  ourselves 
at  elections  ;  and  selling  ourselves  for  places.  Which  side  then  is  Pro- 
vidence likely  to  favour  ?  In  America  we  see  a  number  of  rising  states  in 
the  vigour  of  youth,  &c,  and  animated  by  piety.  Here  we  see  an  old 
state,  &c,  inflated  and  irreligious,  enervated  by  luxury,  &c,  and  hang- 
ing by  a  thread.     Can  we  look  without  pain  on  the  issue  ?" 

There  is  more  solidity  in  this  argument,  than  in  all  that  Dr.  Price  has 
advanced.  If  the  colonists  throng  the  houses  of  God,  while  we  throng 
play  houses  or  houses  of  ill  fame ;  if  they  crowd  their  communion  tables 
while  we  crowd  the  gaming  table  or  festal  board ;  if  they  pray  while  we 
curse  ;  if  they  fast  while  we  get  drunk  ;  and  keep  the  Sabbath  while  we 
pollute  it ;  if  they  take  shelter  under  the  protection  of  Heaven,  while  our 
chief  attention  is  turned  to  our  hired  troops  ;  we  are  in  danger — in  great 
danger.  Be  our  cause  ever  so  good,  and  our  force  ever  so  formidable, 
our  case  is  bad,  and  our  success  doubtful.  Nay,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who 
of  old  sold  his  disobedient  people  into  the  hands  of  their  unrighteous  ene- 
mies to  chastise  and  humble  them — this  righteous  Lord  may  give  success 
to  the  arms  of  the  colonies,  to  punish  them  for  their  revolt,  and  us  for 
our  profaneness.  A  youth  that  believes  and  prays  as  David,  is  a  match 
for  a  giant  that  swaggers  and  curses  as  Goliath.  And  they  that,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  enthusiastically  encounter  their  enemies  in  a  bad  cause, 
bid  fairer  for  success  than  they  that,  in  a  good  cause,  profanely  go  into 
the  field,  trusting  only  in  the  apparent  strength  of  an  arm  of  flesh.  To 
disregard  the  king's  righteous  commands,  as  the  colonists  do,  is  bad  ;  but 
to  despise  the  first-table  commandments  of  the  King  of  kings  as  we  do, 
is  still  worse.  Nor  do  I  see  how  we  can  answer  it,  either  to  reason  or 
our  own  consciences,  to  be  so  intent  on  enforcing  British  laws,  and  so 
remiss  in  yielding  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God.  If  the  capital  command, 
"  Fear  God  and  honour  the  king,"  could  be  properly  parted,  should  not 
every  Christian  prefer  the  former  part  to  the  latter  ?  Will  our  honouring 


AMERICAN    PATRIOTISM.  537 

the  king  atone  for  our  dishonouring  God  1     And  can  we  expect  that  our 
loyalty  shall  make  amends  for  our  impiety  or  lukewarmness  ? 

Is  it  not  surprising,  that  amidst  all  the  preparations  which  have  been 
made  to  subdue  the  revolted  colonies,  none  should  have  been  made  to 
check  our  open  rebellion  against  God ;  and  that  in  all  national  applica- 
tions to  foreign  princes  for  help,  we  should  have  forgotten  a  public 
application  to  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth  ?  Many  well  wishers 
to  their  country  flattered  themselves,  that  at  a  time  when  the  British 
empire  stands,  as  Dr.  Price  justly  observes,  "  on  an  edge  so  perilous," 
our  superiors  would  have  appointed  a  day  of  humiliation  and  prayer ;  a 
day  to  confess  the  national  sins  which  have  provoked  God  to  let  loose 
a  spirit  of  political  enthusiasm  and  revolt  upon  us ;  a  day  to  implore 
pardon  for  our  past  transgressions,  and  to  resolve  upon  a  more  religious 
and  loyal  course  of  life ;  a  day  to  beseech  the  Father  of  lights  and 
mercies  to  teach,  at  this  important  juncture,  our  senators  wisdom  in  a 
peculiar  manner,  and  to  inspire  them  with  such  steadiness  and  mildness, 
that  by  their  prudence,  courage,  and  condescension,  the  war  may  be 
ended  with  little  effusion  of  blood,  and,  if  possible,  without  shedding  any 
more  blood  at  all.  Thousands  expected  to  see  such  a  day ;  thinking 
that  it  becomes  us,  as  reformed  Christians,  nationally  to  address  the 
throne  of  grace,  and  intreat  God  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  colonists 
toward  us,  and  ours  toward  them,  that  we  may  speedily  bury  our  mutual 
animosities  in  the  grave  of  our  common  Saviour.  And  not  a  few  sup- 
posed that  humanity  bids  us  feel  for  the  myriads  of  our  fellow  creatures 
who  are  going  to  offer  up  their  lives  in  the  field  of  battle ;  and  that 
charity  and  piety  require  us  to  pray  that  they  may  penitently  part  with 
their  sins,  and  solemnly  prepare  themselves  for  a  safe  passage,  I  shall 
not  say  from  Britain  to  America,  but,  if  they  are  called  to  it,  from  time 
into  eternity.  Such,  I  say,  were  the  expectations  of  thousands,  but 
hitherto  their  hopes  and  wishes  have  been  disappointed. 

Dr.  Price  knows  how  to  avail  himself  of  our  omission  or  delay  in  tins 
respect,  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  American  patriots,  by  insinuating 
that  Heaven  will  not  be  propitious  to  us,  and  that  "  our  cause  is  such  as 
gives  us  [no]  reason  to  ask  God  to  bless  it."  None  can  tell  what  fuel 
this  plausible  observation  of  his  will  add  to  the  wild  fire  of  political 
enthusiasm  which  burns  already  too  fiercely  in  the  breasts  of  thousands 
of  injudicious  religionists.  I  therefore  humbly  hope  that  our  governors 
will  consider  Dr.  Price's  objection,  taken  from  our  immorality  and  pro- 
faneness,  and  that  they  will  let  the  world  see  we  are  neither  ashamed 
nor  afraid  to  spread  the  justice  of  our  cause  before  the  Lord°of  hosts, 
and  to  implore  his  blessing  upon  the  army  going  to  America,  to  enforce 
gracious  offers  of  mercy,  and  reasonable  terms  of  reconciliation. 

And  why,  after  all,  should  we  be  ashamed  of  asking  help  of  God,  as 
well  as  of  German  princes?  Have  we  never  read  such  awful  scrip- 
tures as  these  1  "  Save  us,  O  King  of  heaven,  when  we  call  upon  thee. 
Some  put  their  trust  in  chariots,  and  some  in  horses;  but  we  will 
remember  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God.  Blessed  be  my  strong  helper, 
who  subdueth  the  people  unto  me,  and  setteth  me  above  mine  adversa- 
ries. Through  thee  will  we  overthrow  our  enemies,  and  in  thy  name 
will  we  tread'them  under  that  rise  against  vis.  For  I  will  not  trust  in 
my  bow.     It  is  not  my  sword  that  shall  [comparatively]  help  me.     Be 


538  AMEltlOAN  PATRIOTISM. 

not  afraid  of  this*  great  multitude  ;  for  the  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God's. 
All  the  assembly  shall  know  that  the  Lord  saveth  not  with  the  sword 
and  spear  :  for  the  battle  is  the  Lord's." 

Our  own  history,  as  well  as  the  Scripture,  confirms  Dr.  Price's  objec- 
tions, taken  from  our  neglect  of  the  religious  means  of  success  in  the 
present  contest.  It  is  well  known  to  many,  that  in  the  civil  wars  of  the 
last  age,  a  national  disregard  of  the  Lord's  day,  and  the  avowed  con- 
tempt of  God's  name,  which  prevailed  in  the  king's  party,  did  him 
unspeakable  injury.  For  multitudes  of  men  who  feared  God,  seeing 
profaneness  reign  in  the  army  of  me  royalists,  while  religious  duty  was 
solemnly  performed  by  the  forces  of  the  parliament,  and  being  unable  to 
enter  into  the  political  questions  whence  the  quarrel  arose,  judged  of  the 
cause  according  to  religious  appearances,  and  sided  against  the  king, 
merely  because  they  fancied  they  sided  against  God.  Nor  were  there 
wanting  men  of  the  greatest  candour  and  penetration,  who  thought  that 
this  was  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  overthrow  of  our  Church  and 
state  ;  Cromwell  then  availing  himself  of  this  appearance,  as  Dr.  Price 
does  now,  to  persuade  religious  people  that  he  was  fighting  the  Lord's 
battles,  and  that  opposing  the  king  and  the  bishops  was  only  opposing 
tyranny  and  a  profane  hierarchy.  To  show  you  how  much  our  want 
of  religious  decency  contributed  toward  the  overthrow  of  our  Church 
and  government  in  the  last  century,  I  shall  produce  another  extract  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Baxter's  Narrative  of  his  Life  and  Times.  That  candid 
divine  and  judicious  politician,  after  mentioning  the  unhappy  differences 
between  those  who  conform  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  those  who 
do  not,  says  : — 

Page  32,  &c.  "When  they  [the  Nonconformists]  had  been  for  a, 
while  called  by  that  name,  [Puritans,]  the  vicious  multitude  of  the 
ungodly,  called  all  Puritans,  that  were  strict  and  serious,  were  they  ever 
so  conformable  ;  so  that  the  same  name  in  a  bishop's  mouth,  signified  a 
Nonconformist,  and  in  an  .ignorant  drunkard's  or  swearer's  mouth,  a 
godly  Christian.  But  the  people  being  the  greater  number,  became 
among  themselves  masters  of  the  sense.  The  ignorant  rabble,  hearing 
that  the  bishops  were  against  the  Puritans,  (not  having  wit  to  know 
whom  they  meant,)  were  emboldened  the  more  against  all  those  whom 
they  called  Puritans  themselves ;  their  rage  against  the  godly  was 
increased ;  and  they  cried  up  the  bishops,  &c,  because  they  were  against 
the  Puritans.  Thus  the  interests  of  the  Diocesans,  and  of  the  profane 
sort  of  people,  were  unhappily  twisted. 

"  As  all  the  Nonconformists  were  against  the  prelates,  [whose  interest 
was  closely  connected  with  the  king's,]  so  others  of  the  most  godly 
people  were  alienated  from  the  bishops ;  because  the  malignant  sort 
were  permitted  to  make  religious  persons  their  common  scorn  ;  because 
they  saw  so  many  vicious  men  among  the  conformable  clergy ;  because 
fasting  and  praying,  &c,  were  so  strictly  looked  after,  that  the  bishops' 
courts  did  make  it  much  more  perilous  than  common  swearing  and 

*  Dr.  Price,  speaking  of  the  numbers  of  the  Americans,  says  :  "  To  think  of 
conquering  that  whole  continent  with  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men,  to  be  trans- 
ported across  the  Atlantic,  and  fed  from  hence,  and  incapable  of  being  recruited 
after  any  defeat; — this  is  folly  so  great,  that  language  does  not  afford  a  name 
for  it." 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  539 

drunkenness  proved  to  the  ungodly  ;  because  the  book  that  was  published 
for  recreations  on  the  Lord's  day,  made  them  think  that  the  bishops  con- 
curred  with  the  profane ;  because  so  great  a  number  of  conformable 
ministers  were  suspended  or  punished  for  not  reading  the  book  of 
sports  on  Sundays,  and  so  many  thousand  families  and  many  worthy 
ministers  driven  out  of  the  land,  &c  ;  all  these,  upon  my  own  knowledge, 
were  the  true  causes  why  so  great  a  number  of  those  persons  who  were 
counted  most  religious,  fell  in  with  the  parliament ;  insomuch  tha^  the 
generality  of  the  stricter  sort  of  preachers  joined  with  them.  Very  few 
of  all  that  learned  and  pious  synod  *  Westminster  were  Nonconformists 
before,  and  yet  were  for  the  parliament ;  supposing  that  the  interest  of 
religion  lay  on  that  side. 

"  Upon  my  knowledge,  many  that  were  not  wise  enough  to  understand 
the  truth  about  the  cause  of  the  king  and  parliament,  did  yet  run  into 
the  parliament's  armies,  or  take  their  part,  as  sheep  do  together  for 
company ;  being  moved  by  this  argument,  '  Surely  God  will  not  suffer 
almost  all  his  most  religious  servants  to  err  in  so  great  a  matter.  If 
these  should  perish,  what  will  become  of  religion  V  But  these  were 
insufficient  grounds  to  go  upon.  And  abundance  of  the  ignorant  sort 
of  the  country,  who  were  civil,  did  flock  into  the  parliament,  and  filled 
up  their  armies  afterward,  merely  because  they  heard  men  swear  that 
were  for  the  common  prayers  and  bishops,  and  heard  others  pray  that 
were  against  them  ;  and  because  they  heard  the  king's  soldiers  with 
horrid  oaths  abuse  the  name  of  God,  and  saw  them  live  in  debauchery, 
and  the  parliament's  soldiers  flock  to  sermons,  talk  of  religion,  and  pray 
and  sing  psalms  together  on  their  guards.  All  the  sober  men  that  I 
was  acquainted  with,  who  were  against  the  parliament,  were  wont  to 
say,  The  king  has  the  better  cause,  but  the  parliament  has  the  better 
men.  And  indeed  this  unhappy  complication  of  the  interest  of  prelacy 
and  profaneness,  and  this  opposition  of  the  interest  of  prelacy  to  the 
temper  of  the  generality  of  the  religious  party,  was  the  visible  cause  of 
the  overthrow  of  the  king  in  the  eye  of  all  the  understanding  world." 

Page  31.  "  Though  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  public  safety  and 
liberty  wrought  very  much  with  most,  especially  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
who  adhered  to  the  parliament  ;  yet  was  it  principally  the  differences 
about  religious  matters  that  filled  up  the  parliament's  armies,  and  put 
into  their  soldiers  the  resolution  and  valour  which  carried  them  on  in 
another  manner  than  mercenary  soldiers  are  carried  on.  Not  that  the 
matter  of  bishops,  or  no  bishops,  was  the  main  thing,  though  many 
called  it  Bellum  Episcopale :  for  thousands  that  wished  for  good 
bishops  were  on  the  parliament's  side.  But  the  generality  of  the  people 
(I  say  not  all)  who  «sed  to  talk  of  God  and  heaven,  and  Scripture  and 
holiness,  and  read  books  of  devotion,  and  pray  in  their  families,  and 
spend  the  Lord's  day  in  religious  exercises,  and  speak  against  swearing, 
cursing,  drunkenness,  profaneness,  &c  ;  I  say  the  main  body  of  this  sort 
of  men  adhered  to  the  parliament.  And  on  the  other  side,  the  gentry 
that  were  not  so  precise  and  strict  against  an  oath,  or  gaming,  or  plays, 
or  drinking,  nor  troubled  themselves  so  much  about  God  and  the  world 
to  come,  and  the  ministers  and  people  that  were  for  the  king's  book,  for 
dancing  and  recreation  on  the  Lord's  days,  and  those  that  made  not  so 
great  a  matter  of  every  sin  but  were  glad  to  hear  a  sermon  which 


540  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

i 

lashed  the  Puritans,  &c,  the  mam  body  of  these  were  against  the  par- 
liament." 

Page  44.  "  And  here  I  must  repeat  the  great  cause  of  the  parlia- 
ment's strength,  and  the  king's  ruin ;  and  that  was,  that  the  debauched 
rabble  through  the  land,  emboldened  by  his  gentry,  and  seconded  by  the 
common  soldiers  of  his  army,  took  all  that  were  called  Puritans  for 
their  enemies.  And  though  some  of  the  king's  gentry  and  superior 
officers  were  so  civil  that  they  would  do  no  such  thing,  yet  that  was  no 
security  to  the  country  while  the  multitude  did  what  they  list.  So  that 
if  any  one  was  noted  for  a  strict  preacher,  or  for  a  man  of  a  pious  life,  he 
was  plundered  or  abused,  and  in  danger  of  his  life.  And  if  a  man  did 
but  pray  in  his  family,  or  were  but  heard  to  repeat  a  sermon,  or  sing  a 
psalm,  they  cried  out,  Rebels !  round  heads !  and  all  their  goods  that 
were  portable  proved  guilty,  how  innocent  soever  they  were  themselves. 
I  suppose  this  was  kept  from  the  knowledge  of  the  king,  and  perhaps  of 
many  sober  lords  of  the  council ;  for  few  could  come  near  them,  and  it 
is  the  fate  of  such  not  to  believe  evil  of  those  that  they  think  are  for 
them,  nor  good  of  those  that  they  think  are  against  them.  But,  upon 
my  certain  knowledge,  this  was  it  that  filled  the  armies  and  garrisons  of 
the  parliament  with  sober,  pious  men.  Thousands  had  no  mind  to 
meddle  with  the  wars,  but  greatly  desired  to  live  peaceably  at  home, 
when  the  rage  of  soldiers  and  drunkards  would  not  let  them.  Some 
stayed  till  they  had  been  plundered,  perhaps  twice  or  thrice  over ;  but 
most  were  afraid  of  their  lives,  and  oft  they  sought  refuge  in  the  par- 
liament's garrisons,  and  were  fain  to  take  up  arms,  and  be  soldiers,  to 
get  bread." 

Mr.  Baxter's  account  of  Cromwell's  character,  and  of  his  religious 
troop,  is  too  remarkable  not  to  deserve  a  place  in  this  extract.  Page  98, 
"  No  mere  man  was  better  and  worse  spoken  of  than  he  [Cromwell] 
according  as  men's  interests  led  their  judgments.  The  soldiers  and 
sectaries  most  idly  magnified  him  till  he  began  to  seek  the  crown ;  and 
then  there  were  so  many  that  would  be  half  kings  themselves,  that  a  king 
did  seem  intolerable  to  them.  The  royalists  abhorred  him  as  a  most 
perfidious  hypocrite,  and  the  Presbyterians  thought  him  little  better.  If, 
after  so  many  others,  I  speak  my  own  opinion  of  him,  I  think,  that  hav- 
ing been  a  prodigal  in  his  youth,  and  afterward  changed  into  a  zealous 
religionist,  he  meant  honestly  in  the  main  course  of  his  life,  till  pros- 
perity and  success  corrupted  him.  At  his  first  entrance  into  the  wars, 
being  but  a  captain  of  horse,  he  had  special  care  to  get  religious  men 
into  his  troop.  .These  men  were  of  greater  understanding  than  common 
soldiers,  and  therefore  were  more  apprehensive  of  the  importance  of  the 
war ;  and  making  not  money,  but  that  which  they^ook  to  be  the  public 
felicity,  to  be  their  end,  they  were  the  more  engaged  to  be  valiant.  For 
he  that  makes  money  his  end,  esteems  his  life  above  his  pa}',  and  there- 
fore is  likely  enough  to  save  it  by  flight  when  danger  comes.  But  he 
that  maketh  the  felicity  of  Church  and  state  his  end,  esteemeth  it  above 
his  life,  and  therefore  will  the  sooner  lay  down  his  life  for  it.  This 
Cromwell  understood,  and  that  none  would  be  such  valiant  men  as  the 
religious.  I  conjecture,  that  at  his  first  choosing  such  men  into  his 
troop,  it  was  the  very  esteem  and  love  of  religious  men  that  principally 
moved  him ;  by  this  means  he  sped  better  than  he  expected.    That  troop 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  541 

did  prove  so  valiant,  that,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  they  never  once  ran  away 
before  an  enemy.  Hereupon  he  got  a  commission,  and  brought  this 
troop  into  a  double  regiment  of  fourteen  full  troops  ;  and  all  these  as  full 
of  religious  men  as  he  could  get.  These  having  more  than  ordinary 
wit  and  resolution,  had  more  than  ordinary  success.  With  their  suc- 
cesses, the  hearts  both  of  captain  and  soldiers  secretly  rose  both  in  pride 
and  expectation  ;  and  the  familiarity  of  many  honest,  erroneous  men, 
Anabaptists,  Antinomians,  &c,  began  withal  quickly  to  corrupt  their 
judgments.  Hereupon  Cromwell's  religious  zeal  gave  way  to  the  power 
of  that  ambition  which  still  increased  as  his  successes  increased.  Both 
piety  and  ambition  concurred  in  his  countenancing  all  that  he  thought 
godly.  Piety  pleadeth  for  them  as  godly,  and  ambition  secretly  told 
him  what  use  he  might  make  of  them.  He  meant  well  in  all  this  at  the 
beginning,  and  thought  that  he  did  all  for  the  safety  of  the  godly,  and 
the  public  good  ;  but  not  without  any  eye  to  himself."* 

From  this  extract  it  appears  that  Cromwell,  like  Dr.  Price,  rode  the 
great  horse  religion,  as  well  as  the  great  horse  liberty  ;  and  that  the  best 
way  to  counterwork  the  enthusiasm  of  patriotic  religionists,  is  to  do  con- 
stitutional liberty,  and  Scriptural  religion  full  justice,  by  defending  the 
former  against  the  attacks  of  despotic  monarchs  on  the  right  hand,  and 
despotic  mobs  on  the  left,  and  by  preserving  the  latter  from  the  opposite 
onsets  of  profane  infidels  on  the  left  hand,  and  enthusiastical  religionists 
on  the  right.  I  humbly  hope  that  our  governors  will  always  so  avoid 
one  extreme  as  not  to  run  into  the  other ;  and  that,  at  this  time,  they 
will  so  guard  against  the  very  appearances  of  irreligion  and  immorality, 

*  No  historian  having  had  so  good  an  opportuivty  of  knowing  Cromwell  as 
judicious  Mr.  Baxter,  who  was  personally  acquainted  with  him,  and  served  in  his 
army  as  chaplain ;  some  of  my  readers  will  be  glad  to  see  what  he  farther  says 
of  that  extraordinary  man. 

"  When  successes  had  broken  down  all  considerable  opposition,  he  [Cromwell] 
was  in  the  face  of  all  temptations,  which  conquered  him,  when  he  had  conquered 
others.  He  thought  that  he  had  hitherto  done  well ;  that  none  but  God  had 
made  him  great ;  that  if  the  war  was  lawful,  the  victory  was  lawful ;  that  if  it 
was  lawful  to  fight  against  the  king  and  conquer  him,  it  was  lawful  to  use  him 
as  a  conquered  enemy ;  and  that  it  would  be  a  foolish  thing  to  trust  him,  when 
they  had  so  provoked  him.  Hereupon  he  joined  with  that  party  in  the  parliament 
who  were  for  cutting  off"  the  king,  and  raised  with  them  the  Independents  and 
sectaries  in  the  army,  city,  and  country,  to  make  a  faction.  Accordingly  he 
modelled  the  army,  disbanded  the  forces  which  were  like  to  have  hindered  his 
design,  pulled  down  the  Presbyterian  majority  in  parliament — and  then  the  par- 
liament; being  the  more  easily  persuaded  that  all  this  was  lawful,  because  he  had 
a  secret  eye  to  his  own  exaltation  ;  thinking  that  when  the  king  was  gone  a 
government  there  must  be,  and  that  no  man  was  so  fit  for  it  as  himself.  Having 
thus  forced  his  conscience  to  justify  all  his  cause,  he  thought  that  the  end  being 
good  and  necessary,  the  necessary  means  could  not  be  bad.  And  accordingly 
he  gave  his  interest  leave  to  tell  him  how  far  promises  and  vows  should  be  kept 
or  broken.  Hence  he  thought  secrecy  a  virtue,  dissimulating  no  vice,  and  a  lie, 
or  perfidiousness,  tolerable  in  case  of  necessity.  His  name  stands  as  a  monitory 
monument  to  posterity,  to  tell  them  the  instability  of  man  in  strong  temptations  ; 
what  great  success  can  do  to  lift  up  the  mind ;  what  pride  can  do  to  make  man 
selfish  ;  what  selfishness  can  do  to  bribe  the  conscience,  corrupt  the  judgment, 
and  make  men  justify  the  greatest  sins  ;  and  what  bloodshed  and  great  enormities 
a  deluded  judgment  may  draw  men  into."  Hence  it  appears  candid  Mr.  Baxter 
believed  that  Cromwell  was  once  a  good  and  pious  man,  who  fell  from  God's  fear 
into  complicated  wickedness,  through  the  external  allurements  of  success  anc" 
ambition,  and  through  the  internal  snare  of  Antinomianism. 


542  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

as  to  leave  Dr.  Price,  so  far  as  in  them  lies,  no  room  to  injure  our  cause 
by  arguments  taken  from  our  want  of  devotion,  and  of  a  strict  regard  to 
sound  morals.  What  we  owe  to  God,  to  ourselves,  and  to  the  colonists, 
calls  upon  us  to  remove  whatever  may  give  any  just  offence  to  those 
who  seek  occasion  to  reflect  upon  us.  The  colonists  narrowly  watch 
us  ;  let  their  keen  inspection  make  us  diligently  watch  ourselves. 

Let  us  especially  take  care  neither  to  embezzle  nor  misapply  the 
national  income.  But,  as  faithful  guardians  and  stewards  of  the  money 
raised  for  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  government,  let  us  (as  many  as  are 
entrusted  with  the  collecting  or  expending  of  that  consecrated  treasure) 
show  ourselves  to  be  disinterested,  thrifty,  and  invariably  just.  Nothing 
can  render  our  doctrine  of  taxation  odious  to  conscientious  people,  but  a 
needless  rigour  in  the  collecting,  and  a  wanton  profusion  in  the  spending 
of  the  public  revenue.  I  know  that  uneasy  men,  intent  upon  sedition 
and  revolt,  are  apt  to  say  whatever  can  palliate  their  crime.  The  least 
misdemeanor  of  individuals,  let  it  be  ever  so  much  hid  from,  or  disap- 
proved of  by  our  governors,  will  always  appear  to  such  men  a  sufficient 
reason  to  pour  floods  of  reproach  upon  the  administration.  Thus,  if  we 
may  depend  upon  the  St.  James'  Chronicle,  "  Doctor  Franklin,  a  member 
of  the  American  congress,  insinuates  that  the  government  is  made  de- 
testable by  governors,  who,  when  they  have  crammed  their  coffers,  and 
made  themselves  so  odious  to  the  people,  that  they  can  no  longer  remain 
among  them  with  safety  to  their  persons,  are  recalled,  and  rewarded  with 
pensions :  that  the  produce  of  the  taxes  is  not  applied  to  the  defence  of 
the  provinces,  and  the  better  support  of  government;  but  bestowed  where 
it  is  not  necessary,  in  augmenting  salaries  or  pensions  ;  and  that  a  board 
of  officers  composed  of  the  most  indiscreet,  ill-bred,  and  insolent  men 
that  can  be  found,  live  in  open,  grating  luxury  upon  the  sweat  and  blood 
of  the  industrious,  whom  they  worry  with  groundless  and  expensive 
prosecutions,  before  arbitrary  revenue  judges."  I  hope,  for  the  honour 
of  the  administration,  that  prejudice  guided  Dr.  Franklin's  pen  when  it 
dropped  these  invidious  hints.  Should  we  have  given  them  any  just 
ground  of  complaint,  it  becomes  us  to  remove  it  with  all  speed :  setting 
our  seal  to  the  noble  maxim,  which  Dr.  Price  advances  after  Lord 
Chatham,  Rectitude  is  dignity :  oppression  only  is  meanness  ;  and  justice, 
honour. 

"  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,"  says  the  wise  man,  "  but  sin  is  a 
reproach  to  any  people,"  and  may  prove  the  ruin  of  the  most  powerful 
empire.  Violence  brought  on  the  deluge.  Luxury  overthrew  Sodom. 
Cruel  usage  of  the  Israelites  destroyed  Egypt.  Complete  wickedness 
caused  the  extirpation  of  the  Canaanites.  Imperiousness,  and  an  abuse 
of  the  power  of  taxation,  rent  ten  tribes  from  the  kingdonj  of  Judah. 
Pride  sunk  Babylon.  Nineveh  and  Jerusalem,  by  timely  repentance, 
once  reversed  their  awful  doom  ;  but  returning  to  their  former  sins,  they 
shared  at  last  the  fate  of  all  the  states  which  have  filled  up  the  measure 
of  their  iniquities.  And  have  we  taken  so  few  strides  toward  that  awful 
period,  as  to  render  national  repentance  needless  in  this  day  of  trouble  ? 
By  fomenting  contentions  and  wars  among  the  natives  of  Africa,  in  order 
to  buy  the  prisoners  whom  they  take  from  each  other ;  have  not  some 
of  our  countrymen  turned  Africa  into  a  field  of  blood  ?  Do  not  the  sighs 
of  myriads  of  innocent  negroes,  unjustly  transported  from  their  native 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  543 

country  to  the  British  dominions,  call  night  and  day  for  vengeance  upon 
us ;  while  their  groans  upbraid  the  hypocritical  friends  of  liberty,  who 
buy,  and  sell,  and  whip  their  fellow  men  as  if  they  were  brutes ;  and 
absurdly  complain  that  they  are  enslaved,  when  it  is  they  themselves 
who  deal  in  the  liberties  and  bodies  of  men,  as  graziers  do  in  the  liberties 
and  bodies  of  oxen  ? 

And  is  what  I  beg  leave  to  call  our  nabob  trade  in  the  east  more  con- 
sistent with  humanity  than  our  slave  trade  in  the  south  and  west?  Who 
can  tell  how  many  myriads  of  men  have  been  cut  off  in  the  East  Indies 
by  famine  or  wars,  which  had  their  rise  from  the  ambition,  covetousness, 
and  cruelty  of  some  of  our  countrymen  ?  And  if  no  vindictive  notice  has 
been  taken  of  these  barbarous  and  bloody  scenes,  has  not  the  nation 
made  them  in  some  degree  her  own  ?  And  does  not  that  innocent  blood, 
the  price  of  which  has  been  imported  with  impunity,  and  now  circulates 
through  the  kingdom  to  feed  our  luxury — does  not  all  that  blood,  I  say, 
speak  louder  for  vengeance  against  us  than  the  blood  of  Abel  did  against 
his  murderous  brother?  "  The  justice  of  the  nation,"  says  Doctor  Price, 
"  has  slept  over  these  enormities :  will  the  justice  of  Heaven  sleep  ?" 
No  :  but  it  still  patiently  waits  for  our  reformation  ;  nor  will  it,  I  hope, 
wait  in  vain ;  but  if  it  does,  the  suspended  blow  will  in  the  end  descend 
with  redoubled  force,  and  strike  us  with  aggravated  ruin.  For  God  will 
be  avenged  on  all  impenitent  nations :  he  has  one  rule  for  them  and  for 
individuals  :  "  Except  they  repent,"  says  Christ  himself,  "  they  shall  all 
likewise  perish." 

Let  our  devotion  be  improved  by  the  American  controversy  as  well  as 
our  morals.  Instead  of  "  scoffing  at  religion,"  as  Doctor  Price  says  we 
do,  let  us  honour  the  piety  of  the  colonists.  So  far,  at  least,  as  their 
religious  professions  are  consistent,  sincere,  and  Scriptural,  let  them 
provoke  us  to  a  rational  concern  for  the  glory  of  God,  a*nd  our  eternal 
interests.  Were  we  to  contend  with  our  American  colonies  for  su- 
premacy in  virtue  and  devotion,  how  noble  would  be  the  strife  !  How 
worthy  of  a  Protestant  kingdom,  and  a  mother  country  !  And  does  not 
political  wisdom,  as  well  as  brotherly  love,  require  us  to  do  something 
in  order  to  root  up  their  inveterate  prejudices  against  us  and  our  Church  ? 
Have  we  forgotten  that  many  of  the  first  colonists  crossed  the  Atlantic 
for  conscience'  sake  :  seeking  in  the  woods  of  America,  some  a  shelter 
against  our  once  persecuting  hierarchy  ;  and  others  a  refuge  from  our 
epidemical  profaneness  ?  And  does  not  their  offspring  look  upon  us  in 
the  same  odious  light  in  which  Doctor  Price  places  us  ?  Do  they  not 
abhor  or  despise  us  as  impious,  immoral  men,  "  enervated  by  luxury ;" 
men  with  whom  it  is  dangerous  to  be  connected,  and  who  "  may  expect 
calamities,  that  shall  recover  to  reflection  [perhaps  to  devotion]  libertines 
and  Atheists"  themselves  ? 

And  is  it  only  for  God's  sake,  for  the  sake  of  our  own  souls,  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  colonists,  that  we  should  look  to  our  conduct  and  Chris- 
tian profession  ?  Are  there  not  multitudes  of  rash  religionists  in  the  king- 
dom, who  suppose  that  all  the  praying  people  in  England  are  for  the 
Americans,  and  who  warmly  espouse  their  part,  merely  because  they  are 
told  that  the  colonists  "  fast  and  pray,"  while  "  we  forget  every  thing 
serious  and  decent,"  and  because  prejudiced  teachers  confidently  ask, 
with  Dr.  Price,  "  Which  side  is  Providence  likely  to  favour  ?"  Would  to 


544  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

God  that  all  our  legislators  felt  the  weight  of  this  objection  which  can 
as  easily  mislead  moral  and  religious  people  in  the  present  age,  as  it  did 
in  the  last !  Would  to  God  they  would  exert  themselves  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  all  unprejudiced  men  might  see  the  king  and  parliament  have 
"  the  better  men,"  as  well  as  "  the  better  cause  !"  Would  to  God  that  by 
timely  reformation,  and  solemn  addresses  to  the  throne  of  grace,  we  might 
convince  Dr.  Price,  and  all  the  Americans,  that  in  submitting  to  the 
British  legislature,  they  will  not  submit  to  libertinism  and  Atheism,  but 
to  a  venerable  body  of  virtuous  and  godly  senators,  who  know  that  the 
first  care  of  God's  representatives  on  earth — the  principal  study  of  poli- 
tical gods,  should  be  to  promote  God's  fear,  by  setting  a  good  example 
before  the  people  committed  to  their  charge,  and  by  steadily  enforcing 
the  observance  of  the  moral  law  ! 

I  need  not  tell  you,  sir,  what  effect  this  would  have  on  our  pious  Ame- 
rican brethren.  You  feel  it  in  your  own  breast.  The  bare  idea  of  such 
a  reformation  softens  your  prejudices.  Were  it  to  take  place,  it  would 
overcome  Dr.  Price  himself.  Pious  joy  would  set  him  upon  writing  as 
warmly  for  the  government,  as  he  had  done  against  it ;  and  in  the  midst 
of  his  deep  repentance  for  the  dangerous  errors  he  has  published,  he 
would  have  the  consolation  to  think  that  one  of  his  observations  has  done 
more  good  than  all  his  sophisms  have  done  mischief.  These  are  some 
of  the  reflections  which  Dr.  Price's  religious  argument  has  drawn  from 
my  pen,  and  which  I  doubt  not  but  some  of  our  governors  have  already 
made  by  the  help  of  that  wisdom  which  prompts  them  to  improve  our 
former  calamities,  and  to  study  what  may  promote  our  happiness  in 
Church  and  state.     I  am,  &c,  , 

J.  Fletcher. 


LETTER  V. 

A  Scriptural  plea  for  the  revolted  colonies,  with  some  hints  concerning 
a  Christian  method  of  bringing  about  a  lasting  reconciliation  between 
them  and  the  mother  country — The  king  and  parliament  humbly  ad- 
dressed on  the  subject. 

Reverend  Sir, — Christians  are,  in  a  special  manner,  debtors  to  all 
mankind.  I  owe  love  to  all  my  fellow  subjects,  as  well  as  loyalty  to  the 
king,  and  duty  to  the  parliament ;  and  my  love  to  our  American  colonies, 
as  well  as  my  regard  for  equity,  obliges  me  to  say  what  can  reasonably 
be  said  on  their  behalf;  that  prejudice  on  both  sides  may  give  place  to 
Christian  forbearance  and  conciliatory  kindness. 

I  hope,  sir,  you  are  by  this  time  convinced  that  the  American  revolt 
is  absolutely  unjustifiable ;  and  that  the  king  and  parliament  have  an 
indubitable  right  proportionably  to  tax  the  colonists,  as  well  as  the  Eng- 
lish ;  although  the  colonists  are  not  directly  and  adequately  represented 
in  parliament,  any  more  than  multitudes  of  Britons  who  live  abroad,  and 
millions  who  reside  in  Great  Britain.  And  now,  sir,  I  candidly  allow, 
that  although  the  colonists  cannot  without  absurdity  insist  on  an  equal 
representation,  yet  they  may  humbly  request  to  be  particularly  repre- 
sented in  the  British  legislature ;  and  that,  although  strict  justice  does 
not  oblige  Great  Britain  to  grant  them  such  a  request,  yet  parental  wis- 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  545 

dom  and  brotherly  condescension  require  her  to  grant  something  to  the 
notion,  that  a  direct  representation  in  parliament  is  inseparably  connected 
with  civil  liberty.  This  notion,  I  confess,  is  irrational,  unscriptural,  and 
unconstitutional  But  it  is  a  prevailing  notion,  and  if  we  look  at  it  in 
one  point  of  view,  it  seems  to  wear  the  badge  of  British  liberty,  and  there- 
fore has  some  claim  to  the  indulgence  of  Britons. 

Permit  me  to  illustrate  my  meaning  by  a  Scriptural  simile.  Through 
a  strong  national  prejudice,  the  Jews,  who  had  embraced  Christianity, 
fancied  tl.at  no  man  could  be  a  true  Christian  without  being  circumcised; 
and  they  supported  their  assertion  by  God's  positive  command  to  the 
father  of  the  faithful ;  a  command  this  which  Christ  had  not  expressly 
repealed,-  and  to  which  he  and  his  disciples  had  religiously  submitted. — 
The  apostles  saw  that  the  Christianized  Jews  were  under  a  capital  mis- 
take.  Nevertheless,  in  condescension  to  human  weakness  and  national 
prejudice,  they  allowed  them  to  circumcise  their  children :  and  Paul 
himself  though  he  detested  their  error,  yielded  to  them  so  far  as  to  have 
his  convert  Timothy  circumcised.  I  grant,  that  a  direct  and  adequate 
representation  in  parliament  is  no  more  essential  to  British  liberty,  than 
circumcision  to  true  Christianity.  But,  as  the  governors  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  made  some  concessions  to  Jewish  weakness,  might  not  also 
the  governors  of  the  British  empire  make  some  to  American  prejudice  ; 
especially  considering  that  it  will  be  as  difficult  for  them  peaceably  to 
rule  the  Americans  without  such  an  act  of  condescension,  as  it  would 
have  been  for  the  apostles  to  govern  the  Jews,  without  the  above-men- 
tioned complaisance  ? 

Beside,  in  some  cases,  constitutional  and  unconstitutional  taxation  may 
border  so  nearly  upon  each  other,  that  the  most  judicious  politicians  will 
be  as  much  at  a  loss  to  draw  the  line  between  them,  as  the  most  skilful 
painter  would  be  to  draw  the  line  between  the  primitive  colours  of  the 
rainbow.  This  bordering  of  a  faint  constitutional  privilege,  upon  an 
unconstitutional,  absolute  want  of  privilege,  has  deceived  the  colonists. 
As  a  man  who  is  passionately  fond  of  flaming  crimson,  takes  a  faint  red 
to  be  no  red  at  all ;  they  have  pronounced  that  to  be  no  representation, 
which  is  an  indirect  representation  discernible  to  all  but  the  prejudiced. 
In  their  patriotic  fright  they  have  fancied  that  the  ship  of  constitutional 
liberty  struck  on  a  rock,  because  it  did  not  carry  so  many  sails  as  they 
imagined  it  should.  You  may  compare  their  mistake  to  that  of  impatient, 
suspicious  passengers,  who,  when  they  have  all  their  fortune  on  board  a 
ship,  are  apt  to  think  that  she  does  not  move  at  all,  because  her  motion 
is  not  so  rapid  as  they  could  wish  ;  and  because  their  anxious  fears  turn 
every  sail  they  see  into  a  privateer  in  chase  of  their  property.  Their 
error  deserves  then  compassion,  as  well  as  blame ;  and  will  appear  ex- 
cusable to  those  who  know  the  immense  value  of  liberty. 

Our  lawgivers,  who  are  peculiarly  acquainted  with  the  worth  of  this 
jewel,  can  above  all  men  put  a  favourable  construction  upon  the  panic 
of  a  people  afraid  of  being  enslaved.  Depending,  therefore,  on  their 
condescension,  I  shall  presume  to  ask,  if  now  that  the  government  has 
plainly  asserted  and  powerfully  supported  the  just  claims  of  Great  Britain, 
it  might  not  safely  relax  a  little  the  reins  of  authority,  and  kindly  con- 
descend to  the  fears  of  the  colonists.  And  should  the  Americans  show 
themselves  just  in  indemnifying  our  injured  merchants,  penitent  in  laying 

Vol.  IV.  35 


546  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

down  their  arms,  and  loyal  in  acknowledging  die  right  that  Great  Britain 
has  to  expect  proportionable  taxes  from  them ;  might  not  the  king  and 
parliament  show  themselves  kind,  in  granting  them  the  privilege  of  a 
special  representation  in  the  British  legislature ;  or  in  passing  an  act  of 
security,  to  fix  just  bounds  to  the  power  of  parliamentary  taxation  with 
respect  to  the  Americans  ;  to  promise  the  colonies  that  a  proper  allow- 
ance shall  always  be  made  them  for  the  superior  commercial  privileges 
of  Great  Britain ;  to  ascertain,  in  an  equitable  manner,  the  quantum  of 
that  allowance ;  and  to  remove  their  dread  of  being  disproportionably 
taxed  by  the  most  solemn  assurances,  that  their  taxes  shall  always  rise 
or  fall  in  exact  proportion  to  our  own,  according  to  the  plan  laid  down 
in  pages  510,  511  ? 

I  would  not  carry  matters  so  far  as  to  say,  with  the  poet,  Summum 
jus  summa  injuria  ;*  but  might  I  not  observe,  that  parental  love,  brotherly 
kindness,  and  British  equity  require  that  some  condescension  be  shown 
to  the  colonists  1  Should  not  British  legislators  show  themselves  gods, 
by  imitating  the  God  of  gods, 

Who  conquers  all,  beneath,  above, 
Devils  with  force,  and  men  with  love  ? 

While  the  Atlantic  foams  under  the  weight  of  the  transports,  which 
carry  the  troops  sent  over  to  subdue  the  revolted  provinces,  might  not 
love  suspend  the  destructive  stroke,  and  conquer  them  without  farther 
effusion  of  blood  1  Is  their  hardness  absolutely  desperate  ?  While  the 
sio-ht  of  a  force  so  superior  to  that  which  quelled  them  at  Bunker's  Hill, 
works  upon  their  prudence ;  and  while  Scriptural  expostulations  enlighten 
their  consciences,  might  not  some  gracious  and  timely  concessions  work 
upon  their  gratitude,  excite  their  admiration,  and  regain  their  confidence  ? 
O  that  you,  sir,  and  I  could  imitate  those  courageous  women,  who,  when 
the  Romans,  their  husbands,  and  the  Sabines,  their  brothers,  were  going 
to  engage,  rushed  between  the  two  armies,  and  so  wrought  upon  them, 
by  tender  expostulations,  that  the  fierce  antagonists,  instead  of  plunging 
their  swords  into  each  other's  breasts,  fell  upon  each  other's  necks,  and 
turned  the  field  of  battle  into  a  field  of  reconciliation !  If  a  heathen 
country  saw  the  delightful  scene,  might  not  a  Christian  land  behold  it 
also?  The  pleasing  thought  transports  my  mind:  my  imagination, 
warmed  by  the  fond  hope,  carries  me  beyond  myself:  methinks  I  rush 
between  the  parliament  and  the  congress,  and  after  having  pleaded  the 
sovereign's  cause  before  the  patriots,  I  plead  that  of  the  patriots  before 
the  sovereign.  Fancying  myself  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  seeing 
the  king  raised  on  high  above  all  the  British  lawgivers,  on  my  bended 
knees,  from  the  dust,  with  trembling  awe,  I  present  my  bold,  mediato- 
rial plea  : — 

O  king,  live  and  reign  in  righteousness  for  ever !  And  ye,  his  patri- 
cian and  plebeian  senators,-)-  help  him  long  to  sway  the  sceptre  with  Chris- 

*  Right,  carried  to  the  height,  is  the  height  of  injustice. 

t  There  is  a  symmetrical  excellence  in  the  British  constitution  which  escapes 
the  attention  of  many  Britons.  I  have  observed  that  the  capital  business  of  the 
parliament  is  to  keep  the  balance  even  between  the  king  and  the  people  ;  that 
neither  oppressive  despotism,  (or  the  tyranny  of  one,)  nor  mobbing  anarchy,  (or 
the  tyranny  of  many,)  may  prevail.  I  now  add,  that  the  two  houses  of  parlia- 
ment are  two  mediatorial  courts  between  the  king  and  the  people.     The  house  of 


AMERICAN   PATRIOTISM.  547 

tian  gentleness  and  British  fortitude  !  As  his  faithful  assessors,  and  par- 
takers with  him  of  the  legislative  power,  firmly  support  on  his  royal 
head  the  ponderous  crown,  which  gives  him  the  dominion  over  the  Brit- 
ish islands,  half  of  the  western  world,  and  the  whole  aqueous  globe ! — 
One  of  your  adopted  subjects,  warmed  with  gratitude  for  the  religious 
and  civil  liberty  which  he  enjoys  under  your  mild  government ;  and 
deeply  concerned  for  your  glory  and  the  prosperity  of  your  dominions, 
intrudes  into  your  awful  presence  to  intercede  for  his  guilty  brethren.  If 
the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  vouchsafes  to  receive  his  fervent 
addresses  to  the  throne  of  grace  for  you ;  do  not  reject,  O  ye  gods,  his 
humble  address  for  your  American  colonies. 

It  is  not  my  design  to  extenuate  their  crime.  An  ingenuous  confes- 
sion becomes  a  prostrate  suppliant.  They  have  sinned  against  Heaven 
and  against  you.  They  have  preposterously  charged  you  with  robbery, 
when  they  themselves  robbed*  God,  by  keeping  from  his  political  repre- 
sentatives the  reasonable  and  legal  taxes  due  to  the  supreme  power;  to 
a  creative  and  protective  power  that  gave  them  birth,  and  raised  them 
from  a  state  of  infant  weakness  and  want,  to  youthful  vigour  and  grow- 
ing opulence.  Their  crime  is  complicate  :  they  have  openly  encouraged 
the  lawless  mobs  which  trampled  upon  your  authority,  and  destroyed 
the  property  of  your  loyal  subjects  :  they  have  obstinately  protected 
felony  and  sedition:  they  have  audaciously  hindered  the  course  of  jus- 
tice :  their  congress  has  met  to  oppose  your  claim  of  taxation  in  the 
capital  of  that  very  province,  by  the  express  terms  of  whose  charter  they 
are  solemnly  bound  to  pay  you  taxes  :  they  have  armed  by  sea  and  land 
to  cut  off  your  forces :  and,  not  satisfied  with  asserting  their  assumed 
supremacy  over  the  revolted  provinces,  they  have  aimed  at  making  con- 
quests :  they  have  completed  their  guilt  by  a  daring  attempt  to  annex 
your  immense  province  of  Canada  to  the  empire  they  have  newly  set  up. 
And  now  what  can  I  say  in  their  behalf?  My  grand  plea,  O  ye  insulted 
powers,  is  taken  from  yourselves.  As  your  majesty  is,  so  is  your  mercy. 
Ye  are  called  Christians  by  the  name  of  the  mild  Potentate  who  inter- 
ceded for  his  mobbing  murderers.  When  they  poured  floods  of  con- 
tempt upon  his  royal  head  :  when  they  pierced  his  temples  with  thorns, 
his  hands  with  nails,  his  heart  with  sarcasms  :  and  when  they  prepared 

commons  is  composed  of  senators  chosen  by  the  people,  to  be  a  check  upon  the 
king  and  nobles ;  and  the  house  of  lords  is  composed  of  senators  chosen  by  the 
king,  to  be  a  check  upon  the  people  and  their  representatives.  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  house  of  lords  is  peculiarly  bound  to  maintain  the  prerogatives  of  the 
crown,  against  the  encroachments  of  mobs  and  mobbing  patriots  ;  and  that  it  is 
the  peculiar  duty  of  the  house  of  commons  to  maintain  the  privileges  of  the  peo- 
ple, against  the  encroachments  of  despots  and  despotic  ministers.  In  the  last 
century  the  lords  failing  in  their  duty,  the  balance  was  broken :  the  commons 
prevailed  ;  and  the  consequence  was  what  might  naturally  be  expected  :  the  house 
of  lords  was  set  aside,  the  king  beheaded,  and  the  constitution  overthrown. 
This  remarkable  event  should  teach  our  senators  the  wisdom  peculiarly  neces- 
sary to  a  faithful  discharge  of  their  high  office. 

*  I  would  not  dare  to  use  such  an  expression,  if*  the  Scriptures  did  not  bear  me 
out.  The  Lord,  speaking  by  the  Prophet  Malachi,  says  :  "  Will  a  man  rob  God  ? 
Yet  ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  robbed  thee  ?  In  tithes," 
Mai.  iii,  8.  I  infer  from  this  answer,  that  if  God  accounts  himself  robbed,  when 
tithes  are  detained  from  his  priests  ;  he  does  so  much  more  when  reasonable  and 
legal  taxes  are  detained  from  sovereigns,  his  primary  representatives,  whom  he 
calls  his  anointed,  and  to  whom  he  allows  the  title  of  gods. 


546  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

to  pierce  his  side  with  a  spear ;  even  then  he  not  only  forgave  them 
himself,  but  turned  their  excuser,  and  said,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do."  The  Divine  plea  prevailed.  It  obtained 
an  evangelical  proclamation  of  pardon  on  the  most  condescending  terms. 
"Where  sin  had  abounded,  there  grace  did  much  more  abound.'"  Where 
rebellion  had  set  up  her  bloody  banner,  there  mercy  gloried  to  erect  her 
superior  standard.  Jerusalem,  ungrateful,  hypocritical,  rebellious  Jeru- 
salem :  Jerusalem,  guilty  of  the  murder  of  the  King  of  kings  :  Jerusa- 
lem, the  still  rebellious  and  unrelenting  city,  was  first  blessed  with  the 
news  of  a  free  pardon  ;  and  thousands  of  relenting  rebels  submitted  to 
the  terms  of  the  gracious  proclamation.  By  this  unexpected  effort  of 
mercy,  the  Lord  of  glory  subjugated  those  stiff  religionists.  Pardoning 
love  effectually  conquered  their  stubbornness  ;  and  a  nation  of  loyal 
subjects  was  born  in  a  day. 

And  might  ye  not,  O  ye  Christian  rulers,  imitate  the  Lord  of  glory 
without  prostituting  your  dignity  ?  Directed  by  the  example  of  our  meek 
Redeemer,  might  not  thy  mercy,  O  king,  issue  out  a  proclamation  of  par- 
don upon  such  terms  as  might  raise  the  astonishment  of  an  Adams  and  a 
Washington  ?  Are  Lee  and  Hancock  fiercer  against  thee,  than  Saul  of 
Tarsus  was  against  his  Saviour  ?  Have  they  breathed  out  more  threaten- 
ings  and  slaughter  than  that  enthusiastic  zealot,  who,  not  satisfied  with  his 
personal  contempt  of  the  Lord  of  lords,  compelled  others  to  blaspheme 
him,  and  persecuted  to  death  those  who  would  not  ?  Nevertheless,  when 
he  fell  to  the  ground,  mercy  raised  him  up,  not  only  to  the  dignity  of  a 
Christian,  but  to  that  of  an  apostle  :  and  the  service  which  he  did  the 
Church  in  that  high  office  far  exceeded  the  injury  he  had  done  her  by 
his  bloody  enthusiasm.  Could  ye  not,  O  ye  Christian  legislators,  try 
the  same  successful  method  with  your  American  subjects  ?  If  mercy 
alone  would  make  them  insolent,  and  if  power  alone  would  make  them 
desperate,  could  not  power  and  mercy,  combined  by  your  wisdom, 
effectually  disarm  them,  and  for  ever  attach  them  to  your  steady  and 
mild  government  ? 

Nor  will  you  by  this  means  overcome  the  Americans  alone.  You  will 
also  disarm  the  minority  of  your  respectable  body,  and  their  numerous 
partisans  in  the  kingdom.  When  we  are  wrongfully  accused  of  intend- 
ing things  we  never  thought  of,  does  not  prudence  call  upon  us  to  remove 
the  very  appearances  by  which  the  charge  seems  supported  ?  And  how 
can  these  appearances  be  fully  removed  in  the  present  case,  otherwise 
than  by  granting  your  American  subjects  the  privilege  of  some  direct 
representation,  together  with  some  security  that  the  taxes  laid  upon 
them  shall  always  bear  an  equitable  proportion  to  the  taxes  laid  upon 
your  British  subjects  1 

Might  I  not  also  presume  to  ask,  whether  all  the  grievances  com- 
plained of  are  imaginary,  and  whether  no  needless  provocation  has  been 
given  them  by  some  of  our  countrymen,  and  no  secret  encouragement 
by  others  1  Beside,  are  ye  not  divided  among  yourselves  ?  And  if  ye 
have  taught  them  the  unhappy  art  of  rising  against  you,  by  rising  against 
each  other,  should  you  not  pity  them  ?  And  should  ye  not  bear  a  little 
with  their  turbulency,  since  you  are  obliged  to  bear  so  much  from  those 
of  your  own  body,  who  openly  countenance  their  rash  patriotism  ? 
Again  :  if  we  are  the  politic  parents  of  the  colftnists,  are  they  not  en- 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  549 

titled  to  parental  indulgence  from  you  ?  My  lord  the  king  is  an  angel  of 
God,  to  discern  good  and  bad:  he  knows,  and  ye,  his  legislative  asses- 
sors, know  that  political,  as  well  as  religious  enthusiasm,  is  a  fever  of  the 
mind,  which  throws  those  who  are  attacked  with  it,  into  a  temporary 
delirium :  and  that,  in  the  paroxysm,  heated  religionists  and  patriots, 
like  delirious  people,  say  and  do  a  thousand  things  of  which  they  are 
ashamed  when  they  come,  to  themselves  again.  If  your  own  children 
were  dangerously  ill  and  light  headed,  would  ye  not  treat  them  with  an 
indulgence  suitable  to  their  deplorable  case  ?  And  would  not  natural 
affection  concur  with  reason,  to  make  you  overlook  the  petulance  and 
wildness  of  their  behaviour  1  Ye  will  extend  your  mercy  to  your  Ameri- 
can subjects  with  double  readiness,  if  ye  consider  that  they  are  not  all 
guilty.  A  few  warm  men  among  them  open  the  flood  gates  of  patriotic 
licentiousness;  and  while  the  tierce  and  roaring  torrent  frightened 
myriads  into  a  temporary  compliance  to  revolt,  it  carried  away  myriads 
more  before  they  knew  what  they  were  about.  Nor  have  they  perhaps 
had  it  yet  in  their  power  to  recollect  themselves.  Vouchsafe,  then,  to 
show  yourselves  their  tender  physicians,  as  well  as  their  indulgent  pa- 
rents ;  nor  heal  their  moral  fever  by  burning  corrosives,  so  long  as  there 
is  the  least  prospect  of  doing  it  by  cooling  applications.  If  Christianity 
commands  us  to  "  restore,  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  those  that  are  fallen, 
to  become  weak  to  the  weak,  yea,  to  become  all  things  to  all  men,  that 
by  all  means  we  may  gain  and  save  some  ;"  be  abundantly  condescend- 
ing to  your  American  people,  that  you  may  save  thousands  of  precious 
lives,  prevent  the  devastation  of  your  own  dominions,  and  disappoint  your 
enemies,  who  flatter  themselves  that,  when  Great  Britain  and  her  colo- 
nies shall  have  exhausted  their  strength  in  a  destructive  war,  the  British 
empire,  or  some  part  of  it,  will  become  an  easy  prey  to  their  greedy  and 
watchful  ambition. 

But  I  peculiarly  address  thee,  thou  majestic  head,  and  executive  hand 
of  the  legislative  power.  By  thy  steadiness  thou  hast  shown  thyself  a 
king  worthy  of  commanding  a  people  who  display  lions  in  their  stand- 
ards. And  now,  like  "  Messiah,  the  Prince,"  like  the  generous  "  Lion 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,"  vouchsafe  to  show  thyself  "  the  prince  of  peace." 
Let  all  the  earth  know  that  thou  art  a  representative  of  the  God  "  of  all 
grace,  and  of  the  Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  Is  not 
the  right  of  showing  mercy  to  the  condemned,  the  noblest  of  all  thy 
royal  prerogatives,  and  the  brightest  jewel  of  thy  imperial  crown  ?  O  ! 
let  that  jewel  shine  in  this  cloudy  day,  and  it  will  reflect  the  light  of  the 
"  Sun  of  righteousness"  across  the  Atlantic,  and  cheer  the  western 
world.  The  proclamation  of  a  general  pardon,  accompanied  by  the 
grant  of  a  direct  representation,  and  of  a  security  for  the  equitable 
proportion,  which  their  taxes  shall  always  bear  to  ours  ;  such  a  procla- 
mation, I  say,  enforced  by  the  sound  of  thy  trumpets,  the  roar  of  thy 
cannons,  the  sight  of  thy  fleets,  and  the  terror  of  thy  armies,  will  show 
that  thou  art  eminently  qualified  to  reign  over  a  brave  and  free  people. 
Thou  mayest  thus  be  merciful  without  weakness.  A  Lee  and  a  Wash- 
ington are  resolute  enough  to  stand  for  a  time  the  shock  of  thy  forces  : 
An  Adams  and  a  Hancock  are  obstinate  enough  to  bury  themselves  in 
the  ruins  of  their  country.  But  resolute  and  obstinate  as  they  are,  thy 
mercy  confounds — thy  indulgence  disarms  them.     The   paroxysm   is 


550  AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM. 

over.  Candour  and  loyaly  return  together.  The  fiery  heroes  come 
back  to  sober  heroism  ;  and  the  rash  patriots  to  true  patriotism.  Thy 
royal  mercy  has  melted  them  into  tears.  With  shame  they  fix  their 
weeping  eyes  on  the  ground  ;  with  admiration  they  lift  them  up  to  hea- 
ven. They  claim  the  honour  of  bringing  in  person  the  restitution  money 
thou  insistest  upon  for  thy  injured  subjects.  They  haste  to  throw  them- 
selves at  the  feet  of  a  sovereign  who  knows  how  to  protect,  conquer, 
and  pardon.  My  imagination  sees  them  cross  the  Atlantic  :  they  enter 
your  gates  :  they  throw  American  swords  at  your  feet :  they  ask  par- 
don for  themselves,  and  the  guilty  people  they  represent  :  they  kiss  the 
royal  hand  which  has  averted  their  impending  ruin,  and  pour  out  their 
grateful  souls  in  such  words  as  these  : — 

"  Merciful  and  great  king,  and  ye  his  legislative  assessors,  permit  us 
to  distinguish  ourselves  by  our  penitential  return,  as  we  once  did  by  our 
rash  revolt.  With  feelings  proportionable  to  the  sense  we  have  of  our 
guilt,  of  the  king's  mercy,  and  the  parliament's  condescension,  we  lament 
our  misapprehensions ;  and  deploring  the  bloodshed  which  they  have 
caused,  we  acknowledge  that  we  owe  you  the  reasonable  taxes  due  to 
the  supreme,  protecting  power,  by  the  consent  of  all  civilized  nations, 
and  by  the  express  command  of  God  ;  and  since  you  condescend  to  grant 
us  the  privilege  of  a  share  in  your  legislature,  we  will  not  only  religiously, 
but  cheerfully  pay  them  for  the  time  to  come.  In  the  meanwhile  we 
refund  at  your  feet  sums  equivalent  to  the  goods  which  our  rash  citizens 
buried  in  the  sea ;  and  we  own  it  is  just  that  we  should,  in  due  propor- 
tion, help  to  discharge  the  national  debt,  which  has  been  in  part  contracted 
for  our  protection,  and  which  our  unhappy  revolt  has  of  late  so  greatly 
increased.  Made  wiser  by  our  misfortunes,  and  taught  both  to  revere 
and  love  our  mother  country,  we  shall,  at  every  proper  opportunity, 
express  our  grateful  sense  of  her  parental  regard.  We  are  indeed 
separated  by  the  Atlantic  ocean,  which  we  lately  looked  upon  as  a 
boundary  to  your  dominions,  a  vast  moat  to  keep  us  asunder,  and  a 
rampart  to  defend  our  continent  against  your  incursions  :  but  now  our 
views  are  changed,  and  we  consider  that  wide  sea  as  a  magnificent 
channel,  which  Divine  Providence  seems  to  have  prepared  to  facilitate 
our  friendly  and  commercial  intercourse  ;  to  enrich  our  respective  coun- 
tries with  the  treasures  of  the  old  and  new  world ;  to  make  us  live  in  a 
constant  exercise  of  the  art  of  navigation,  and  enable  us,  by  these  means, 
powerfully  to  support  the  British  claims  to  the  empire  of  the  sea.  Such 
are  the  pleasing  thoughts  we  have  of  our  happy  re-union.  May  they 
appear  delightful  to  all  who  wish  well  to  the  British  empire  !  And  may 
the  poisonous  breath  of  discord,  more  dangerous  than  all  the  storms 
of  the  Atlantic,  never  break  the  sweet  calm  which  royal  mercy  and 
parliamentary  condescension  have  restored  to  our  distracted  pro- 
vinces !" 

"  Take  up  your  swords,  ye  brave,  though  rash  patriots,"  replies  the 
speaker.  "  Your  courage  and  love  of  liberty  entitle  you  to  this  honour 
of  receiving  them  again,  on  condition  that  you  beat  them  into  plough 
shares,  or  use  them  only  against  our  common  enemies.  It  is  the  first, 
see  that  it  be  the  last  time  they  are  stained  with  British  blood,  and  lifted 
up  against  the  breast  that  gave  you  suck.  And  as  the  world  sees  the 
political  and  military  leaders  of  the  colonies  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and 


AMERICAN  PATRIOTISM.  551 

of  a  British  senate  ;  the  world  shall  see  that  the  king  and  parliament  can 

not  only 

Parcere  subjectis,  et  debellare  superbos, 

but  that  they  know  how  to  conquer  the  generous  friends  of  liberty  by 
generous  acts  of  condescending  love.  Rise,  ye  mistaken  sons  of  liberty, 
rise  to  demonstrate,  that,  as  we  can  fight  like  Britons,  so  we  can  forgive 
as  Christians,  and  indulge  as  brethren.  Take  your  seats  among  British 
senators,  and  particularly  represent  the  American  provinces.  But  beware 
of  considering  this  privilege  as  a  bribe  bestowed  by  a  timorous  adminis- 
tration, much  less  as  a  reward  for  your  rash  revolt.  Though  we  make 
allowance  for  your  mistakes,  and  put  a  favourable  construction  upon  your 
intentions,  we  abhor  and  bear  our  solemn  testimony  against  your  proceed- 
ings.  But  the  mantle  of  royal  mercy,  and  of  your  repentance,  having 
covered  all,  we  shall  not  upbraid  you  with  antichristian  principles,  and 
bloody  scenes,  which  we  wish  to  be  buried  in  eternal  oblivion.  If  we 
grant  you  some  seats  in  the  house  of  commons,  it  is  only  to  remove  your 
jealousies  by  a  condescension  which  becomes  a  mother  country  and  a 
mild  government ;  and  to  regain  the  filial  confidence  of  our  American 
colonies,  by  permitting  the  men,  who  have  been  most  prejudiced  against 
us,  to  be  eye  witnesses  of  our  firm  attachment  to  the  constitution,  of  our 
impartial  zeal  for  the  dignity  of  the  crown,  of  our  guardian  care  for  the 
constitutional  liberty  of  the  people,  and  of  our  prudent  endeavours  to 
secure  the  due  obedience  of  the  British  subjects. 

"  The  wound  which  the  demon  of  discord  has  given  to  our  union,  can- 
not be  perfectly  healed  but  by  an  amputation,  or  a  consolidation.  The 
former  expedient  is  inconsistent  with  our  mutual  affection,  and  our  com- 
mon interest ;  but  the  latter  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  both  ;  and  our  con- 
sanguinity loudly  demands  that  it  should  be  preferred.  Help  us,  then, 
to  consolidate  the  lacerafed  parts  of  the  British  empire.  Let  your  filial 
gratitude  meet  our  paternal  condescension  half  way ;  so  shall  reconcil- 
ing love  cast  the  bridge  of  union  across  the  Atlantic,  and  firmly  join  our 
happy  island  with  your  fortunate  continent.  And  may  genuine,  sober, 
Scriptural  patriotism,  like  an  adamantine  key,  for  ever  bind  the  solid 
arch !  May  one  blood,  one  language,  one  constitution,  one  religion,  one 
king,  one  supreme  legislature,  one  temporal  and  eternal  interest,  combine 
to  make  us  one  flourishing  empire,  till  the  kingdom  of  God  swallow  up 
all  other  kingdoms !    Nor  let  it  be  said  any  more, 

Audiet  cives  acuisse  ferrum, 

Quo  graves  Turcaas  melius  perirent ; 

Audiet  pugnas,  vitio  parentum 
Rara  juventus."* 

While  the  speaker  concludes  this  patriotic  speech,  my  imagination 
returns  from  her  pleasing  excursion.  The  awful  parliamentary  scene 
vanishes  "  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision."  But  "  a  wreck  is  left 
behind."  Hints  of  a  Scriptural  method  of  reconciliation  are  humbly 
suggested ;  and  you  have  some  expressions  of  my  cordial  concern  for 
the  glory  of  our  sovereign,  and  the  satisfaction  of  our  American  fellow 
subjects,  to  whom,  as  well  as  to  Dr.  Price  and  yourself,  I  sincerely  wish 

*  Our  posterity,  thinned  by  our  civil  wars,  will  hear  of  our  culpable  contentions, 
and  will  lament  our  having  turned  against  each  other  those  swords  which  should 
never  have  been  drawn  but  against  our  common  enemies. 


552  THE  BIBLE   AND  THE   SWORD. 

all  the  sweets  of  Christian  and  British  liberty,  without  any  of  the  bitters 
of  religious  and  civil  licentiousness.  "  Of  making  many  books,  (says 
Solomon,)  there  is  no  end.  Let  us  then  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole 
matter : — Fear  God,  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole 
duty  of  man."  Or,  if  you  prefer  St.  Peter's  words,  "Fear  God,  and 
honour  the  king,"  for  this  is  the  sum  of  the  two  tables  of  Christ's  law. 
That,  instead  of  breaking  one  of  these  tables  under  pretence  of  keeping 
the  other,  we  may  always  agree  to  pay  a  cheerful  obedience  to  both,  is 
the  final  and  highest  wish  of,  reverend  sir,  your  obedient  servant  in  a 
Gospel,  which  neither  makes  void  the  law  through  faith,  nor  supersedes 
loyalty  through  liberty, 

J.  Fletcher. 


We  subjoin  here,  by  way  of  postscript  to  the  above  letters,  an  extract* 
from  a  small  pamphlet  published  soon  after  them,  and  entitled,  "  The 
Bible  and  the  Sword,  &c." 


THE  BIBLE  AND   THE   SWORD: 

OR, 

THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  THE  GENERAL  FAST  VINDICATED ; 

IN  AN 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  COMMON  PEOPLE. 


The  royal  proclamation,  which  has  been  lately  issued  out,  shows  that 
the  hopes  expressed  in  a  late  publicationf  were  well  grounded.  The 
heart  of  every  good,  unprejudiced  man,  must  rejoice  at  reading  this  truly 
Christian  decree  : — "  We,  &c,  command  that  a  public  fast  and  humilia- 
tion be  observed  throughout  England,  upon  Friday,  December  13,  so 
that  both  we  and  our  people  may  humble  ourselves  before  almighty  God, 
in  order  to  obtain  pardon  of  our  sins  ;  and  may  in  the  most  devout  and 
solemn  manner  send  up  our  prayers  and  supplications  to  the  Divine  ma- 
jesty, for  averting  those  heavy  jugdments,  whfch  our  manifold  sins  and 
provocations  have  justly  deserved ;  and  for  imploring  his  intervention 
and  blessing  speedily  to  deliver  our  loyal  subjects,"  &c.  The  sovereign 
acts  herein  the  part  of  a  Christian  prince,  and  of  a  wise  politician.  As 
a  Christian  prince  he  enforces  the  capital  duty  of  national  repentance  ; 

*  We  term  the  following  an  extract,  because  we  have  judged  it  proper  to  omit 
the  introductory  part,  it  being  merely  a  quotation  from  the  fourth  of  the  preced- 
ing letters,  beginning  with  "Dr.  Price  has  advanced  an  argument,"  &c,  p.  536; 
and  concluding  with  the  end  of  the  letter,  p.  545. 

t  American  Patriotism  Confronted,  &c. 


THE   EI3I.E    AND   THE   SWORD.  553 

and  as  a  wise  politician  he  averts  the  most  formidable  stroke  which  Dr. 
Price  has  aimed  at  his  government.  May  we  second  his  laudable  designs 
by  acting  the  part  of  penitent  sinners  and  loyal  subjects  ;  though  mis- 
taken patriots  should  pour  floods  of  contempt  upon  us  on  the  occasion. 

It  would  be  strange  if  an  appointment,  which  has  a  direct  tendency 
to  promote  piety,  to  increase  loyalty,  and  to  baffle  the  endeavours  of  a 
disappointed  party,  met  with  no  opposition.  If  we  solemnly  keep  the 
fast,  we  must  expect  to  be  ridiculed  by  the  men  who  imagine  that  liberty 
consists  in  the  neglect  of  God's  law,  and  the  contempt  of  the  king's 
authority.  The  warm  men  who  have  publicly  asserted  that  his  last 
speech  from  the  throne  is  full  of  insincerity,  daily  insinuate  that  his 
proclamation  is  full  of  hypocrisy,  and  that  it  will  be  as  wrong  in  you  to 
ask  a  blessing  upon  his  arms,  as  to  desire  the  Almighty  to  bless  the 
arms  of  robbers  and  murderers.  Nor  are  there  few  good  men  among 
us,  who  think  that  it  is  absolutely  inconsistent  with  Christianity  to  draw 
the  sword  and  proclaim  a  fast. 

Lest  the  insinuations  of  such  patriots  and  professors  should  cast  a 
damp  upon  your  devotion,  and  make  you  leave  the  field  of  national 
prayer  to  our  revolted  colonies,  I  beg  leave  to  remind  you  of  a  similar 
case,  in  which  God  testified  his  approbation  of  a  fast  connected  with  a 
fight ;  yea,  with  a  bloody  civil  war. 

We  read  in  the  book  of  Judges,  that  "  certain  sons  of  Belial,"  belong- 
ing to  the  city  of  "  Gibeah,"  in  the  land  of  Benjamin,  "  beset  a  house ;" 
obliged  a  Levite  who  lodged  there  "  to  bring  forth  a  concubine  to  them, 
and  they  knew  her,  and  abused  her  all  night"  in  such  a  manner,  that 
"  she  died"  in  the  morning.  The  Levite  complained  of  this  cruel  usage 
to  the  eleven  tribes.  "  All  the  men  of  Israel  were  gathered,"  on  this 
occasion,  "  against  the  inhospitable  city  of  Gibeah,  and  sent  men  through 
all  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  saying,  What  wickedness  is  this  that  is  done 
among  you  ?  Now,  therefore,  deliver  us  the  sons  of  Belial,  who  are  in 
Gibeah,  that  we  may  put  them  to  death,  and  put  away  evil  from  Israel. 
But  the  children  of  Benjamin  [instead  of  condescending  to  this  just 
request]  gathered  themselves  together  unto  Gibeah,  to  go  out  to  battle 
against  the  children  of  Israel,"  Judges  xix,  20. 

Let  us  apply  this  first  part  of  the  story  to  the  immediate  cause  of  the 
bloodshed  which  stains  the  fields  of  British  America,  and  we  shall  have 
the  following  state  of  the  case.  Certain  sons  of  Belial,  belonging  to  the 
city  of  Boston,  beset  a  ship  in  the  night,  overpowered  the  crew,  and 
feloniously  destroyed  her  rich  cargo.  The  government  was  informed 
that  this  felonious  deed  had  been  concerted  by  some  of  the  principal 
inhabitants  of  Boston,  and  executed  by  their  emissaries ;  and  being 
justly  incensed  against  the  numerous  rioters,  it  requested  the  unjust  city 
to  make  up  the  loss  sustained  by  the  owners  of  the  plundered  ship,  or  to 
deliver  up  the  sons  of  Belial  who  had  so  audaciously  broken  the  laws 
of  the  land ;  and  a  military  force  was  sent  to  block  up  the  port  of  Bos- 
ton, till  the  sovereign's  just  request  should  be  granted.  The  other  colo- 
nists, instead  of  using  their  interest  with  the  obstinate  inhabitants  of 
Boston  "to  induce  them  to  do  this  act  of  loyalty  and  justice,  gathered 
themselves  together  unto  Boston,  to  go  out  to  battle  against  the  sons  of 
Great  Britain,  and  by  taking  up  arms  against  the  king  to  protect  felons, 
made  themselves  guilty  both  of  felony  and  high  treason. 


554  THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SWORD. 

Return  we  now  to  the  children  of  Israel,  and  let  us  see  if  God  forbade 
them  to  bring  their  obstinate  brethren  to  reason  by  the  force  of  arms, 
and  considered  the  prayers  made  to  him  on  this  occasion  as  improper 
and  hypocritical.  "  The  children  of  Israel  (says  the  historian)  arOse 
and  went  up  to  the  house  of  God,  and  asked  counsel  of  God,  and  said, 
Which  of  us  shall  go  up  first  to  battle  against  the  children  of  Benjamin  ? 
And  the  Lord  [instead  of  blaming  their  design]  said,  Judah  shall  go  up 
first."  In  consequence  of  this  direction,  Judah  marched  up  to  the 
enemy.  ,  But,  alas  !  the  lighteousness  of  a  cause,  and  the  Divine  appro- 
bation, do  not  always  insure  success  to  those  who  fight  in  the  cause  of 
virtue.  Judah  lost  the  day,  and  22,000  men.  The  children  of  Israel, 
greatly  afflicted  with  this  misfortune,  went  up  and  wept  before  the  Lord 
until  even,  and  asked  counsel  of  the  Lord,  saying,  "  Shall  I  go  up  [a 
second  time]  to  battle  against  the  children  of  Benjamin  my  brother  ?" 
And  the  Lord  said,  "  Go  up  against  him,"  Judges  xx,  23.  However, 
they  were  as  unsuccessful  in  the  second  engagement  as  they  had  been 
in  the  first.  "  Then  all  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  the  people  went 
up,  and  came  unto  the  house  of  God,  and  wept,  and  sat  before  the  Lord, 
and  fasted  that  day  until  even.  And  the  children  of  Israel  inquired  of 
the  Lord,  saying,  Shall  I  yet  again  go  out  to  battle  against  the  children 
of  Benjamin  my  brother,  or  shall  I  cease  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  Go  up, 
for  to-morrow  I  will  deliver  them  into  thine  hand."  And  accordingly 
"  the  Lord  smote  Benjamin  before  Israel,"  Judges  xx,  26,  &c.  And 
the  few  Benjamites  that  escaped  the  edge  of  the  vindictive  sword, 
lamented  the  obstinacy  with  which  their  infatuated  tribe  had  taken  up 
arms  for  the  sons  of  Belial,  who  had  beset  the  house  in  the  inhospitable 
city  of  Gibeah. 

To  return.  From  the  preceding  Scriptural  account,  it  evidently  ap- 
pears, (1.)  That  God  allows,  yea,  commands  the  sword  to  be  drawn  for 
the  punishment  of  daring  felons,  and  of  the  infatuated  people  who  bear 
arms  in  their  defence,  as  the  Benjamiteg  formerly  did,  and  as  the  revolted 
colonies  actually  do.  (2.)  That,  in  this  case,  a  sister  tribe  may  con- 
scientiously draw  the  sword  against  an  obstinate  sister  tribe  ;  much  more 
a  parent  state  against  an  obstinate  colony,  and  a  king  against  rebellious 
subjects.  (3.)  That  Providence,  to  try  the  patience  of  those  who  are  in 
the  right,  may  permit  that  they  should  suffer  great  losses.  (4.)  That 
while  the  maintainers  of  order  and  justice  draw  the  sword  to  check 
daring  licentiousness,  it  is  their  duty  to  go  up  unto  the  house  of  God, 
and  to  weep  and  fast  before  the  Lord.  (5.)  That  God  makes  a  differ- 
ence between  the  enthusiastical  abettors  of  felonious  practices,  who  fast 
to  smite  their  brethren  and  rulers  with  the  fist  of  wickedness,  and  the 
steady  governors  who,  together  with  their  people,  fast  to  smite  the 
wicked  with  the  sceptre  of  righteousness  ;  and  that,  while  God  testifies 
his  abhorrence  of  the  former  fast,  he  shows  that  the  latter  ranks  among 
the  fasts  which  he  has  chosen,  the  end  of  true  fasting  being  to  repress 
evil  without  us,  as  well  as  within  us.  And  lastly,  that,  although  no  war 
is  so  dreadful  as  a  civil  war,  yet,  when  God  was  consulted  three  times 
following,  all  his  answers  show  that  the  most  bloody  civil  war  is  prefer- 
able to  the  horrible  consequences  of  daring  anarchy  :  and  that  it  is 
better  to  maintain  order  and  execute  justice,  with  the  loss  of  thousands 
of  soldiers,  than  to  let  the  mobbing  sons  of  Belial  break  into  ships  or 


THE   BIBLE  AND   THE   SWORD.  555 

houses,  to  commit  with  impunity  all  the  crimes  which  their  lust,  rapa- 
ciousness,  and  ferocity  prompt  them  to. 

Now  if  fasting  and  drawing  the  sword  of  justice  be  duties  consistent 
with  Scriptural  religion,  it  follows  that  praying  and  using  that  sword  are 
compatible  ordinances.  To  be  convinced  of  it,  you  need  only  consider 
the  following  scripture  :  "  Moses  said  to  Joshua,  Choose  us  out  men, 
and  go  out,  tight  with  Amalek.  Joshua  did  as  Moses  had  said  to  him, 
and  fought  with  Amalek.  And  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Hur,  went  up  to  the 
top  of  the  hill.  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Moses  held  up  his  hand  [in 
earnest  prayer]  that  Israel  prevailed  :  and  when  he  let  down  his  hand 
Amalek  prevailed.  But  Moses'  hands  were  heavy,  and  Aaron  and  Hur 
stayed  up  his  hands,  and  his  hands  were  steady  until  the  going  down  of 
the  sun.  And  Joshua  discomfited  Amalek  and  his  people  with  the  edge 
of  the  sword.  And  the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  Write  this  for  a  memorial 
in  a  book,"  Exod.  xvii,  9,  &c. 

"  But  supposing  war  and  bloodshed  were  allowed  under  the  Jewish 
dispensation,  are  they  not  absolutely  forbidden  under  the  Gospel  ?  Is 
not  Christ  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and  his  Gospel  the  Gospel  of  peace  ? 
And  is  it  not  said  that  men  shall  neither  hurt  nor  destroy  in  God's  holy 
mountain  ?  How  then  can  we  suppose  that  drawing  the  sword,  and 
fasting  on  that  occasion,  can  be  evangelical  duties  ?" 

This  objection  is  specious,  and  deserves  a  full  answer. 

1.  Our  Lord,  who  said  to  his  apostles  that  a  kind  of  raging  spirit 
goeth  not  out  but  by  fasting  and  prayer,  said  also  to  them,  "  He  that 
hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  garment  and  buy  one.  And  they  said, 
Lord,  behold,  here  are  two  swords :  and  he  said,  It  is  enough,"  Luke 
xxii,  36,  38.  I  grant,  that  when  "  Peter  drew  his  sword,  and  [rashly] 
struck  a  servant  of  the  high  priest,  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Put  up  again  thy 
sword  into  its  place  :  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword  [to  use  it  rashly,  as 
thou  dost,  without  any  order,  and  without  the  least  probability  of  success] 
shall  perish  with  the  sword,"  Matt,  xxvi,  52.  From  the  whole  of  this 
evangelical  account,  it  appears  that  our  Lord  allows  his  followers  the 
vise  of  the  sword ;  and  that  he  only  blames  it  when  it  is  precipitate,  and 
likely  to  answer  no  other  end  than  that  of  throwing  the  triumphant 
friends  of  vice  into  a  greater  rage. 

2.  If,  indeed,  all  men  were  Christians,  and  every  nominal  Christian 
was  led  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  there  would  be  absolutely  no  need  of 
the  sword  ;  for  there  would  be  nothing  but  justice,  truth,  and  love,  in  the 
world.  But  reason  dictates,  that  so  long  as  the  wicked  shall  use  the 
sword  in  support  of  vice,  the  righteous,  who  are  in  power,  must  use  it 
in  defence  of  virtue.  The  Lord  of  hosts,  and  Captain  of  our  salvation, 
who  girds  his  two-edged  sword  upon  his  thigh,  or  causes  it  to  proceed 
out  of  his  mouth  to  devour  the  wicked — this  righteous  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah  will  never  suffer  Satan  and  his  servants  so  to  bear  the  sword 
as  to  engross  the  use  of  it.  This  would  be  letting  them  have  the  king- 
dom, the  power,  and  the  glory,  without  control. 

3.  The  Psalms  and  Revelation  are  full  of  prophecies  concerning  the 
righteous  wars  which  the  godly  will  wage  against  the  wicked,  before 
iniquity  be  rooted  out  of  the  earth.  When  the  place  of  the  ungodly 
shall  know  them  no  more,  and  righteousness  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the 
waters  do  the  sea,  Isaiah's  prophecy  shall  be  fulfilled.     "  It  shall  come 


^56  THE   BIBLE  AND  THE   SWORD. 

to  pass  in  the  last  days,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be 
established  in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it. 
The  Lord  shall  then  judge  among  the  nations,  &c,  and  they  shall  beat 
their  swords  into  plough  shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks. 
Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn 
war  any  more,"  Isaiah  ii,  2,  4.  But  till  this  happy  time  come,  whenever 
one  nation,  or  one  part  of  a  nation,  unjustly  rises  up  against  another,  as 
the  men  of  Boston  did  against  our  merchants,  it  will  be  needful  to  oppose 
righteous  force  to  unrighteous  violence.  It  is  absurd,  therefore,  to 
measure  the  duty  of  Christians  who  live  among  lawless  men,  by  the 
duty  of  those  Christians  who  shall  live  when  all  lawless  men  shall  have 
been  destroyed. 

4.  If  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  in  heaven  against  the  dragon 
and  his  angels,  I  do  not  see  why  General  Howe  might  not  fight  on 
earth  against  General  Lee.  And  if  the  congress  unsheaths  the  sword 
to  protect  felons,  redress  the  imaginary  grievance  of  an  insignificant 
tax,  and  to  load  thousands  of  the  king's  loyal  subjects  with  grievances 
too  heavy  to  be  borne,  it  is  hard  to  say  why  he  and  his  parliament  should 
not  use  the  sword  to  redress  these  real  grievances,  and  to  assert  the 
liberty  of  our  American  fellow  subjects  who  groan  under  the  tyranny 
of  republican  despotism. 

5.  St.  Paul,  who  knew  the  Gospel  better  than  English  mystics  and 
American  patriots,  asserts  the  lawfulness  of  using  the  sword  in  order  to 
maintain  good  government  and  execute  justice.  Hear  his  doctrine  : — 
"  The  ruler  is  thejninister  of  God  to  thee  for  good.  But  if  thou  do  that 
which  is  evil,  be  afraid ;  for  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain  :  for  he  is 
the  minister  of  God,  [of  that  God  who  says,  '  If  ye  be  obedient,  ye  shall 
eat  the  good  of  the  land :  but  if  ye  rebel,  ye  shall  be  devoured  by  the 
sword,'  Isaiah  i,  19,  20,  and,  of  consequence,  he  is]  a  revenger  to  exe- 
cute wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil,"  Rom.  xiii,  4.  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  king  is  entrusted  with  the  sword,  and  that  if  he  do  not  use  it  to 
execute  wrath  upon  criminals,  he  bears  the  sword  in  vain,  and  defeats 
one  of  the  capital  ends  of  his  coronation  :  for  "  governors  are  sent  by 
God  for  the  punishment  of  evil  doers,"  1  Pet.  ii,  14. 

6.  Some  people  rejoice  that  we  have  watchmen  to  guard  our  streets, 
constables  to  apprehend  house  breakers,  jailers  to  confine  highwaymen, 
and  executioners  to  put  them  to  death.  And  yet  they  blame  the  use  of 
an  army.  Is  not  their  conduct,  in  this  respect,  highly  unreasonable  ? 
For,  after  all,  what  are  soldiers  but  royal  watchmen,  royal  constables, 
royal  jailers ;  and,  if  need  be,  royal  executioners  ?  If  it  be  lawful  to 
place  watchmen  in  long  white  coats  at  the  corners  of  our  streets  for  pub- 
lic security,  why  should  it  be  unlawful  to  place  there  watchmen  in  red 
coats  for  the  same  purpose  ?  If  it  be  right  to  send  an  unarmed  consta- 
ble, with  a  justice's  warrant,  against  an  unarmed  outlaw,  or  a  defence- 
less debtor;  can  it  be  wrong  to  send  thirty  thousand  armed  constables, 
with  the  sovereign's  warrant,  to  disarm  a  countless  multitude  of  lawless 
men,  who  assume  the  supreme  power  of  the  sword  with  as  much  pro- 
priety as  the  pope  does  the  power  of  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell  ?  Again  : 
if  it  be  not  contrary  to  Christianity  to  put  under  a  jailer's  care  a  num- 
ber of  dangerous  men,  who  have  already  disturbed  the  public  peace,  and 
who  seem  bent  upon  doing  it  again  ;  why  should  it  be  deemed  contrary 


THE  BIBLE    AND  THE    SWORD.  557 

to  Christ's  religion,  to  check,  by  a  military  guard,  a  dangerous  city  or 
province  which  has  forfeited  its  former  liberty,  by  adding  the  guilt  of 
felonious  and  treasonable  practices,  to  that  of  daring  licentiousness? 
Once  more :  if  the  king,  by  signing  a  death  warrant,  can  justly  com- 
mission a  sheriff,  and  an  executioner  to  take  away  the  life  of  a  house 
breaker,  or  a  man  who  has  presented  a  pistol  to  you  on  the  highway ; 
why  can  he  not,  by  the  advice  of  his  council  and  parliament,  give  to  his 
generals  and  soldiers  a  commission  to  shoot  lawless  men  who  have 
broken  into  a  ship,  to  destroy  the  property  of  his  loyal  subjects,  or  have 
taken  up  arms  in  defence  of  the  men  that  committed  this  crime  ;  and 
who,  instead  of  presenting  a  pistol  to  an  individual,  to  rob  him  of  a  few 
shillings,  have  brought  large  trains  of  artillery  into  the  field,  to  kill  the 
embodied  officers  of  justice,  who  bear  the  ruler's  sword,  and  to  rob  the 
king  himself  of  some  of  the  brightest  jewels  of  his  crown  ?  If  you  attend 
to  these  hints,  you  will  not  find  fault  with  our  sovereign  for  showing  that 
he  does  not  bear  the  sword  in  vain  :  and  you  will  praise  him  if  you  con- 
sider, that  the  first  commission,  which  he  has  given  to  the  commanders 
of  his  forces,  is  a  commission  to  offer  gracious  terms  of  peace  to  those 
very  men,  who,  by  wantonly  shedding  the  blood  of  his  loyal  subjects,  and 
by  repeatedly  pouring  floods  of  contempt  upon  his  sacred  person,  have 
forfeited  all  just  pretensions  to  his  royal  favour. 

7.  Soldiers,  like  watchmen,  jailers,  and  executioners,  are  a  needful 
burden  upon  the  public.  I  heartily  wish  we  were  virtuous  enough  to  do 
without  them :  but  as  this  is  not  the  case,  they  are  a  strong,  bitter,  and 
costly  remedy,  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to  prevent  or  cure  our 
licentiousness.  So  long  as  human  bodies  shall  want  to  be  preserved  by 
the  amputation  of  painful,  mortifying  limbs,  we  shall  want  surgeons : 
and  so  long  as  political  bodies  shall  be  in  danger  of  being  destroyed  by 
the  moral  corruption  of  their  members,  we  shall  want  soldiers  to  do 
bloody  operations.  May  the  Lord  grant  us  a  constant  succession  of 
wise,  conscientious,  mild,  and  yet  steady  rulers,  who  may  never  bear  the 
sword  in  vain  ;  and  who  may  never  use  it  but  with  the  same  tenderness 
with  which  a  surgeon  us,es  his  knife  when  he  cuts  a  mortified  limb  from 
the  body  of  a  beloved  child.  His  heart  bleeds,  while  the  dreadful  ope- 
ration is  performed  ;  and  yet  his  judicious,  parental  affection  makes  him 
consent  to  sacrifice  a  part  of  his  son's  body,  in  order  to  prevent  the  de- 
struction of  the  whole.  As  punishing  is  God's  strange  work,  so  should 
it  be  that  of  governors,  who  are  his  political  representatives.  Wo  to  the 
man,  who,  to  show  that  he  has  power  to  use  a  knife,  wantonly  cuts  his 
own  flesh  !  And  wo  to  the  ruler,  who,  to  make  appear  that  he  bears 
the  sword,  butchers  his  loyal  subjects,  and  wantonly  cuts  off  the  sound 
limbs  of  the  political  body  of  which  he  is  the  head  !  A  crime  which  no 
candid  person  can  lay  to  the  charge  of  our  mild  sovereign. 

To  conclude  :  if  Christianity  had  prohibited  fighting  for  the  execution 
of  justice,  the  continuance  of  peace,  and  the  support  of  good  govern- 
ment, when  penitent  soldiers  asked  John  the  Baptist,  "  What  shall  we 
do  ?"  he  would  undoubtedly  have  intimated  that  they  should  renounce 
their  bloody  profession  as  soon  as  they  could.  But,  instead  of  doing  it,  he 
charged  them  to  "  do  violence  [or  injustice]  to  no  man,  and  to  be  con- 
tent with  their  wages  ;"  a  direction  which  amounted  to  bidding  them  to 
continue  to  serve  their  country,  by  helping  the  ruler  not  to  "  bear  the 


558  THE   BIBLE  A3D  THE  SWORD. 

•sword  in  vain."  Nor  was  our  Lord  of  a  different  mind  from  his  fore- 
runner ;  for  he  praised  a  centurion,  or  captain  in  the  Roman  army, 
declaring  "  he  had  not  found  such  faith  in  Israel,"  as  he  discovered 
in  that  Gentile ;  and  he  parted  from  him,  as  Peter  afterward  did  from 
Cornelius  and  his  devout  soldiers,  without  giving  him  the  least  hint  that 
his  profession  was  unlawful.  From  the  whole  I  infer,  that  if  Christian- 
ity allow  a  man  to  be  a  soldier,  it  allows  him  to  fight  for  the  maintenance 
of  order.  And,  if  it  be  lawful  to  fight  for  this  purpose,  it  must  be  law- 
ful, nay,  it  is  highly  necessary,  "  to  fast  and  pray,"  before  an  engage- 
ment. For  the  greater  the  temptation  of  soldiers  to  indulge  uncharitable 
tempers,  the  more  earnestly  ought  they  to  pray  that  they  may  fight  in  the 
same  spirit  of  love  in  which  Christ  was,  when  he  uttered  his  last  wo 
against  rebellious  Jerusalem.  "  He  beheld  the"  obstinate  "  city,  wept 
over  it,"  and  pronounced  its  awful  doom:  "  Thine  enemies  shall  lay  thee 
even  with  the  ground,  and  shall  not  leave  in  thee  one  stone  upon  another." 

Nor  should  soldiers  fast  and  pray  alone.  We  ought  to  bear  a  part  in 
the  solemn  duty  ;  because  our  sins  have  helped  to  fill  up  the  measure 
of  the  national  guilt  which  has  provoked  God  to  permit  the  colonists  to 
rise  against  us.  We  owe  much  to  the  gentleness  of  the  fleet  and  army. 
While  they  lift  up  the  sword,  which  lingering  justice  has  reluctantly 
drawn  ;  while  they  stand  between  us  and  the  desperate  men  who  break 
into  our  ships,  set  fire  to  their  own  houses,  tar,  feather,  goog,*  and  scalp 
their  captives ;  whip,  cut,  and  torture  their  slaves ;  and  while  they  ex- 
pose their  lives,  by  sea  and  land,  for  our  protection,  or  (which  comes  to 
the  same  thing)  for  the  defence  of  the  government  that  protects  us ;  it 
is  our  bounden  duty  to  feel  for  them,  and  to  bear  them  on  our  hearts. 
Nay,  we  shall  be  guilty  of  inconsideration,  uncharitableness,  and  base 
ingratitude,  if  we  do  not  hold  up  their  hands,  by  lifting  up  our  own  to 
the  Lord  of  hosts  in  their  behalf,  and  by  asking  that  neither  profaneness, 
lewdness,  intemperance,  nor  cruelty,  may  stain  their  laurels ;  and  that 
they  may  all  be  endued  with  every  virtue,  which  can  draw  the  love  of 
their  enemies,  and  fit  them  to  live  or  die  as  faithful  soldiers  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  • 

Nor  should  we  fast  only  with  an  eye  to  ourselves,  and  those  who  fight 
our  battles.  We  ought  also  to  do  it  out  of  regard  to  our  American  bre- 
thren. If  they  act  at  this  time  the  part  of  enemies,  does  not  our  Lord 
say,  "  Love  your  enemies,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  ?" 
Should  we  not  remember  that  British  blood  flows  in  their  veins — that 
they  are  not  all  guilty — that  many  of  them  have  been  deceived  by  the 
plausible  and  lying  speeches  of  some  of  their  leaders — that  the  epidemi- 
cal fever  of  wild  patriotism  seized  multitudes  before  they  were  aware  of 
its  dreadful  consequences — and  that  numbers  of  them  already  repent  of 
their  rashness,  earnestly  wishing  for  an  opportunity  of  returning  with 
safety  to  their  former  allegiance  1 

If  you  consider  these  favourable  circumstances,  you  will  be  glad  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  solemnly  approaching  the  throne  of  grace  in  be- 
half of  your  unhappy  brethren  :  you  will  intercede  for  them  with  hearts 
full  of  forgiving  love,  and  Christian  sympathy.  You  will  ardently  pray 
that  God  would  open  the  eyes  and  turn  the  hearts  of  the  congressmen, 

*  A  kind  of  American  torture,  which  consists  in  wrenching  a  man's  eyes  oat 
of  their  sockets. 


THE  BIBLE   AND   THE   SWORD.  55'J 

«md  their  military  adherents ;  that  he  would  fill  the  breast  of  the  king, 
and  of  all  who  are  in  authority  under  him,  with  every  virtue  which  can 
render  his  steady  and  mild  government  acceptable  to  the  most  discon- 
tented of  his  subjects  ;  and  that,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  all  per- 
sons in  power  may  cheerfully  use  all  their  influence  to  promote  the  speedy 
reconciliation  and  lasting  union  we  wish  for. 

"  Should  piety,  loyalty,  and  charity  thus  animate  your  prayers ;  our  day 
of  fasting  and  humiliation  will  infallibly  usher  in  a  day  of  praise  and 
general  thanksgiving ;  and  the  eloquent  senator,  who,  in  the  house  of 
commons,  lately  condemned  the  religious  appointment  which  I  vindicate, 
will  himself  partake  of  the  universal  joy,  and  be  sorry  to  have  declaimed 
against  a  royal  proclamation,  which  so  justly  deserves  his  assent,  con- 
currence, and  praises.  I  am,  my  dear  fellow  subjects,  your  obedient 
servant, 

John  Fletcher. 
London,  December  6,  1776. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 

TO  THE 

PRINCIPAL  SUBJECTS,  &c. 


Abbadie,  Dr.,  quoted,  iii,  434,  449,  472, 

473 
Abel,  why  God  Had  respect  to  him  and 

his  offering,  ii,  523 
Abraham,  his  works  of  faith,  i,  436 — his 

justification,  ii,  304-306 
Academy,  Royal,  of  Paris,  the  judicious 

award  of,  iii,  402 
Acceptance  with  God,  the  condition  of, 
i,  39-41— different  degrees  of,  i,  160, 
161 
Account  of  Mr.  Fletcher's  conversion, 

iv,  48-53 
Adam,   his    sin  not    necessary   to    the 
manifestation  of  the  eternal  Word,  ii, 
403 — his  moral  state  before  his  apos- 
tasy, iv,  104 
Addison,  Mr.,  quoted,  note,  ii,  312 
Address  to  earnest  seekers  of  salvation, 

iii,  376 
Adonai,  the  import  of,  iii,  431 
Advent  of  Christ,  the  difference  between 

the  first  and  second,  ii,  295 
Advocate,  what,  iv,  350,  351 
Affections,    their    disorder  and  irregu- 
larity, iii,  282,  383 
Afflicted  persons,  suitable  advice  to,  iv, 

333,  334,  355,  351 
Afflictions,  the  utility  of,  iv,  331 
Agency,  moral,  consistent  with  natural 
and  revealed  religion,  i,  17 — free,  of 
the  Checks,  does  not  cross  the  designs 
of  God,  ii,  227 — free,  does  not  make 
man  independent  of  God,  ii,  404-406 
— does  not  represent  God   as  disap- 
pointed when  he  says,  "I  would  and 
ye  would  not,"  ii,  405-407 — free,  how 
it  applies  to  God,  angels,  and  glorified 
saints,  ii,  440-442 — involuntary,  ren- 
ders sinners  excusable,  ii,  442 
Agony  of  Christ,  what,  iv,  260,  261 
Air,  reflections  on  the,  iii,  444 
Alban's,  St.,  archdeacon  of,  mentioned, 

iii,  388 
Alexandrinus,  Cyrillus,  ascribed  man's 
sin  to  himself,  ii,  204 — Clemens,  his 
thoughts   on    man's  free   agency,   ii, 
204 
Alienation  from  God,  evidences  of,  iii, 
284,  285 
Vol.  IV. 


Alipius  charged  with  the  rebuilding  of 

Jerusalem,  iv,  226 
Alleine,  Joseph,   a  quotation  from  his 

Alarm  to  the  Unconverted,  i,  378 
Alms-deeds,   their  importance,   i,   220, 

221 
Alpha  and  Omega,  titles  given  to  Christ, 

iii,  437 
Ambition,  what,  iii,  288 
Ambrose,  St.,  a  strenuous  defender  of 

the  second  Gospel  axiom,  ii,  202 
America,  the  case  of,  widely  different 
from  that  of  Ireland  and  the  Palati- 
nate of  Chester,  iv,  457,  458 
Animal  kingdom,  reflections  on  the,  iii, 

444,  445 
Amos  the  prophet,  foretold  the  coming 

of  Christ,  iii,  526 
Anabaptists,  German,  their  Antinomi- 
anism,  i,  438 — the  turbulent  spirit  of, 
in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  iv,  464,  468- 
471 — how  Cromwell  served  them,  iv, 
471 — some  mild  and  moderate,  iv,  504 
Anecdotes  illustrative  of  the  incompre- 
hensibility of  God,  iii,  402 
Andrews,  Bishop,  his  judgment  of  the 
doctrine    of  the    fathers    respecting 
election  and  reprobation,  ii,  208 
Angels,   the   fall   of,   i,  432 — and  men 
made  to  enjoy  a  day  of  salvation,  ii, 
467,  468 
Anger  of  God,  what,  i,  179 
Amrnianus  Marcellinus,  referred  to,  iv, 

226 
Antinomianism,  a  gigantic  foe  to  Chris- 
tianity, i,  99,  100 
Antinomianism  defined,  i,  100  ;  ii,  134 
— its  prevalence  among  congregations 
and  ministers,  i,  103-111 — practical, 
few  professors  free  from,  i,  118-123 — 
more  danger  from  this  than  from 
Pharisaism,  i.  130 — why  good  men 
fall  into  it,  i,  232 — the  principal  er- 
rors of,  i,  232,  233 — Scripture  and 
experience,  antidotes  against,  i,  233 
— in?  "parably  connected  with  Calvin- 
ism, i,  283 — of  hearers,  often  occa- 
sioned by  that  of  preachers,  i,  427 — 
separates  faith  and  works,  i,  439 — 
nearly  allied  to  popish  Pharisaism,  i. 
36 


562 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


440 — drives  men  into  Socinianism, 
infidelity,  and  fatalism,  i,  444 — defiles 
the  sounder  part  of  the  Romish  and 
Protestant  Churches,  i,  446 — unmask- 
ed, what,  ii,  585,  586 

Antinomians,  their  execrable  persecu. 
tion  of  the  Quakers,  i,  439 — deceive 
the  simple  by  fair  speeches,  note,  i,  470 

Anti-evangelical,  what,  note,  i,  459 

Apostasy,  the  possibility  of,  proved,  i, 
184,  185— and  misery  of  man  proved 
from  Scripture  and  reason,  iv,  414- 
436 

Apostates,  what  the  inspired  writers  say 
of,  ii,  153-158 

Apostle,  what  it  signifies,  iii,  90 

Apostles,  false,  the  portrait  of,  iii,  82-86 

Appeal  to  matter  of  fact,  its  design,  iii, 
376 — the  last,  to  be  made  to  Scrip- 
ture, in  proof  of  any  article  of  faith, 
iii,  397 

Appointed  to  be  disobedient,"  the  true 
sense  of,  ii,  104,  105 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  leaned  toward  the 
doctrines  of  Augustine,  ii,  275 

Arianism,  what,  ii,  278 

Arius,  what  he  taught  concerning  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  iii,  399 

Arminius,  James,  an  asserter  of  general 
redemption,  i,  16 — what  concession 
he  ought  to  have  made,  i,  400 — 
deemed  a  heretic  by  Antinomians,  i, 
439,  440 — made  a  noble  attempt  to 
restore  the  doctrines  of  justice,  ii, 
277 — condemned  by  the  synod  of 
Dort,  ii,  276 — attempted  to  find  the 
right  way  between  Pelagianism  and 
Calvinism,  ii,  282 — maintained  an 
unconditional  election  of  grace,  note, 
ii,  343 

Arminianism,  what,  i,  455 — secures  to 
God  the  honour  of  all  his  perfections, 
ii,  228,  229 — maintains  that  free  will 
is  dependent  on  free  grace,  ii,  229 — 
its  popularity  in  the  reign  of  King 
James  and  Charles  the  First,  ii,  276 
—Bible,  the  ground  of,  ii,  296-299— 
what,  ii,  320-335 — rigid,  the  error  of, 
ii,  334 — Bible,  and  Bible  Calvinism, 
how  united,  ii,  339,  340 

Arminians,  rigid,  who,  note,  ii,  343 
— unjustly  accused  of  robbing  the 
trinity,  ii,  467,  468 — unjustly  ac- 
cused of  encouraging  infidelity,  ii, 
468 

Armour  of  God  recommended,  iii,  25 — 
of  Satan,  what,  iv,  68 

Arnobius,  his  thoughts  of  man's  free 
agency,  ii,  205 

Articles,  Lambeth,  maintain  absolute 
election  and  reprobation,  i,  16 

Article  ninth  of  the  Church  of  England 
repugnant  to  Calvinism,  i,  345,  346 


Articles  ninth  and  fifteenth,  the  sense 
of,  ii,  506-509 

Assurance  essential  to  the  faith  of  the 
Christian  dispensation,  i,  429 

Assurance  contended  for  by  the  Puri- 
tans as  well  as  Methodists,  i,  580 

Atheism  originates  in  pride,  iv,  233 

Athenagoras  quoted,  iii,  441 

Atonement,  finished,  the  propriety  of 
using  that  term,  i,  200 

Aversion,  natural,  of  the  human  mind 
to  good,  iv,  39 

Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith,  i,  438 — 
extract  from,  iv,  33 

Augustine,  a  quotation  from,  i,  171 

Augustine  asserts  the  doctrine  of  gene- 
ral redemption,  ii,  71 — asserts  the 
liberty  of  the  human  will,  ii,  205, 
269 — his  opinion  of  God's  foreknow- 
ledge, ii,  206,  207 — his  inconsisten- 
cies accounted  for,  ii,  214: — main- 
tained the  doctrines  of  free  grace  and 
free  wrath,  ii,  272 — his  views  of  the 
seventh  chapter  to  the  Romans,  ii,  549 
— wherein  right  and  wherein  wrong, 
ii,  606,  607 — a  fatalist,  note,  ii,  185 

Axiom  defined,  ii,  268: — Gospel,  the 
first,  what,  ii,  268 — the  second,  what, 
ii,  269 — observations  on  the  first,  ii, 
167 

Axioms,  Gospel,  the  two  first,  their 
happy  union,  iii,  373-376 — main- 
tained by  Mr.  Wesley,  i,  18,  19 — the 
importance  of  maintaining  both,  ii, 
168-170 — the  mischievous  effects  of 
separating  them,  ii,  250,  252,  273 

Baptisms  of  the  Spirit  necessary  to  pu- 
rify and  perfect  a  believer,  ii,  632,  633 

Baptism,  an  outward  sign  of  regenera- 
tion, iii,  332 

Barnabas  believed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Scripture  Scales,  ii,  221 

Basil,  St.,  wrote  in  favour  of  free  will, 
ii,  20^ 

Baxter,  Rev.  Richard,  a  quotation  from, 
ii,  157 — his  opinion  of  1  Peter,  iv,  8, 
ii,  222 — his  opinion  concerning  cha- 
rity covering  a  multitude  of  sins,  note, 
ii,  222 — history  of  his  life  and  times 
quoted,  iv,  467-472 — an  able  defender 
of  practical  religion,  i,  24 — his 
thoughts  on  the  doctrine  of  merit,  i, 
52,  53,  95 — his  aphorisms  on  justi- 
fication quoted,  i,  174-176 — his  can- 
did concession,  i,  490,  491 

Bailey,  Dr.,  proposed  as  a  curate  to  Mr. 
Perronet,.  iv,  397 

Beasts,  their  rebellion  against  man,  iii, 
265,  266 

"  Beasts  of  the  people,"  the  import  of 
the  term,  note,  iv,  473 

Believers,  the  happiness  of,  iv,  93,  94 — 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


563 


an  address  to,  i,  571,  572 — "shall 
not  make  haste,"  iv,  330 

Believing,  how  far  in  the  power  of  sin- 
ners, iv,  327 — how  far  in  the  power 
of  convinced  sinners,  iv,  327,  328 

Benson,  Mr.,  proposed  as  a  curate  to 
Mr.  Perronet,  iv,  397 — his  reason  for 
finishing  the  "  Vindication  of  Christ's 
Divinity,"  iii,  385,  386 

Berkeley,  Dr.,  the  absurdity  of  his  sys- 
tem of  the  non-entityof  matter,  iii,  392 

Bernard,  St.,  concerning  the  human 
will,  ii,  204 

Bernon,  Mr.,  the  happy  death  of,  iv,  312 

Bethel,  the  import  of  the  word,  iii,  463 

Beveridge,  Bishop,  a  saying  of,  i,  173 — 
his  thoughts  on  our  election,  ii,  161, 
162 — referred  to,  iii,  487 

Bias,  the  precept  he  gave  to  his  disci- 
ples, iv,  234 

Bigotry,  deaf  to  argument,  &.c,  iii,  290 

Birth,  new,  described,  iv,  141 

Blood  of  Christ,  how  it  cleanses  from 
all  sin,  ii,  554-558 

Bonnet,  Mr.,  some  account  of,  iv,  17 

"  Book  of  Life,"  what  it  imports,  ii,  125 

Books,  many  written  on  the  prophecies, 
iv,  249 

Bradwardine,  his  famous  argument  an- 
swered, i,  411 

Bull,  JJishop,  referred  to  and  quoted,  iii, 
440-442,  487,  511 

Bunyan,  John,  an  unguarded  saying  of, 
ii,  42 

Burgess,  Rev.  Anthony,  a  remarkable 
quotation  from,  i,  226  ■% 

Burkitt,  Mr.,  concerning  the  Epistle  to 
the  Ephesians,  ii,  122 

Burnet,  Bishop,  his  history  quoted,  iv, 
464,  465 — quoted,  iii,  415,  416 — re- 
ferred to,  iii,  482,  483 

Calvin,  John,  his  inconsistency,  i,  141 — 
termed  absolute  reprobation  a  horri- 
ble decree,  i,  152 — did  not  go  so  far 
in  speculative  Antinomianistn  as  some 
modern  Calvinists,  i,  439 — his  Insti- 
tutes quoted,  i,  561 — sometimes  main- 
tains general  redemption,  ii,  71 — a 
heated  controversialist,  ii,  274 — his 
two  articles  against  civil  enthusiasm, 
iv,  466 

Calvinism,  the  danger  of  leaning  to,  i, 
23 — the  prolific  source  of  Antino- 
mianism,  i,  234 — overturned  by  the 
Checks,  i,  324 — its  perfect  agreement 
with  speculative  Antinomianism,  i, 
339,  340— the  fatal  effects  of,  i,  441- 
443 — renders  the  death  of  Christ  in  a 
great  measure  useless,  ii,  107,  108 — 
reflects  dishonour  on  all  the  Divine 
perfections,  ii,  235-237 — destroys  the 
second  Gospel  axiom  under  pretence 
of  exalting  the  first,  ii,  247,  248— 


prevalent  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Eli- 
zabeth,  why,  ii,  274-276 — the  ten- 
dency of,  ii,  279-281 — implies  that 
some  men  shall  be  saved  do  what  they 
will,  and  others  damned  do  what  they 
can,  ii,  417-420 — irreconcilable  with 
the  holiness  of  God,  ii,  420-432— Bi- 
ble, the  ground  of,  ii,  296-299— what, 
ii,  300-320 — rigid,  destroys  God's  im- 
partial justice,  ii,  322 — equally  hos- 
tile to  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  those 
of  justice,  ii,  332 — rigid,  its  error  cen- 
tres in  denying  evangelical  liberty,  ii, 
333,  334 — rigid,  must  be  distinguish- 
ed from  the  many  good  men  who 
have  embraced  it,  ii,  332,  333 — rigid, 
confounds  the  covenants  of  creating 
and  redeeming  grace,  ii,  338,  339 — 
Bible,  and  Bible  Arminianism,  how 
united,  ii,  339 — strangely  inconsist- 
ent, ii,  249 — often  subversive  of  the 
morality  of  the  Gospel,  ii,  249,  250 — 
and  Antinomianistn,  the  absurdity 
and  unreasonableness  of,  i,  241,  248 

Calvinists,  rigid,  who,  ii,  343 — incon- 
sistent in  using  hymns  on  perfection 
while  they  deny  it,  ii,  652,  653 

Candidus,  the  character  of,  ii,  9 

"  Carnal  and  sold  under  sin,"  when 
properly  applied,  ii,  540-544 — in 
what  sense  the  Corinthians  were  so, 
ii,  541,  542 

Catechism  of  the  Church  of  England 
contains  her  genuine  doctrines,  ii, 
129,  130 

Catholic  faith,  concerning  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  a  view  of  the, 
iii,  398-402 — a  view  of  the  sources 
whence  the  infidel  philosophers  draw 
their  arguments  against  the,  iii,  402- 
406 

Cause  of  justification,  what,  note,  i,  469 

Causes,  the  distinction  between  trusting 
in  primary  and  secondary,  ii,  164-167 
— the  doctrine  of  first  and  second,  il 
lustrated,  ii,  239,  240 — which  con 
cur  to  effect  regeneration,  iv,  136— 
which  offended  our  Lord's  disciples, 
ii,  162 

Celsus,  what  he  said  of  the  Word  of  God, 
iii,  419 

Cerinthus,  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
iii,  416 — what  he  taught  concerning 
Christ,  iii,  608 

Chapel  at  Madeley  Wood,  the  building 
of,  iv,  350 

Charity,  the  great  importance  of,  ii,  357 
-359 — motives  to  the  exercise  of,  in 
relieving  the  poor,  ii, 36,37 — mistaken 
ideas  about,  iii,  285-287 — how  it  re- 
joiceth  in  the  truth,  i,  556 — Chris- 
tian, preached  by  the  true  minister, 
iii,  154-169 — the  image  of  God,  iii, 


564 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


157-159 — motives  to  the  exercise  of, 
iii,  163,  164 — of  the  good  pastor  dif- 
fers from  that  of  worldly  ministers, 
iii,    155,     156 — the    most   excellent, 
what,  iii,  46 — does  not  consist  in  alms- 
giving, iii,  156,  157 — of  worldly  men, 
limited  to  the  necessities  of  the  body, 
iii,  157 — without  piety,  a  mere  natu- 
ral virtue,  iii,  158 — devotion,  without 
it,  is  mere  hypocrisy,  iii,  158 — its  two 
parts,  what,  iii,  158,  159 — faith  with- 
out it,  void  of  any  real  worth,  iii,  159 
— a  source  of  consolation,  how,  iii, 
161 — exemplified,  how,  iii,  161, 162 — 
the  happy  effects   of  its   prevalence, 
iii,  164 
Charters  granted  to  the  American  colo- 
nists, iv,   512-517 — of  Pennsylvania 
and  Massachusetts  Bay,  an  account 
of,  iv,  458 
Checks,  the  design  of,  iii,  376 
Cheerfulness  recommended,  iv,  325 
Childbearing,    its  sorrows  and  pains  a 
melancholy  proof  of  sin,  iii,  261,  262 
Chit-chat,  religious,  remarks  on,  iv,  320 
Chrestus,  a  name  given  to  Christ  by  the 

Pagans,  iv,  225 
Christ,  his  person  mysterious,  iii,  380 — 
his  offices  clearly  revealed,  iii,  380 — 
to  whom  made  known,  iii,  381 — often 
appeared  to  the  patriarchs  and  pro- 
phets under  the  Old  Testament  dis- 
pensation, iii,  422-431 — the  Son  of 
God,  how,  iii,  412-414,  537,  547— 
how  the  image  of  God,  iii,  560 — how 
the  first-born  of  every  creature,  iii, 
420 — superior  to  angels,  iii,  420-422 
— called  an  angel,  messenger,  or  en- 
voy, iii,  430 — Divine  titles  given  to 
him,  iii,  435-437 — the  end  of  his 
death,  iii,  447,  448 — Redeemer  and 
Saviour  of  lost  mankind,  iii,  446-453 
— the  Judge  of  the  world,  iii,  453-461 
— his  proper  manhood  proved,  iii,  456 
-458 — Divine  worship  paid  to  him,  iii, 
461-475,  493,  582— his  equality  with 
the  Father,  iii,  487,  488— how  he 
emptied  himself  and  became  poor,  iii, 
488-491 — how  in  the  form  of  God, 
iii,  488,  489 — the  three  original  pro- 
mises relating  to,  in  the  book  of  Ge- 
nesis, iii,  515-517 — a  spiritual  king, 
iii,  518-521 — his  glorious  reign,  iii, 
521-528,  529— the  Captain  of  the 
Lord's  host,  iii,  512 — Jehovah's  en- 
voy, iii,  512,  513 — a  Prophet  like 
Moses,  iii,  517,  518,  533— the  Ruler 
of  Israel,  iii,  527 — his  Godhead  as- 
serted by  St.  Paul,  iii,  420-423,  555, 
556,  563 — Alpha  and  Omega,  iii,  436, 
437 — omniscience  ascribed  to  him, 
"iii,  437-439 — omnipresence  ascribed 
to  him,  iii,  437-439 — possessed  of  a 


Divine  nature,  iii,  438 — possessed  of 
incommunicable  attributes,  iii,  438 — 
a  shepherd,  iii,  535,  536 — eternity 
ascribed  to  him,  iii,  439 — immutable, 
iii,  439,  440 — the  messenger  of  the 
covenant,  iii,  529 — very  man,  of  a 
reasonable  soul  and  human  flesh  sub- 
sisting, iii,  475-491 — his  two  natures 
distinct  from  each  other,  iii,  476-483 
— called  David,  iii,  536 — the  doctrine 
of  his  divinity  improved,  iii,  491-497 
— his  prophetic  office  asserted,  iii,  492 
— his  priestly  office  asserted,  iii,  492 
— his  kingly  office  asserted,  iii,  492, 
493 — Jehovah,  our  righteousness,  and 
the  mighty  God,  iii,  533,  534,  538- 
544 — his  divinity,  attested  by  the 
evangelists  and  the  apostles,  iii,  544— 
555 — Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  iii,  547 — 
St.  Jude's  doxology  peculiarly  belongs 
to  him,  iii,  549 — the  divinity  of,  esta- 
blished by  St.  John,  iii,  550,  551 — the 
everlasting  Son  of  the  everlasting 
Father,  iii,  552 — "God  over  all,"  iii, 
556 — the  source  of  grace  and  peace, 
iii,  557 — the  invocation  of  his  name 
a  proof  of  his  divinity,  iii,  557 — has 
the  names  and  titles  given  to  him 
which  are  peculiarly  ascribed  to  the 
true  God,  iii,  431-440 — the  Creator 
and  Preserver  of  all  things,  iii,  440- 
446 — the  bruiser  of  the  serpent's 
head,  iii,  514 — opposed  to  men,  iii, 
577 — equal  with  the  Father,  iii,  578 
— superior  to  Moses,  iii,  592 — a  high 
priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedec, 
iii,  592 — under  what  character  ex- 
pected by  the  Jews,  iii,  602 — the  view 
which  the  apostles  give  of,  iii,  414— 
422 — the  true  character  of,  as  given 
by  the  apostles  in  the  passages  which 
they  apply  to  him  out  of  the  Old 
Testament,  iii,  422-431 — the  inspired 
writers  ascribed  to,  the  names,  titles, 
&c,  of  the  true  God,  iii,  431-440— 
Divine  worship  has  been,  is,  and  must 
be  paid  to,  iii,  461-475 — the  human- 
ity of,  proved,  iii,  475^83 — objec- 
tions to  the  union  of  the  Divine  and 
human  nature  of,  answered,  iii,  483- 
491 — "  all  in  all"  to  the  penitent  be- 
liever, iii,  356-359 — the  glory  of,  in 
redemption,  ii,  35-38 — love  to,  and 
confidence  in,  iv,  314,  315 — the  sum 
and  substance  of  all  the  Scriptures, 
iv,  361 — in  him  alone  salvation,  iv, 
166 
Christianity,  Scriptural,  what,  note,  i, 
585 — not  to  be  charged  with  evils 
produced  by  other  causes,  iii,  218,  219 
— the  spread  of,  iv,  228 
Christian  philosophers,  eulogy  on,  iii,  14 
Christians,  genuine,  not  persecutors,  iii, 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


>G5 


218 — have  carried  every  virtue  to  a 
very  high  degree,  iii,  218 

Chrysostom,  St.,  one  of  his  sermons 
quoted,  iii,  110 — an  advocate  for  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  ii,  201 

Church,  Western,  the  state  of,  when 
Luther  appeared,  i,  438 

Cicero,  a  remarkable  saying  of,  ii,  27 ; 
iv,  534 — maintained  a  particular  pro- 
vidence, iii,  210,  211 

Claudius,  the  emperor,  commanded  all 
Jews  to  leave  Rome,  iv,  225 

Clement,  St.,  maintained  the  doctrine  of 
Christian  perfection,  ii,  222,  223 

Codrus,  King,  how  he  testified  his 
love  to  his  subjects,  iv,  223 

Coles,  Elisha,  a  remarkable  saying  of, 
i,  145 

Colossians,  Epistle  to,  asserts  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ,  iii,  580-582 — at  what 
period  written,  note,  iii,  580 

Colonists,  American,  their  case  illus- 
trated, iv,  523-526 

Comfort,  by  the  application  of  Scripture 
promises,  iii,  360,  372 — how  derived 
from  a  relation  to  God  in  covenant, 
iv,  310 — for  mourners,  iv,  321,  322 

"  Complete  in  Christ,"  the  impojt  of  the 
word,  i,  180,  181,  455 

Condemnation,  who  free  from,  i,  180 

Condescension  recommended  to  minis- 
ters, by  the  examples  of  Christ  and 
St.  Paul,  iii,  48,  49 

Condition,  the  meaning  of  the  term,  i,  44 
-46 — admitted  by  the  most  approved 
Puritan  divines,  i,  45 — propriety  of 
using  the  word,  i,  238 

Conscience,  its  inactivity  when  duty  is 
concerned,  iii,  282 

Consideration,  godly  and  timely,  ivv  156 

Consolation  for  parents  when  bereaved 
of  their  children,  iv,  352 — how  ad- 
ministered by  true  ministers,  iii,  31 

Constantine  mentioned,  iv,  240 

Constitution,  British,  the  excellence  of, 
iv,  447,  460,  475 

Contentions,  religious,  their  mischiev- 
ous effects  on  infidels,  ii,  359,  360 

Contingencies,  future,  what,  ii,  136 

Controversy,  its  utility,  when  properly 
conducted,  i,  135 — the  good  derived 
from  it  by  the  author  of  the  Checks, 
i,  421 — the  subjects  of,  between  the 
Calvinists  and  Arminians  stated,  i, 
520;  ii,  130,  131— the  occasion  of 
the  Calvinian  and  Arminian,  ii,  264, 
265 — the  Pelagian  and  Augustinian, 
ii,  272,  273 — political,  the  author's 
reasons  for  engaging  in  it,  iv,  439 — 
the  probable  effects  of  the  Calvinian 
and  Arminian,  i,  330 — may  be  main- 
tained without  injuring  the  Christian 
temper,  iii,  388 


Corinthians,  Epistle  to,  asserts  the  di. 
vinity  of  Christ,  iii,  568-573 

Conversion  of  sinners,  the  great  import- 
ance of,  iii,  353 — not  always  distin- 
guished by  uncommon  circumstances, 
iii,  16,  17 — of  Mr.  Fletcher,  account 
of,  iv,  48 

Co-operation  of  man  with  Divine  grace 
conceded  by  Mr.  Whitefield,  note,  ii, 
131 

Cornelius,  why  his  prayers,  &c,  were 
more  acceptable  than  those  of  the 
Pharisees,  ii,  323 

Corruption  of  mankind  universal,  iii, 
330,  331 

Corruptions  of  Christianity,  Priestley's 
History  of,  censured,  iii,  391 

Covenant  of  God  with  Adam,  what,  i, 
451,  452 — of  grace,  what,  i,  453, 
458 — ofjustice,  what,  ii,  34 — of  grace, 
*alvation  by,  i,  459,  463 — new,  how 
better  than  the  Mosaic,  ii,  48-51 — 
its  blessings  to  the  obedient,  ii,  51- 
53 — everlasting,  what,  ii,  139 — Mo- 
saic, its  blessings,  ii,  51-53 

Covenants  of  promise,  what,  ii,  304- 
309 — the  three  principal  promises, 
what,  ii,  337,  338 

Covetousness,  what,  iii,  289 

Council  of  Trent  called  to  stop  the  re- 
formation, ii,  276 

Cranmer,  Archbishop,  his  thoughts  on 
free  will,  ii,  215 — renounced  abso- 
lute predestination,  ii,  216 — restored 
the  balance  of  the  Gospel  axioms,  ii, 
274 

Creation,  the  work  of,  ascribed  to  Christ 
iii,  440-446 

Creature,  new,  described,  iv,  133 — how 
constituted,  iv,  230,  231 

Creatures,  rational,  by  what  law  made 
to  be  ruled,  ii,  462,  463 

Creed,  apostles',  reflections  on,  iii, 
209,  210 — of  a  consistent  Calvinist, 
what,  i,  259-261 — fictitious  and  ge 
nuine  for  Arminians,  what,  i,  403, 
420 — Athanasius's,  remarks  on,  i, 
403,  420 

Crisp,  Dr.,  his  doctrine  grossly  Antino. 
mian,  i,  58 — quotations  from,  i,  115, 
116 — his  errors  condemned  by  seven 
eminent  divines,  i,  228,  229 — in  a  hap- 
py moment  bore  witness  to  the  truth, 
i,  286,  287 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  how  he  attained  to 
supreme  power,  iv,  467 — Baxter's  ac- 
count of,  iv,  540,  541 

Crousaz,  Professor,  a  quotation  from, 
iii,  192 — how  he  wrote  of  God,  iii,  402 

Crucifixion,  darkness  at  the,  iv,  46 

Cure,  spiritual,  the  method  of,  iii,  352 

Curtiuses,  how  they  showed  their  love 
to  their  fellow  citizens,  iv,  223 


566 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Cyprian,  St.,  an  advocate  for  free  will, 
ii,  201 

Damnation  of  sinners,  of  themselves, 
how,  i,  17 — Christ  the  author  and 
finisher  of  it,  on  the  Calvinian  scheme, 
i,  257-259,  384-386— finished,  the 
counterpart  of  the  notion  of  finished 
salvation,  i,  283 — wholly  of  ourselves, 
i,  384 — of  sinners,  not  through  want 
of  power  in  God  to  save,  i,  411,  412 
— the  two  causes  of,  what,  ii,  34 — 
eternal,  how  of  free  will,  ii,  269 

Dancer,  the  awful  death  of  a,  note,  iv, 
67 

Danger  and  wickedness  of  sin,  iv,  182 

Daniel,  the  prophet,  foretels  the  coming 
of  Christ,  iii,  524 

Darkness,  supernatural,  at  Christ's  cru- 
cifixion, iv,  46 

David,  how  a  man  after  God's  own  he*t, 
i,  178 — his  person  as  well  as  sin  dis- 
pleasing to  God,  i,  176 — not  a  true 
believer  when  committing  adultery, 
&c,  i,  290-292 — a  name  given  to  the 
Messiah,  iii,  536 — prophesies  of 
Christ,  iii,  521,  522 

Davenant,  Bishop,  his  judgment  of  the 
election  of  Peter,  and  reprobation  of 
Judas,  ii,  209 

Da}'  of  grace,  how  to  be  improved,  iv, 
323 

Death,  the  awful  circumstances  prece- 
ding  and  accompanying  it,  iii,  273-276 
— spiritual,  the  import,  of,  i,  157-159 

Deciuses,  how  they  showed  their  love 
to  their  fellow  citizens,  iv,  223 

Decree  of  God,  according  to  Calvinism, 
the  cause  of  moral  evil,  ii,  29,  30 

Decrees  of  God,  what  called  by  Calvin- 
ists,  ii,  481 — secret,  the  folly  of 
speaking  of,  i,  144 

Defence  of  Experimental  Religion,  iv, 
21 

Deists,  three  sorts  of,  iii,  399 — have 
acknowledged  the  corruption  of  hu- 
man nature,  iii,  306,  307 — their  cre- 
dulity in  believing  the  Scriptures  are 
a  forgery,  iii,  314-317 — why  they 
cannot  be  saved  on  the  same  terms 
as  heathens,  iii,  235-238 — ancient 
and  modern,  the  difference  between, 
iii,  239,  240— addressed,  iv,  224 

Deism,  what,  ii,  278 — two  kinds  of,  iii, 
231 

Depravity  in  the  children  of  God,  what, 
iii,  305 — of  our  nature,  the  opposi- 
tion of,  to  Divine  grace  in  the  un- 
converted, iii,  303-305 — the  origin 
of,  no  reflection  on  the  attributes  of 
God,  iii,  318-322 — and  danger  of  man 
in  his  natural  state,  iv,  409 

Devil,  how  blameworthy  for  his  wick- 


edness, ii,  197-199 — how  he  fell,  iii, 
459 

Debt  of  England,  remarks  on,  iv,  525 

Devotion,  an  improvement  in,  recom- 
mended, iv,  543,  544 

Dialogue  between  a  minister  and  one 
of  his  parishioners,  iv,  409 — a  be- 
liever and  his  worldly  neighbour,  iii 
141-144 

Diodati,  a  quotation  from,  ii,  57 

Directions  for  salvation,  iv,  188 

Dispensation  of  John  the  Baptist, 
wherein  it  exceeds  that  of  the  other 
prophets,  ii,  629 — the  different 
preachers  peculiar  to  each,  iii,  179— 
181 — of  the  Spirit  now  in  force,  iii, 
179-184 — how  to  defend  against  all 
opposers,  iii,  184 — the  advantages 
of  an  accurate  acquaintance  with 
them,  iii,  193,  194 — the  harmony  of 
them,  iii,  194-196 — of  the  Spirit 
rarely  preached  by  the  clergy,  iii,  196 

Dispensations  of  the  Gospel,  illustrated, 
note,  i,  551 — of  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost,  iii,  171-173— the  doc- 
trine of,  ii,  86 — of  the  Gospel,  the  evils 
resulting  from  not  studying,  ii,  342 

Ditheist,  what,  iii,  399 

Divisions,  the  fatal  effects  of,  in  the 
Church,  ii.  285-287 

Divinity  of  Christ,  Scriptural  proofs  ol  ' 
the,  iii,  384,  385 — use  of  the  doctrine 
of,  iii,  491-497 — the  evangelists  and 
apostles  bear  testimony  to  the,  iii, 
544-555 — why  St.  Peter  did  not  set 
it  forth  in  the  beginning  of  his  first 
sermon  at  Jerusalem,  iii,  544 

Doctrines  of  the  evangelical  pastor, 
what,  iii,  111,  197 — their  influence 
on  the  conduct  of  those  who  admit 
them,  iii,  198,  199 — their  influence 
on  morality,  iii,  206-209 — whether 
true  or  false,  they  influence  men's 
conduct,  iii,  213-215 — Christian,  the 
happy  effects  of,  iii,  215-217 — why 
they  have  not  more  influence  on 
many  called  Christians,  iii,  222-225 
— how  they  should  be  taught,  iii, 
223-225 — some  obscure,  iii,  225 — not 
therefore  to  be  rejected,  iii,  225-227 
— why  any  of  them  are  mysterious 
iii,  227-230 

Doddridge,  a  quotation  from,  ii,  292; 
iii,  417,  419,  434 — his  opinion  of 
Rom.  vii,  14,  note,  ii,  541 

Drawings  of  the  Father,  what,  ii,  80, 
85 — and  of  the  Son,  not  irresistible, 
ii,  85,  86 

Dress,  the  excess  of,  a  ridiculous  sin, 
iii,  298,  299— thoughts  on  it  from  the 
homilies,  i,  219,  220 

Duty,  man  guilty  of  the  omission  of, 
iii,  278,  279 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


567 


Earth,  its  natural  state  an  evidence  of 
the  fall  of  man,  iii,  258 

Ebion  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  iii, 
416 

Ebionites,  what  they  taught  concerning 
Christ,  iii,  G08 

Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  his  doctrine 
concerning  the  human  will  indefen- 
sible, i,  91 ;  ii,  186 

Election,  Calvinian,  supposes  absolute 
reprobation,  i,253;  ii, 420-422 — Scrip- 
tural, what,  i,  397,  414 — contrasted 
with  Calvinian  election,  i,  415 — of 
the  Gentiles,  note,  ii,  90 — of  Isaac, 
Jacob,  and  Judah,  what  it  imports, 
ii,  92 — of  Jacob,  and  rejection  of 
Esau,  its  import,  note,  ii,  96 — -Calvin- 
istic,  subversive  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  ii,  107 — and  reprobation,  the 
Scripture  doctrine  stated,  ii,  110 — 
in  Christ,  as  stated  in  Ephes.  i,  what, 
ii,  117, 118 — and  reprobation,  Calvin- 
ian, not  contained  in  Ephes.  i,  or  Rom. 
ix,  ii,  124,  125 — of  grace,  as  taught 
by  St.  Paul,  what,  ii,  135,  423,  424 
— and  justice,  what,  ii,  298,  299 — 
partial,  of  grace,  what,  ii,  300-320 — 
essentially  different  from  Calvinian 
election,  ii, 316-320 — impartial,  what, 
ii,  320-331 — of  partial  grace  depends 
on  the  wisdom  and  sovereignty  of 
God,  ii,  331 — impartial,  often  over- 
looked by  the  Calvin ists,  ii,  332 — 
gratuitous,  partial,  and  personal, 
what,  ii,  336,  340,  341 — uncondi- 
tional, a  fundamental  doctrine  of 
Calvinism,  ii,  420 — (Calvinian)  and 
necessary  holiness,  the  right  leg  of 
Calvinism,  ii,  422-429— Calvinian, 
how  far  it  insures  holiness  to  a 
part  of  mankind,  ii,  469,  470 

Elect  of  God,  who,  i,  399 — their  num- 
ber may  be  increased  or  lessened,  i, 
399,  400 

Elect  angels,  who,  ii,  112 — when  a  man 
ought  to  believe  himself  such,  ii, 
470 

Eli,  the  sons  of,  how  killed  by  the  Lord, 
ii,  448 

Elohim,  the  import  of  the  word,  iii, 
407,  431 

Elymas,  the  sorcerer,  struck  with  blind- 
ness, iii,  57,  58 

Emmanuel,  a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii, 
535 

Enoch,  how  he  walked  with  God,  ii, 
61 

Enthusiasm,  iv,  24,  235 — of  professors 
of  religion,  how  Satan  avails  himself 
of  it,  iv,  313,  318,  319— the  evil  of, 
iv,  317,  318 — how  to  be  opposed,  iii, 
187,  188 — not  justly  chargeable  on 
Jesus  Christ,  iv,  228 


Envy  looks  with  an  evil  eye  at  th? 
good  of  others,  &c,  iii,  288,  289 

Ephesians,  Epistle  to,  asserts  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ,  iii,  574-577 — at  what 
time  written,  iii,  580 

Ephraim,  in  what  sense  a  pleasant  child, 
i,  178 

Epicurus,  his  error,  what,  iv,  234 

Epiphanius  wrote  against  necessity,  ii, 
203 

Episcopius,  what  he  thought  of  free 
will,  ii,  209 

Equality  of  the  Son  with  the  Father 
maintained,  iii,  487-491 

Error  essentially  remote  from  truth,  i, 
486 — the  pernicious  effects  of,  i,  577 
— how  it  has  arisen,  iii,  380 — why 
permitted,  iii,  388 

Eternity  an  attribute  ascribed  to  Christ, 
iii,  439 

Eulogy  on  Christian  philosophers,  iv, 
14 

Eutychians,  what  they  taught  concern- 
ing the  human  and  the  Divine  natures 
of  Christ,  iii,  478 

Evil,  origin  of,  how  accounted  for,  ii, 
33 — natural,  how  ascribed  to  God,  ii, 
104 — moral,  the  origin  of,  accounted 
for,  ii,  439-441 

Examination,  heads  of,  iv,  263-270 

Example  more  powerful  than  precept, 
iii,  8 

Exhortation  to  impenitent  sinners,  iv, 
147 

Experimental  religion,  defence  of,  iv, 
21-38 

Extremes,  men  generally  prone  to  run 
into,  iii,  249 

Ezekiel,  the  prophet,  foretels  the  com- 
ing of  Christ,  iii,  534,  536 

Faith,  Scriptural,  not  preached  by  all 
ministers,  iii,  140-144 — the  import- 
ance of,  iii,  375 — salvation  by,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Church,  iii, 
144,  145 — necessary  to  justification, 
i,  170 — precedes  justification,  i,  294, 
295 — Christ  the  author  and  finisher 
of,  how,  i,  256 — the  nature  of,  i, 
309 — should  not  be  opposed  to  rea- 
son, iii,  199,  200 — pays  all  due  ho- 
nour to  Christ  in  the  work  of  our 
salvation,  i,  311,  312 — its  influence 
on  the  conduct  of  a  Christian,  iii, 
219-221 — essential  to  good  works, 
iii,  221 — how  necessary  to  believers 
on  earth  and  angels  in  heaven,  i, 
433 — and  works  equally  necessary  to 
eternal  life,  i,  433 — different  degrees 
of,  suited  to  the  different  dispensations 
oftheGospel,  note,  i,  456,  457,  may  die 
by  bad  works,  i,  494,  495 — defined,  i. 
523,  524 — how  the  gift  of  God,  and 


568 


ALPHABETICAL  LNDEX. 


whether  in  the  power  of  man  to  exer- 
cise it,  i,  524-528,  582-588— of  devils, 
what,  i,  540 — of  immoral  Antino- 
mians,  what,  i,  540,  541 — of  St. 
Paul's  carnal  penitent,  what,  i,  542 — 
operative,  victorious,  and  saving1, 
what,  i,  542-544 — the  origin  of  good 
works,  how,  i,  545-548 — determines 
our  feelings  and  conduct,  i,  549,  550 
' — how  it  honours  God  and  excludes 
boasting,  i,  551,  552 — the  instrumen- 
tal cause  of  raising  us  to 'a  new  life, 
i,  553 — different  objects  of,  i,  573, 
574 — the  different  privileges  of  Jew- 
ish and  Christian,  i,  574 — the  various 
degrees  of,  i,  575 — the  difference  be- 
tween that  of  innocent  Adam  and 
that  by  which  a  penitent  is  justified, 
&c,  i,  576 — its  various  dispensations, 
i,  589,  590 — three  degrees  of  it  distin- 
guished in  the  apostles'  and  Nicene 
creeds,  and  catechism  of  our  Church, 
i,  590-595— its  glory,  ii,  39-41— its 
necessity,  in  order  to  the  attainment 
of  perfect  Christianity,  ii,  645-648 — 
working  by  love,  how,  ii,  655 — the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen,  iv,  326 — 
true,  does  not  lead  to  Antinomian- 
ism,  nor  deprive  God  of  the  glory  of 
our  salvation,  iv,  329 — rational  and 
affectionate  enforced,  iv,  335 

Faith,  living,  what,  iii,  382,  383 

Faithfulness,  man's,  a  Scriptural  ex- 
pression, i,  27-30,  135,  194 — what, 
ii,  138 

Fall  of  man,  absurdity  of  not  admitting, 
iii,  211,  212 

Fanatic,  character  of,  iii,  186,  187 

Fanaticism,  thoughts  on,  iv,  233-238 

Fast,  that  in  Philadelphia,  lamentable 
account  of,  iv,  474 — the  piety  and 
policy  of  appointing  a  national,  iv, 
552-554 

Fasting  and  prayer,  the  necessity  of, 
iv,  558 

Fatalism,  avowed  or  disguised,  what, 
ii,  278-280 

Father,  his  priority  to  the  Son,  iii,  485- 
489 — the  fountain  of  Deity,  how, 
iii,  486,  487 — the  gifts  and  opera- 
tions of  the  Word  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  ascribed  to  him,  iii,  486,  487 

Fathers,  ancient,  leaned  to  the  doc- 
trine of  free  will,  rather  than  to  the 
contrary,  ii,  215 — earliest,  held  the 
doctrine  of  the  Scripture  Scales,  ii, 
219-225 

Fear,  excited  by  Divine  menaces,  how, 
i,  506 — how  it  influences  the  wicked, 
iii,  129,  130 

Feeling,  spiritual,  what,  iv,  278 

Feelings,  remarks  on,  iv,  25,  344 


Figurative  words  of  Scripture,  how  to 
be  interpreted,  ii,  105,  106 

Flavel,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  book  against  An- 
tinomianism  referred  to,  i,  33 — his 
definition  of  the  term  condition,  i, 
45 — a  quotation  from  his  discourse 
on  mental  errors,  i,  231 

Fool,  the  rich,  his  history  improved,  iv, 
263-267 

Foreknowledge  of  God,  how  consistent 
with  man's  free  will,  ii,  176-178 — 
why  assigned  to  God,  ii,  183 — how 
different  from  that  of  man,  ii,  183, 
184 — of  God,  has  no  absolute  influ- 
ence on  our  conduct,  ii,  183 — of 
God,  St.  Ambrose's  view  of  it,  note, 
ii,  202 

Forgiveness  of  sins,  exercised  by  Christ, 
iii,  453 

Fraqklin,  Dr.,  hisuncandid  declaration, 
iv,  542 

Free-thinkers,  invited  to  be  close-think- 
ers, iii,  294 — addressed,  iv,  90-92 

Fulgentius,  his  views  of  predestination, 
ii,  205 

Fulsome,  Mr.,  a  specimen  of  a  consis- 
tent Calvinist,  i,  341-345 — the  cha. 
racter  of,  ii,  135 

Galatians,  Epistle  to,  asserts  the  God- 
head of  Christ,  iii,  573,  574 — state 
of,  when  St.  Paul  wrote  his  epistle, 
ii,  529,  530— the  Epistle  to  the, 
overthrows  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
mere  humanity,  iii,  573-577 

Gifts,  extraordinary,  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
iii,  182 

"Gifts  and  callings  of  God  without  re. 
pentance,"  how,  i,  416 

Globe,  observations  on  the,  iii,  443, 
444 

Glorying,  in  what  sense  proper,  note,  i, 
504 — in  the  works  of  faith,  in  what 
sense  evangelical,  ii,  304-306 

Gnostics,  the  character  of,  ii,  12 

God,  to  whom  made  known,  iii,  380, 
381 — his  existence  demonstrated  by 
the  works  of  creation,  iii,  398 — the 
unity  of,  maintained,  iii,  398 — a  name 
given  to  Christ,  iii,  433-435 — the  in! 
comprehensibility  of,  iii,  404 — the 
import  of  the  name,  iii,  486,  487 — 
"Over  all,  blessed  for  ever,"  descrip- 
tive of  Christ,  iii,  556 — Christ,  the 
proper  Son  of,  a  Scriptural  doctrine, 
iii,  412-414 — unity  of,  iv,  44 — why 
kings  are  so  called,  iii,  413 

Gouge,  what,  note,  iv,  558 

Golden  rule  of  Scripture,  remarks  on, 
iv,  489 

Gospel,  what,  revealed  to  all,  under 
different  dispensations,  i,  139 — pro- 
vision not  made  in  it  for  some  sins,  i, 


ALPHABETICAL  ISDEX. 


5G9 


339 — as  opposed  to  the  error  of  the 
Pharisees  and  Antinomians,  what,  i, 
431 — as  the  second  covenant,  what, 
i,  453,  454 — the  inferior  dispensations 
of,  i,  456,  457— defined,  ii,  261— the 
four  dispensations  of,  ii,  261-263 — 
contains  the  doctrines  of  justice,  as 
well  as  the  doctrines  of  grace,  ii, 
263-267 — often  called  a  law,  why,  ii, 
267 — how  it  should  he  preached,  ii, 
271 — when  the  savour  of  death,  &c, 
iii,  137 

Grace,  free,  preventing,  given  to  every 
man,  i,  137 — a  measure  of,  given  to 
all,  i,  405,  406 — the  highest  degrees 
of,  the  privilege  of  every  believer,  iii, 
17 — why  given  to  those  whom  God 
foresees  will  abuse  it, -*r406,  407;  ii, 
464,  465 — in  what  respects  effectual 
in  all,  i,  403 — of  the  Gospel,  what, 
note,  i,  449 — free,  its  honour  secured 
by  the  Arminian  scheme,  i,  502 — dis- 
tinguishing, the  proper  import  of,  i, 
505 — observations  on,  and  on  free 
will,  ii,  27-30 — the  source  of  man's 
redemption,  ii,  32 — the  first  cause  of 
good  in  man,  ii,  32 — how  displayed 
in  the  creation  and  salvation  of  man, 
ii,  33 — how  it -works  in  us,  ii,  56 — 
maybe  resisted,  ii,  76 — free,  the  doc- 
trine of,  maintained,  ii,  170, 171 — and 
free  will,  maintained  by  the  Church 
of  England,  ii,  216-218 — the  union 
of,  with  free  will,  illustrated,  ii,  240- 
247 — how  conditional,  ii,  230 — amis- 
sible,  how,  ii,  230 — and  justice,  the 
doctrines  of,  what,  ii,  293-295 — how 
reconciled,  ii,  295,  296 — partial,  the 
doctrines  of,  ii,  300,  301 

Guilt,  the  infinity  of,  required  a  sacri- 
fice of  infinite  dignity,  iii,  331 

Guise,  Dr.,  admits  of  justification  by 
works  in  the  day  of  judgment,  i,  212 

Habakkuk,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of 
Christ,  iii,  528 

Haggai,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of 
Christ,  iii,  533 

Hale,  Judge,  a  remarkable  saying  of, 
note,  iii,  298 

Hardening,  how  the  act  of  God,  and 
how  of  man,  ii,  99-101 

Hatton,  Miss,  an  account  of  the  happy 
death  of,  iv,  339 

Haweis,  Dr.,  his  comment  cited,  i,  226 

Hearing,  spiritual,  what,  iv,  277 

Heathen  authors  have  attested  the  ad- 
vent of  Christ,  iv,  225 

Heathens  have  acknowledged  human 
depravity,  iii,  306,  307 — how  saved, 
i,  39-41,  565,  566— the  excellent 
morality  of  some,  i,  118 — baptized,  an 
address  to,  i,  558-560 — not  the  ob- 


jects of  Calvinian  reprobation,  ;,  563, 
564 

Hebrews,  the  Epistle  to  the,  irrecon- 
cilable with  Socinianism,  iii,  589- 
595 — asserts  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
iii,  589-595 

Hell,  no  evidence  of  Christ's  descent 
into,  note,  iii,  212 

Henry,  Rev.  Matthew,  on  man's  faith- 
fulness, i,  28 — on  the  history  of  Cor- 
nelius, &c,  i,  42 — asserts  justifica- 
tion by  works  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
i,  74,  75 — his  inconsistency,  note,  ii, 
96,  97 — quoted  on  the  parable  of  the 
talents,  ii,  293 — his  arguments  for  in- 
dwelling sin  answered,  ii,  608-610 — 
what  he  says  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel, 
iii,  537 

Heylin,  Dr.,  a  quotation  from  his  ser- 
mon, ii,  293 

Hezekiah,  the  case  of,  considered,  ii, 
4i9 

Hierocles,  the  comment  of,  on  Pytha- 
goras, iv,  236,  237 

Hill,  Rev.  Rowland,  his  friendly  remarks 
referred  to,  i,  279,  280 — his  candid 
concession,  ii,  344 

Hill,  Richard,  Esq.,  gives  his  readers  a 
wrong  view  of  the  controversy,  i, 
337,  338 — his  marvellous  inconsist- 
ency, i,  346 — his  charge  of  forgery, 
&c,  proved  to  have  no  foundation,  i, 
351 — his  inattention  in  quotation,  i, 
352 — his  inconsistency  in  publishing 
his  three  letters,  after  his  Finishing 
Stroke,  ii,  21 

Holiness,  Arminianism  more  conducive 
to,  than  Calvinism,  ii,  469 

Holland,  Rev.  Francis,  his  translation 
of  the  fathers  mentioned,  iii,  441 

Holy  Ghost,  in  what  sense  not  received 
by  pious  Jews  and  the  apostles,  before 
the  day  of  pentecost,  note,  i,  590 — 
the  mission  of,  ii,  655 

Homilies  and  liturgy  quoted  in  proof 
of  man's  corrupt  estate,  iii,  255,256 

Honestus,  the  character  of,  ii,  9 — the 
partiality  of,  ii,  24 

Hopkins,  Bishop,  an  extract  from  a  ser- 
mon of,  i,  112-115 

Hope,  called  into  exercise,  by  the  pro- 
mises of  good  things  to  come,  i,  508 
— the  pleasure  arising  from  the  exer- 
cise of,  iii,  145,  146 — of  the  unright- 
eous, on  what  founded,  iii,  146 — its 
divinity,  iii,  147 — gives  honour  to  the 
faithfulness,  &c,  of  God,  iii,  148 — 
fills  us  with  a  holy  joy,  and  saves, 
iii,  147,  148 — purifies  and  produces 
charity  and  consolation,  iii,  148,  149 
— how  produced,  iii,  150 — published 
by  the  apostles  unanimously,  iii,  150, 
151 — cannot  dwell  in  the  unregene- 


570 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


rate,  iii,  151 — should  be   sought  by 
earnest    prayer,    iii,    152 — penitents 
should  be  pointed  to  its  blessedness, 
iii,  153 
Horace,  the  Latin  poet,  iv,  41 — referred 

to  and  cited,  ii,  258,  377,  385 
Horsley,  Dr.,  mentioned,  iii,  388,  487, 

502 
Horn,  little,  the  origin  of,  iv,  240 
Horns,  ten,  the  import  of,  iv,  240 
Humility,  the  advantages  of,  iv,  367 — 

recommended  to  ministers,  iii,  33 
Huntingdon,  countess  of,  iv,  341 
Hypocrisy,  borrows  the  cloak  of  reli- 
gion, iii,  289 
Hypocrite,  Satan  aij  arch,  iv,  251 — the 
moral,   what,   iv,  252 — the    hearing, 
what,  iv,  253,  254 — the  praying,  what, 
iv,  255 — the  preaching,  what,  iv,  255, 
256 

I  AM,  a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii,  556 

Idolatry,  improperly  charged  on  Trini- 
'tarians,  by  Dr.  Priestley,  iii,  387,  395, 
401— the  impiety  of,  iii,  299 

Idolatrous  love,  what,  iii,  289 

Idleness  not  encouraged  by  faithful 
ministers,  iii,  60 

Ignatius  maintained  the  second  Gospel 
axiom,  ii,  224,  225 

Ignorance  of  God,  man's,  iii,  264,  265 
— of  our  corrupt  state,  its  dreadful 
consequences,  iii,  334-339 

Image  of  God,  wherein  it  consisted,  iii, 
263,  318 — how  applied  to  Christ,  iii, 
560 

Imagination,  its  extravagance,  iii,  281 

Immorality  of  Great  Britain  during  her 
contest  with  America,  iii,  536,  537 — 
contributed  much  to  subvert  Church 
and  state  under  Oliver  Cromwell,  iii, 
538-540 

Immutability  ascribed  to  Christ,  iii,  439, 
440 — of  God,  see  "  unchangeableness 
of  God." 

Impatience  frets  at  every  thing,  iii,  289. 

Imperfection,  Christian,  the  doctrine 
of,  strikes  at  the  root  of  salvation  by 
faith,  ii,  572 — affronts  Christ  in  all 
his  offices,  ii,  572-575 — makes  us 
overlook  God's  great  promises,  ii, 
575 — defeats  the  end  of  the  Gospel 
precepts,  ii,  576 — unnerves  our 
prayers,  ii,  576— soothes  lukewarm 
professors,  and  discourages  the  sin- 
cere, ii,  576-578 

Imperfectionists,  prejudiced,  an  address 
to,  ii,  616-626 

Imperfect  believers  addressed,  ii,  627-657 

Incarnation,  the  mystery  of,  no  argu- 
ment against  its  credibility,  iv,  231 
— why  not  explained  by  God,  iv, 
231 


Incredulity,  the  absurdities  of,  iv,  228- 
230 

Independence  can  bear  no  control,  iii, 
288 

Infallibility,  absurdity  of  Protestants 
pretending  to  it,  ii,  351 

Infants,  the  circumstances  attending 
their  Dirth  prove  man's  fall,  iii,  260 — 
their  stupidity  and  ignorance,  iii,  263 
— if  not  corrupt,  need  not  the  blood 
of  atonement,  iii,  327 — their  justifica- 
tion by  Christ,  i,  283-285— dying,  the 
certainty  of  their  salvation,  i,  399 — 
their  justification,  taught  by  the 
Church  of  England,  i,  461 

Infidels  indebted  to  revelation,  iii,  201 

Infirmities,  the  distinction  between,  and 
sins,  ii,  602-606 

Infirmity,  what,  ii,  605,  606 

Initial  salvation,  what,  iii,  135 

Inspiration,  the  doctrine  of,  asserted, 
iv,  233-238 — attested  by  Pagans,  iv, 
234,  235 

Irenseus  maintained  free  will,  ii,  200- 
207 

,  cited,  iii,  442 

Irony,  its  use  in  religion,  i,  195 — should 
be  used  with  caution,  i,  200,  201 — 
defensible  from  Scripture  examples, 
note,  i,  281 

Isaiah,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of  Christ, 
iii,  522,  524,  530,  531,  533,  534 

Jacob,  his  wrestling  improved,  iv,  262 — 
how  God  loved  him  and  hated  Esau,  ii, 
98 — prophesies  of  Christ,  iii,  516,  517 

Jansenius  attempted  to  restore  Augus- 
tine's doctrine  of  grace,  ii,  276 

Javanne,  a  remarkable  anecdote  of,  iv, 
236 

James.  St.,  maintains  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  iii,  547,  595 

Jehovah,  a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii, 
431-433 — Shalom,  proved  to  be 
Christ,  iii,  513,  514 — Envoy,  proved 
to  be  Christ,  iii,  511-513 

Jehoshaphat,  what  the  name  imports, 
iii,  525 

Jeremiah,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of 
Christ,  iii,  533 

Jerome,  St.,  asserted  free  will,  ii,  203 — 
what  he  says  of  the  writings  of  St. 
John,  iii,  608 

Job  prophesies  of  Christ,  iii,  521 

Joel,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of  Christ, 
iii,  524,  525 

John,  St.,  establishes  the  doctrine  of 
our  Lord's  supreme  Godhead,  iii,  414— 
420, 550-555,  598-601,  603,  604,  605, 
618,  619 — the  Gospel  of,  why  and 
at  what  time  written,  iii,  608—  the 
epistles  of,  overthrow  Socinianism, 
iii.  598-604 


AXPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


571 


Joy,  luminous,  why  God  withholds  it, 
iv,  327 

Judas,  Chrysostom's  opinion  of,  note, 
ii,  202 — a  true  convert,  when  first 
called,  i,  245-247 ;  ii,  82-84— prayed 
for  by  Chdst,  i,  350 — judicially  re- 
probated, ii,  327 — how  the  Scriptures 
were  fulfilled  in  his  perdition,  ii,  82 
— his  wickedness  not  necessary  to 
bring  about  the  crucifixion  of  Christ, 
ii,  83 

Jude,  St.,  contends  for  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  iii,  548,  549,  604 

Judge,  Christ  the  universal,  iii,  453- 
461 

Judgment,  day  of,  incompatible  with 
absolute  predestination,  ii,  451-461 

Julian,  the  emperor,  the  iniquitous  con- 
duct of,  iv,  226 

Justice,  impartial,  the  doctrines  of,  ii, 
320 — of  God,  wherein  it  consists,  ii, 
432 — how  displayed  in  the  sufferings 
of  fallen  angels  and  men,  ii,  442 

Justin's  Epistle  to  Diognetus  cited,  iii, 
441 — Apology,  referred  to,  note,  iii, 
510 — opinion  on  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
iii,  511 

Justification,  Mr.  Wesley's  sentiments 
on,  i,  34 — conditions  of,  i,  34-38 — 
of  a  sinner,  and  by  faith,  what,  ii, 
306-308 — by  works  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  i,  72-74 — shown  to  be  a 
Scriptural  doctrine  i,  210-215,  273, 
369,  370 — not  merely  before  man, 
but  before  God,  i,  358-363 — proved 
from  the  articles,  &c,  of  the  Church, 
i,  217-221 — maintained  by  many  Pu- 
ritan divines,  i,  223-228 — admitted 
by  Mr.  Rowland  Hill,  i,  278— con- 
sistent with  justification  by  grace  in 
the  day  of  conversion,  i,  297 — does 
not  rob  Christ  of  his  glory,  i,  299- 
303 — twofold,  by  the  concessions  of 
Dr.  Owen  and  R.  Hill,  Esq.,  i,  347,  349 
— its  primary  and  secondary  causes, 
i,  433, 434— different  degrees  of,  i,  161, 
162 — fourfold,  maintained  in  Scrip- 
ture, i,  283-285 — absolute,  eternal, 
the  absurdity  of,  i,  183,  184 — the  dif- 
ference between  that  in  our  conver- 
sion and  at  the  day  of  judgment,  i, 
213-215 

Justified  and  sanctified  state,  talking  of, 
tends  to  mislead,  i,  56-60 

Kempis,  a  saying  of,  iv,  354 

Ket,  the  pretended  reformer,  account 
of,  iv,  465 

Kingdom  of  God,  the  happiness  of  those 
who  enjoy  it,  iii,  370-372 — cometh 
not  with  outward  pomp,  iv,  364 — of 
heaven  suffereth  violence,  how,  iv, 
261-263 


King,  a  title  given  to  Christ,  iii,  493 
King,  Archbishop,  quoted,  ii,  183 
Knowledge  of  God,  what,  iii,  380-382 

— experimental,   possessed   by  every 

believer,  iii,  16 — of  our  fallen  state, 

advantage  of,  iii,  339-342 
Koran,    what   it    declares    concerning 

Jesus  Christ,  iv,  227 
Kuria,  what,  iii,  604 

Labour,  man  devoted  to,  in  consequence 
of  sin,  iii,  267-271 

Lactantius  contended  for  the  doctrine  of 
free  will,  ii,  201 — testifies  the  efficacy 
of  Gospel  doctrine,  iii,  241 

Latimer,  Bishop,  a  remarkable  saying 
of,  i,  349 

"  Last  times,"  a  remark  on,  iv,  239 

Laud,  Archbishop,  leaned  toward  Pela- 
gianism,  ii,  276,  277 

Law  of  God,  its  spirituality,  iii,  324- 
326 — the  truths  it  discovers  to  such 
as  consider  it,  iii,  122,  123 — should 
be  held  in  high  estimation  by  all,  i, 
100,  101 — necessary  as  a  rule  of  life 
and  judgment,  i,  343 

Law,  in  what  sense  St.  Paul  was  dead 
to  it,  i,  101 — moral,  not  abolished  by 
Christ,  i,  101-103— of  Christ,  made 
void  by  Calvinism,  i,  359-363 — the 
Mediator's,  not  to  be  confounded  with 
that  of  innocence,  i,  338 — of  liberty, 
why  so  called,  i,  372 — the  design  of, 
i,  448 — how  "  not  made  for  a  right- 
eous man,"  ii,  41 — moral,  of  Moses, 
an  edition  of  the  law  of  Christ,  and 
not  of  the  law  of  innocence,  ii,  43 
-49 — the  different  acceptations  of 
that  word,  ii,  47,  48 — moral,  how 
the  way  to  eternal  life,  ii,  53-57 — 
Adamic,  believers  not  perfect  accord- 
ing to  it,  ii,  493,  494 — to  Christ,  how 
believers  under  the,  ii,  494,  495 

Legality,  from  what  derived,  note,  i, 
100 

Leighton,  Archbishop,  referred  to,  i, 
105 

Letter,  Circular,  Mr.  Shirley's,  i,  7 

Letters,  vol.  iv. — To  Mr.  H.  Brooke, 
343,  364,  366— to  Miss  Bryan,  340— 
to  Miss  Mary  Cartwright,  347— to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Conyers,  354 — to  Mrs.  Do- 
lier,  363— to  Mr.  John  Fennel,  365— 
to  the  right  honourable  Lady  Mary 
Fitzgerald,  354,  359,  360,  362,  366 
— to  Mrs.  Glynne,  322 — to  Mr.  Green- 
wood, 351 — to  Mrs.  Greenwood,  365 
— to  Messrs.  Hare,  &c,  348 — to  Mr. 
Samuel  Hatton,  319 — to  Mrs.  Hatton, 
339— to  Miss  Hatton,  320,  321,  324, 
-327,  330-332,  335-337— to  Rev.  M. 
Home,  367 — to  J.  Ireland,  Esq.,  339 
-341,  345,   346,   348,  351— to  Miss 


572 


ALPHABETICAL    INDEX. 


Ireland,  333 — to  Mr.  Alexander.  Ma- 
tuer,  330 — to  Mr.  George  Merry  wea- 
ther,  to   Mr.  Michael   Onions, 

35G,  358— to  Mr.  John  Owen,  357— 
to  the  parishioners  of  Madeley,  309- 
311 — to  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet, 
350— to  Miss  Perronet,  350,  352,  360 
— to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sellon,  342— to 
Miss  Thornton,  353 — to  Mr.Vaughan, 
344— to  Mr.  William  Wase,  349,  355, 
357,  358— to  the.  Rev.  Charles  Wes- 
ley, 311-320,   323— to  Mr.  Thomas 

York,   355 — to  the  Hon.   Mrs. , 

314— to   Mr.  343— to  the  Rev. 

Joseph  Benson,  379 — to  the  Hon. 
Mrs.  C.  388 — to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Greaves, 
383 — to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenwood, 
380,  381— to  Miss  Hatton,  369,  387 
— to  Lady  Huntingdon,  373 — to  Jas. 
Ireland,  Esq.,  375,  377,  379— to  Miss 
Ireland,  370— to  Miss  Loxdale,  384, 
385 — to  the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet, 
386— to  Mr.  Charles  Perronet,  377— 
to  the  societies  in  and  about  Madeley, 
384— to  Mrs.  Thornton,  381— to  the 
Rev.  John  Wesley,  368,  386— to  the 
Rev.  Charles  Wesley,  376,  378— to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenwood,  395 — to 
the  Rev.  Vincent  Perronet,  394,  395, 
396,  397,  402— to  Mr.  William  Per- 
ronet, 390,  391,  393,  394,  397-401, 
402-405— to  Miss  Thornton,  395 

Levellers,  why  so  called,  iv,  470 

Levelling  system,  Dr.  Price's,  danger- 
ous, exposed,  iv,  521,  522 

Levity,  the  evil  of,  iv,  250 

Liberty,  Mr.  Locke's  definition  of,  ii, 
186,  187 — wherein  it  consists,  ii,  189 
— active,  and  of  the  children  of  God, 
what,  ii,  191 — different  degrees,  in 
different  orders  of  creatures,  ii,  192 — 
the  imperfection  of  ours,  ii,  193 — of 
God,  how  exercised,  ii,  196 — of  the 
devil,  what,  ii,  197 — of  those  who 
serve  God  in  newness  of  the  Spirit, 
ii,  538,  539 — British,  the  excellence 
of,  iv,  476 — remarks  on,  iv,  515-518 
— Dr.  Price's  and  Mr.  Evans'  exposed, 
iv,  531,  532,  534,  535 

Liberality  of  sentiment,  expressed,  iv, 
330 

Life,  spiritual,  different  degrees  of,  i, 
159,  160 — eternal,  how  believers  have 
it,  i,  254 

Lindsey,  Mr.,  mentioned,  iii,  396 

Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,  see 
"  Homilies." 

Logos,  a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii,  485 
— the  import  of  the  word,  iii,  416, 
485 — what  Philo  says  of  the,  iii,  468 
— The,  was  known  to  our  first  parents, 
iii,  507-509 — how  he  appeared  to  the 
patriarchs,  iii,  509,  510 


Lopez,  Gregory,  his  brevity  in  speaking 
and  writing,  iv,  320,  321 

Lot,  why  elected,  and  his  wife  repto- 
bated,  ii,  324 

Love,  an  effectual  antidote  against 
Antinomianism,  i,  200,  201 — excites 
faithful  ministers  to  perform  their 
duty,  iii,  64,  65 — of  the  author  of  the 
Checks  toward  his  opponents,  i,  328 
— of  God  to  man  to  be  imitated  by 
believers  ii,  102,  103 — thoughts  on, 
iv,  360 — its  great  importance,  ii,  662 
— is  truly  humble  and  modest,  ii, 
662-665 — becomes  all  things  to  all 
men,  ii,  663 — is  satisfied  with  the 
Supreme  Good,  ii,  664 — "  rejoiceth 
in  the  truth,"  ii,  665,  666 — brotherly, 
recommended,  iv,  310 — the  great  im- 
portance of,  iv,  346 

Lorenzo,  the  character  of,  ii,  9 

Lord,  a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii,  431, 
432 — of  all,  a  name  given  to  Christ, 
iii,  545 — of  the  Sabbath,  a  name  given 
to  Christ,  iii,  547 

Lowth's,  Bishop,  translation  of  Isaiah 
quoted,  iii,  450 

Lucian,  concerning  the  first  Christians, 
iii,  164 

Luther,  Martin,  his  rashness  in  reject- 
ing St.  James'  epistle,  i,  44 — his  ex- 
cellent advice  to  Melancthon  on 
preaching,  i,  108 — distinguished  im- 
properly between  a  believer  and  his 
actions,  i,  289 — rashly  gave  a  blow  to 
the  doctrines  of  justice,  ii,  273,  274 — 
extract  from,  iv,  37 

Lukewarm  professors,  two  sorts  of,  iv, 
256,  257 

Lukewarmness,  a  prayer  for  those  who 
plead  for,  ii,  619 

Lusts,  a  distinction  between  lawful  and 
sinful,  ii,  531,  532 

Lucian,  what  he  says  of  Christ  and  the 
primitive  Christians,  iv,  226 

Luke,  St.,  attests  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
ii,  545 

Madan,  Rev.  Mr.,  quoted  on  justification 
by  works,  i,  227,  433 

Mohammed  forbids  us  to  pay  Divine 
honours  to  any  but  the  Father,  iii, 
395 

Mohammedans  in  many  respects  Pa- 
gans, iv,  226 — maintain  the  unity  of 
God,  iv,  226 — have  acknowledged 
the  existence  of  Jesus  Christ,  iv,  226 

Mohammedanism  prepares  heathen  idol- 
aters for  the  reception  of  Christianity, 
iv,  227 

Malachi  foretels  the  advent  of  Christ, 
iii,  529,  530 

Malice  takes  a  pleasure  in  injuring 
others,  iii,  289 


ALPHABETICAL   INDEX. 


573 


Man's  apostasy  and  misery  proved  from 
Scripture  and  reason,  iv,  414,  436 

.Man,  natural,  what  meant  by  the  ex- 
pression, iv,  119,276 — spiritual,  what, 
iv,  276 — observations  on,  iii,  445 

Maniohejsm,  what,  ii,  279,  373 
Manichces,    their  ridiculous  creed,  iii, 

258 
Manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  flesh, 
why  delayed  4000  years,  iii,  232 — 
time  and  place  of,  suited  to  such  an 
event,  iii,  233,  234 — of  the  Spirit, 
what,  i,  167 
Manifestations,  spiritual,  what,  iv,  281, 
282— the  effects  of,  iv,  282,  288,  289 
— extraordinary,  the  design  of,  iv,  285, 
286 — ordinary  and  mixt,  the  design 
of,  iv,  286 — the  bad  effects  of  not  dis. 
tinguishing  between  them,  iv,  287 — 
suited  to  the  various  states  of  the 
Church,  iv,  290 — why  some  die  with- 
out, iv,  291 — why  not  made  to  some 
sincere  seekers,  iv,  292 — sometimes 
almost  overwhelming,  iv,292 — means 
to  be  used  to  obtain  them,  what,  iv, 
292-294— of  Christ  to  his  people  in 
all  ages  of  the  world,  iv,  294-308— 
do  not  supersede  the  letter  of  Scrip- 
ture, iv,  301-308  . 

Mankind,  general  observations  on  the 
redemption  of,  iv,  222-230 — Christ 
the  Redeemer  and  Saviour  of,  iii, 
446-453 

Manners,  different,  in  which  sinners 
are  awakened,  iii,  126 

Mark,  St.,  attests  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
iii,  546,  547 

Martin,  Rev.,  his  plea  for  indwelling 
sin,  ii,  581-593 

Martyr,  Justin,  concerning  the  doctrine 
of  fate,  ii,  200 — unguarded  concern- 
ing free  will,  ii,  211 

Massillon,  Bishop,  of  lukewarm  minis- 
ters, iii,  81 — concerning  false  apos- 
tles, iii,  83 

Materialism,  a  chief  bulwark  of  Atheism, 
ii,  384,  385— Dr.  Priestley  one  of  the 
principal  defenders  of,  iii,  391 

Matrimony,  reasons  for  and  against,  iv, 
324 — not  forbidden  to  ministers,  iii, 
62,  63 

Matthew,  St.,  proves  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  iii,  546 

Mead,  Matthew,  quoted,  i,  378,  509 

Means  of  grace,  how  to  be  used,  iii,  355 

Medea,  a  remarkable  saying  of,  ii,  589 

Melchisedec,  a  type  of  Christ,  iii,  540, 
541 

Memory,  its  aptness  to  forget  spiritual 
things,  iii,  280,  281 

Meetness  for  heaven,  see  "  Title." 

Merit,  what,  i,  206 — of  works,  salvation 
by,  disclaimed  by  Mr.  Wesley,  i,  43 


— in  what  sense  Scriptural,  i,  47-53 
— Baxter's  judgment  of,  i,  95 — the 
import  of  the  word,  i,  172-176,  194 
— in  what  sense  used  by  our  Lord,  i, 
239 — of  congruity,  how  used,  note, 
i,  373,  374 — original,  and  derived,  the 
difference  between,  i,  450^152 — pro- 
per and  improper,  what,  ii,  322 
Messiah,  all  the  prophets  bear  witness 
of  the,  as  the  bruiser  of  the  serpent's 
head,  &c,  iii,  519-530 
Micah  foretels  the  advent  of  Christ,  iii, 

526,  527 
Milton,  a  quotation  from,  iii,  319,  320, 
321 — a  scale  of  duties,  ii,  342 — re- 
ferred to,  iii,  459 
Millennium,  an  account  of  the,  iii,  526, 

527 
Minerals    and  metals,    many  of  them 

poisonous,  iii,  267 
Mineral  kingdom,    reflections    on  the, 

iii,  444 
Ministers,  the  duty  of,  iii,  330 — how 
they  ought  to  preach  to  promote  mo- 
rality, iii,  333 — how  their  wives, 
when  loving  pleasure,  are  treated  in 
Hungary,  iii,  63 — inspired  and  ap- 
pointed by  Christ,  iii,  20 — evangeli- 
cal, iii,  67-70,  70-79 — their  power 
and  authority,  iii,  26-28 — faithful, 
adapt  their  discourses  to  the  state  of 
•  their  hearers,  iii,  170-173 — use  vari- 
ous means  to  save  souls,  iii,  55,  56 — 
unhappy  if  not  rendered  useful,  iii, 
73,  74 — want  of  success  often  owing 
to  unfaithfulness,  iii,  72-75 — uncon- 
verted, comprehend  not  the  Gospel,  iii, 
17 — wicked,  a  curse  to  society,  how, 
iii,  47,  48 — lukewarm,  their  timidity 
censured, iii, 50 — avaricious, the  bad  ef- 
fects produced  by,  iii,  59 — justified  in 
leaving  congregations  to  which  they 
are  not  useful,  iii,  75 — lukewarm,  the 
portrait  of,  iii,  80-82 — three  classes 
of,  iii,  86 — faithful,  the  true  succes- 
sors of  the  apostles,  iii,  89-91 — may 
prove  the  divinity  of  their  mission 
without  miracles,  iii,  91-93 — ought 
to  use  great  exertion  in  this  corrupt 
world,  iii,  96-101 — ought  to  imitate 
the  zeal  of  St.  Paul,  iii,  101-103— 
without  piety,  their  manner  of  preach- 
ing, iii,  111 
Ministry,  Christian,- in  what  it  consists, 
iii,  20 — the  work  of,  requires  great 
diligence,  iii,  108-110 
Minutes  of  the  conference,  an  extract 
from  the,  i,  8,  9 — the  occasion  of,  i, 
20-23 — the  general  tenor  of  their 
propositions,  i,  23,  24 — established 
by  Scripture,  and  the  concessions  of 
R.  Hill,  Esq.,  i,  235-241 
Misery,  the  effect  of  sin,  iii,  271-273 


574 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Mobs,  the  dangei   of  setting  up,  iv,  472, 

473-475 
Molinos  quoted,  i,  445 
Montesquieu  quoted,  iv,  446 
Moon,  reflections  on  the,  iii,  443 
Moore,   Dr.,  what  he  says  of  the  Mo- 
hammedans, iv,  226 
Moralists,    antichrislian,    addressed,    i, 

564-566 
Morality,  what  it  teaches,  iii,  198 — 
Christianity  furnishes  the  best  mo- 
tives to  it,  iii,  200,  201 — evangelical, 
ennobles  our  most  ordinary  actions, 
iii,  208 — its  connection  with  the  three 
parts  of  the  apostles'  cieed,  iii,  211— 
213 — its  dependence  on  true  doc- 
trines, iii,  221 
Morals  connected  with  the  doctrines  of 

Christianity,  iii,  154,  155 
More,  Dr.  Henry,  extract  from,  iv,  12 
Moses  prophesies  of  Christ,  iii,  517,  518 
Mothers,  remarkable  conduct  of  some, 

iv,  223 
Motives,  the  use  of,  in  religion,  iii,  65,  66 
Motives,  primary  and  secondary,  illus- 
trated, ii,  239,  240 
Mysticism,   what,   note,  i,  238,  445 — 

evangelical,  iv,  7 
Mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
what,  ii,  450 

Nebuchadnezzar's  image,  the  story  of, 
improved,  iv,  259,  260 — dream,  iv, 
239 

Necessity,  Calvinistic,  what,  ii,  184, 185 
— defined,  ii,  187, 188 — natural,  what, 
moral,  what,  ii,  190 — Calvinian,  illus- 
trated, ii,  319 — the  pedigree  of,  ii,  369 
— makes  God  the  author  of  all  sin, 
ii,  369,  378— philosophical,  Mr.  Top- 
lady's  view  of,  ii,  376,  383 — contrary 
to  genuine  philosophy,  ii,  377 — over- 
throws conscience,  ii,  377,  378 — robs 
man  of  self  activity  and  self  motion, 
ii,  378— contrary  to  Scripture  and 
common  sense,  ii,  379 — represents  a 
future  judgment  as  a  hypocritical  act, 
ii,  380 — places  matter  above  spirit, 
ii,  380,  381 — makes  human  souls  re- 
ceive all  their  moral  excellency  and 
depravity  from  the  contexture  of  the 
brain,  ii,  381,  382 — keys  to  open 
the  scriptures  by  which  Mr.  T.  sup- 
ports his  scheme  of,  ii,  386-402 — 
natural,  not  to  be  confounded  with 
moral,  ii,  393,  394 — absolute,  differs 
from  prophetic  certainty,  ii,  394-397 
— not  to  be  inferred  from  forced  meta- 
phors, ii,  389,  390 — nor  from  the  word 
shall  in  Scripture,  ii,  390,  391 — not 
needful  to  accomplish  God's  purposes, 
ii,  402 — different  kinds  of,  ii,  171, 
172,  406 — absolute,  the  error  of  Spi- 


nosa,  Manes,  &c,  ii,  409,  410 — on  its 

principles  there  can  be  no  sin,  ii,  458 

459 
Nero,  his  monstrous  cruelty,  iv,  225 
New  creature  described,  iv,  118 
New  birth,  iv,  140 — necessity  of,  iv,  14? 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  iv,  14 
Nicene  faith  defended  by  Bishop  Bull, 

iii,  440-442 
Noah,  why  spared  at  the  deluge,  ii,  323 
Number  of  2300,  mentioned  in  Daniel, 

a  remark  on  the,  iv,  241 
Nyssenus,   Gregory,   his  judgment  of 

man's  free  will,  ii,  201 

Oath  of  God,  what,  i,  561 

Obedience  of  faith  essential  to  eternal 
life,  i,  370,  371 — sincere,  how  a  con- 
dition of  eternal  life,  i,  373-383— 
oddly  termed  by  Mr.  Berridge  "  a 
Jack  o'lantern,"  i,  379 — distinguishes 
believers  from  others,  i,  502,  506 — 
the  importance  of,  i,  254-258 

Olivers,  Mr.  Thomas,  on  the  Hebrews, 
recommended,  ii,  156 

Omar,  the  leader  of  a  Mohammedan 
sect,  ii,  273 

Omega,  see  "  Alpha." 

Omniscience  ascribed  to  Christ,  iii,  437 

Omnipresence  ascribed  to  Christ,  iii, 
438 

"  Ordained  to  eternal  life,"  the  import 
of,  ii,  77,  78—"  of  old,"  &c,  Jude  4, 
explained,  note,  ii,  104 

Ordination  of  sin,  charged  by  Calvin 
upon  God,  ii,  199 

Origen,  an  advocate  for  free  will,  ii,  201 
— his    fine    apostrophe,  iii,   170 — re  ' 
ferred  to,  iii,  442 

Orpheus,  a  quotation  from,  iv,  234 

Ostervald,  Mons.,  concerning  lukewarm 
ministers,  iii,  82 — concerning  false 
apostles,  iii,  83,  84 — an  excellent 
quotation  from,  iii,  108 

Outlines  of  thirty  sermons,  iv,  191-221 

Owen,  Dr.,  asserts  justification  by  works 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  i,  223,  224, 
379 

Pagan  authors  have  spok«n  of  Jesus 
Christ  but  slightly,  or  indirectly,  iv, 
226 

Pagans  showed  their  belief  of  human 
depravity  by  their  religious  rites,  iii, 
305 — have  acknowledged  the  exist- 
ence of  Jesus  Christ,  iv,  227 

Papists,  their  error  concerning  infants, 
iii,  232 — some  of  them  hold  election 
and  reprobation,  i,  374 

Party  spirit  should  be  opposed  by  faith, 
fill  ministers,  iii,  37 

"Passing  by  men,"  what  it  imports,  ii, 
436,  437 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


575 


Pascal,  iv,  14 — a  remarkable  saying  of, 
iv,  33,  351 

Patriarchs  expected  a  Divine  Messiah, 
iii,  507,  518 

Paul,  a  persecutor,  iii,  11,  12 — his  Chris. 
tian  piety  and  union  with  Christ,  iii, 
13-18 — his  vocation  to  the  ministry, 
iii,  19 — his  devotion  to  Christ,  and 
spiritual  armour,  iii, 23-25 — his  power 
to  bind  and  loose,  iii,  26 — his  zeal  and 
diligence,  iii,  28-30 — his  fidelity  and 
humility,  iii,  31,  32 — readily  acknow- 
ledged and  repaired  liis  errors,  iii,  35 
— detested  party  spirit,  and  divisions, 
iii,  36 — loved  all,  and  especially  the 
faithful,  iii,  40-43 — his  charity  to- 
ward the  poor  and  sinners,  iii,  44—46 
— his  engaging  condescension,  iii,  48 
— his  courage  and  prudence,  iii,  50- 
53 — his  tenderness  to  others,  and  se- 
verity to  himself,  iii,  53,  54 — his  dis- 
interestedness, iii,  58 — labours  with 
his  own  hands,  iii,  59 — the  ardour  of 
his  love,  fears,  and  consolations,  iii, 
64-66 — the  grand  subject  of  his  glory- 
ing, iii,  67 — his  fortitude  under  the 
severest  trials,  iii,  68,  69 — consoles 
his  persecuted  brethren,  iii,  70-72 — 
ready  to  seal  the  truth  with  his  blood, 
iii,  76 — his  triumph  over  the  terror 
of  death — iii,  78,  79 — his  virtues  not 
inimitable,  iii,  87,  89 — his  extraordi- 
nary conversion,  iii,  452,  453 — esta- 
blishes the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  di- 
vinity, iii,  420-425,  555-560,  563 

Peace  and  brotherly  love,  how  obtained, 
ii,  350-357 

Pearson,  Bishop,  on  the  creed,  quoted 
and  referred  to,  iii,  418,  419,  420, 431- 
433,  448,  449,  458,  476-481,  486,  487, 
489-491,  494— what  he  says  of  the 
priority  of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  iii, 
486,  487 

Pclagianism,  the  tendency  of,  ii,  278, 
279, 314 — destroys  the  throne  of  God's 
partial  grace,  ii,  322 — the  errors  of, 
what,  ii,  270 

Pelagians,  their  errors  respecting  in- 
fants, note,  iii,  232 — the  principles 
of,  ii,  218,  219 

Pelagius,  his  writings  destroyed,  ii,  269 
— how  he  preached  free  will,  ii,  272 — 
wherein  right  and  wherein  wrong, 
ii,  606,  607 

Penitents,  cautions  proper  for,  iii,  350 
— an  address  to,  i,  567-570 

Pentecostal  Church,  what,  iv,  351 

Perfection,  Christian,  what,  i,  270,  271, 
381,  382 — founded  on  the  Christian 
dispensation,  i,  589 — the  proper  im- 
port of  the  word,  note,  ii,  492 — sin- 
less, remarks  on,  ii,  493-495 — Chris- 
tian, Mr.  Henry  and  Bishop  Hopkins 


quoted,  ii,  496 — what  Archbishop 
Leighton  says  of,  ii,  496-498 — why 
not  enforced  by  pious  Calvinists,  ii, 
498-500 — objections  to  it  answered, 
ii,  501-506 — not  contrary  to  the 
articles  of  the  Church,  ii,  506-509— 
the  Church  of  England  holds  it  forth 
in  her  daily  services,  &c,  ii,  509-515 
— St.  Peter  and  James  contend  for  it, 
ii,  517-521 — St. Paul  professed  to  have 
attained  it,  ii,  521,  522 — absolute, 
what,  ii,  522— Christian,  absurd  to 
adduce  Solomon,  &c,  to  disprove,  ii, 
560-564 — the  different  sorts  and  de- 
grees of,  ii,  523-526 — how  taught  by 
St.  John  in  his  epistles,  ii,  554-559 — 
not  to  be  deferred  till  death,  ii,  567, 
570 — does  not  supersede  the  blood  of 
Christ,  ii,  573-575— three  kinds  of, 
ii,  579 — why  those  who  desire  it  do 
not  obtain  it,  ii,  585 — not  a  popish 
doctrine,  ii,  593,  602 — law  of,  given 
to  the  Jews  that  they  might  obey  it, 
ii,  594 — law  of,  not  the  anti-mediato- 
rial law  of  paradisiacal  perfection,  ii, 
595 — personal,  inculcated  by  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  ii,  595-601 — humili- 
ty an  essential  part  of,  ii,  611-616 — 
in  ourselves,  but  not  of  ourselves,  ii, 
641-643 — often  eclipsed  by  confound- 
ing what  God  has  distinguisned,  ii,  606 
— exalts  the  adorable  trinity,  ii,  618 — 
the  advantages  of  pressing  toward  it, 
ii,  619-623 — should  be  strongly  urged 
by  preachers,  note,  ii,  624— -prayed 
for  by  Christ,  John  xvii,  ii,  630,  631 
— how  far  instantaneous,  and  how  far 
gradual,  ii,  633,  647 — the  importance 
of  understanding  the  precepts  and 
promises  on  which  it  is  founded,  ii, 
634— the  way  to  attain  it,  ii,  627-638 
— encouragement  to  seek  it,  ii,  653, 
654 — how  Paul  followed  after,  ii, 
667 — the  danger  of  falling  from, 
i',  658,  659 — queries  for  those  who 
deny  it,  ii,  629 

Perfections  of  God  in  harmony  with 
each  other,  ii,  462 

Perfect,  in  what  sense  St.  Paul  was  not, 
ii,  527,  528— Christian,  St.  Paul's 
portrait  of  a,  ii,  547-549 — Christians, 
their  advantages  above  those  sold  un- 
der sin,  ii,  624,  625 — Christians,  an 
address  to,  ii,  657 

Perronet,  Mr.  Wm.,  short  account  of, 
iv,  390— letters  to,  iv,  394-406— his 
relatives  at  Berne,  iv,  391,  393 — his 
illness,  iv,  402,  405,  406— his  death, 
iv,  408 

Perseverance,  the  conditionally  of,  con- 
ceded by  Mr.  Berridge,  i,  388-390— 
on  what  it  depends,  ii,  137-158 — must 
close  the  Christian  race,  ii,  158 


576 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Person,  why  adopted  to  distinguish  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  iii, 
210 

Peter's  faith  failed,  how,  ii,  151 

Peter,  St.,  the  epistles  of,  overturn  So- 
cinianism,  iii,  59G-598 — proves  the 
divinity  of  Christ,  iii,  519,  544,  545, 
596-598 

Pharisaism,  its  hurtful  influence  in  the 
Church,  i,  442,  475— what,  ii,  134— 
subverts  the  first  Gospel  axiom,  ii, 
250— Jewish,  what,  ii,  267 

Pharisees,  Christian,  who,  ii,  611 

Pharaoh  fitted  by  himself  for  destruc- 
tion, ii,  93 — how  raised  to  make 
God's  power  known,  ii,  93 

Phenomenon,  dreadful,  in  Shropshire, 
described,  iv,  57-66 — the  causes  of, 
iv,  64 — improved  in  a  sermon,  iv,  67 

Philemon  asserts  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
iii,  588 

Philippians,  epistle  to,  establishes  the 
doctrine  of  our  Lord's  divinity,  iii, 
577-579 

Philo,  the  Jew,  what  he  said  of  the 
word  of  God,  iii,  419 

Philosophers,  modern,  some  have  given 
up  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  iii, 
391— addressed,  iv,  223,  224— Chris, 
tian,  eulogy  on,  iv,  14 — gainsaying, 
how  to  resist,  iii,  189-192 

Piety  essential  to  the  office  of  the 
ministry,  iii,  12,  13 

Planets,  reflections  on  the,  iii,  443 

Pleasure,  four  sorts  of,  how  to  be  de- 
nied, iv,  250 

Pliny,  his  testimony  concerning  the 
first  Christians,  iii,  217 — his  letters 
to  Trajan  the  emperor,  respecting  the 
primitive  Christians,  iv,  225 — his  let- 
ter to  Trajan,  note,  iii,  314 

Plutarch,  a  quotation  from,  on  inspira- 
tion, iv,  235 

Polemical  Essay,  why  so  called,  ii,  487 

Polycarp,  an  anti-Calvinist,  ii,  223 

Polytheism,  see  "  Tritheists." 

Poole,  Matthew,  his  Synopsis  quoted, 
ii,  123 

Pope  of  Rome,  signified  by  the  horn 
mentioned  by  Daniel,  iv,  240 — a  re- 
mark on  the  increase  of  his  power, 
iv,  240 

Portrait  of  St.  Paul,  the  design  of, 
iii,  8 

Power,  the  origin  of,  iv,  461,  520 

Praise,  God  worthy  of,  for  his  good- 
ness, ii,  196-199 — how  rejected  by 
the  faithful  minister,  iii,  38-40 

Prayer  and  praise  imply  every  other  act 
of  Divine  worship,  iii,  472 — the  dif- 
ference between  Pagans  and  modern 
philosophers  concerning,  iv,  237, 
238 


Prayers  of  Christ,  how  offered  for  the 
finally  impenitent,  i,  412,  413 — when 
acceptable  to  God,  iv,  331 

Praxeas,  referred  to,  iii,  393 

Preaching,  modern  method  of,  cen- 
sured, iii,  105,  106 — without  preme- 
ditation, censured,  iii,  107 

Predestination,  Scriptural,  what,  i,  249, 
250 — to  sin  and  death,  the  doctrine 
of  Calvinism,  ii,  425,  426 

Prescience,  Divine,  the  Arminian  no- 
tion  of,  ii,  462-466 

Pretention,  what,  ii,  442       < 

Pride  feeds  on  the  praises  it  procures, 
iii,  288 

Priestley,  Dr.,  the  views  of,  concerning 
the  account  given  by  the  prophets, 
of  the  Messiah,  disproved,  iii,  501- 
505 — in  effect,  represents  the  apostles 
as  destitute  of  common  sense,  iii, 
556-573 — the  inconsistency  of,  iii, 
393,  394,  402— confronted  with  St. 
Paul,  iii,  555-560 — asserts  the  doc- 
trine of  the  trinity  and  of  our  Lord's 
divinity,  to  be  irrational,  and  to  have 
no  foundation  either  in  the  Old  or 
New  Testament,  iii,  579,  580 — his 
emblematical  frontispiece  referred  to, 
iii,  388,  389 — destroys  the  foundation 
of  Christianity,  by  rejecting  the  doc- 
trine of  the  trinity,  iii,  395 — his  in- 
consistency in  citing  Tertullian,  iii, 
393-397 — the  inconsistency  and  un- 
reasonableness of  his  conduct,  iii, 
402-405,  469,  470— charges  St.  Paul 
with  reasoning  inconclusively,  iii, 
399 — how  he  attacks  the  doctrine  of 
the  trinity,  iii,  405,  406 — his  History 
of  the  Corruptions  of  Christianity, 
quoted,  iii,  466 — his  judgment  of 
Bishop  Horsley's  writings,  iii,  502 — 
his  reasons  for  recurring  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  fathers  rather  than  to 
that  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  iii,  502, 
503 — his  erroneous  opinions  in  philo- 
sophy and  divinity,  iii,  503-505 — his 
remarkable  declaration,  iii,  546 — 
what  he  says  of  the  Arians  and  Trini- 
tarians, iii,  550 

Principles,  three,  in  all  who  are  regene- 
rated, iv,  230-232 

Prince  of  life,  how  he  died,  iv,  2S4 

Priority  of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  iii, 
485-487 

Privileges  under  the  Gospel  greater  than 
those  under  the  law,  ii,  559,  560 

Promise  of  the  Father,  what,  ii,  630 

Promises,  three  grand,  what,  iii,  166- 
169 — three  original,  recorded  by  Mo- 
ses, in  proof  of  Christ's  divinity,  iii, 
514-518 

Property  not  absolutely  our  own,  iv 
500 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


577 


Prophecies,  a  letter  on  the,  iv,  238-249 
— of  Christ,  the  accomplishment  of, 
a  proof  of  his  Divine  mission,  iv,  227 

Prophets,  the  testimony  of  the,  borne 
to  the  Godhead  of  Christ,  iii,  530- 
532 

Prosper,  concerning  fate,  ii,  205 

Protest,  the  author's,  against  Calvinism, 
ii,  17,  18 

Protestant,  what,  ii,  12 

Protestants  in  France,  expected  some 
great  revolution,  iv,  249 

Protestantism,  Scripture  and  reason,  its 
two  pillars,  ii,  19 

Prothero,  Rev.  Mr.,  letter  to,  on  experi- 
mental religion,  iv,  21 

Providence  of  God,  how  it  overrules 
free  will,  ii,  229 — errors  respecting, 
ii,  476,  477 — how  far  concerned  re- 
^specting  sin  and  righteousness,  ii, 
477-480 — watches  over  families  and 
kingdoms,  ii,  479 — a  particular,  as- 
serted, iii,  210 

Psalm,  second,  observations  on,  iii,  537 

Punishment  of  daring  offenders,  how 
cause  of  joy  to  the  righteous,  iv,  73, 
74 

Purgatory,  different  opinions  concern- 
ing, ii,  488,  517 

Puritan  divines  testified  against  Crisp's 
doctrines,  i,  33 

Purpose  of  God  according  to  election, 
what,  ii,  97 — God's  eternal,  what, 
ii,  121,  122 

Pythagoras,  iv,  39,  236 

Quakers,  why  they  renounced  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  i,  80 — 
their  error  in  speaking  so  little  of 
Christ's  atonement,  i,  201 — have 
firmly  opposed  the  Antinomians,  i, 
439 — their  sufferings  in  America 
for  preaching  practical  religion,  i, 
439 

Races,  horse,  remarks  on,  iii,  297 
Reason,  the  unreasonableness  of  the 
pretended  advocates  of,  iv,  223 — a 
beam  of  the  eternal  Logos,  iii,  249, 
281 — the  wisdom  of  following  it,  iii, 
199 — its  degeneracy,  iii,  281 
Reasoning     unprofitably,     a     caution 

against,  iv,  326 
Rebellion,  homily  against,  iv,  489 
Reconciliation,  with  God,  how  effected, 
i,  168 — moderate  Calvinists  and  Ar- 
minians  invited  to,  ii,  342-350 — min- 
isters of  all  denominations  invited  to, 
ii,  347-349 — a  plan  of,  proposed,  ii, 
346-350 — the  practicability  of,  ii, 
287-290— the  ground  of,  ii,  292— 
motives  of,  ii,  357-363— with  Ame- 
rica, a  plan  of,  proposed,  and  a  plea 

Vol.  IV. 


for  the  revolted  colonies,  iv,  544-552 
— strongly  recommended,  iv,  354 — 
of  free  grace  and  free  obedience,  ii, 
159-163 — the  author's  ardent  desire 
for,  ii,  255-258 

Redeemer  of  man,  observations  on  the, 
iv,  224 

Redemption,  agreeable  to  reason,  iv, 
222-224 — announced  on  the  fall, 
iii,  231-233— general,  Mr.  Wesley's 
views  of,  i,  15 — general,  maintained 
by  the  Church  of  England,  i,  15 — 
universality  of,  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  i,  i37 — the  different  degrees 
of,  i,  167 — general,  by  price,  the 
doctrine  of,  established,  ii,  63-67 — 
general,  by  power,  why  not  accom- 
plished, ii,  63-67 — general,  the  spring 
of  all  our  blessings,  ho  v,  ii,  67-76 — 
by  price  and  power,  the  distinction 
between,  ii,  74 — general  observations 
on,  iv,  222-230— worthy  of  God,  iv, 
224. 

Reformation,  national,  recommended, 
iv,  542,  543 

Reformers,  their  "  Erudition  of  a  Chris- 
tian Man"  referred  to,  ii,  215 — some 
of  them  imbibed  the  errors  of  Augus- 
tine, ii,  273,  274 — theological,  the  in- 
consistency of,  iii,  405 

Regenerated,  the,  iv,  230 

Regeneration,  a  real  and  positive  change 
iii,  332 — how  preached  by  Christ,  iv, 
98-101— a  doctrine  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, iv,  99— defined,  iv,  101,  113, 
134,  140 — faith,  the  instrumental 
cause  of,  iv,  114-117 — its  analogy  to 
the  natural  birth,  iv,  103 — the  ground 
of  its  necessity,  iv,  105-107 — why 
necessary  to  salvation,  iv,  136 

Religious  feelings,  remarks  on,  iv, 
26 

Religion,  natural,  what,  iii,  176 — insuf- 
ficient to  lead  men  to  solid  virtue,  iii, 
202-204 — should  influence  our  hearts 
and  lives,  ii,  354-357 — how  to  recom- 
mend, iv,  325 — experimental,  iv,  21 
— why  necessary  to  salvation,  iv, 
136 

Remission  of  sins  proclaimed  to  the 
truly  penitent,  iii,  131-140 

Repentance,  what,  and  its  necessity,  iii, 
112-114— how  the  faithful  minister 
leads  sinners  to,  iii,  116-118 — how 
the  prophets  and  Jesus  Christ  pre- 
pared sinners  for  it,  iii,  118-120 — of 
worldly  men,  observations  on,  iii, 
121,  122 — inventions  to  evade  the 
necessity  of,  iii,  128-131 — for  indwell- 
ing sin,  how  to  promote,  iv,  643- 
644 

Representation  in  parliament  unequal, 
iv,  445 — virtual,   what,  iv,   448-452 
37 


578 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


— equal,  the  impracticability  of,  iv,  456, 
496 — indirect,  allowed  by  the  British 
constitution,  iv,  493-495 

Representative  in  parliament,  derives  no 
power  from  his  electors  to  make  laws, 
iv,  528 

Reprobation,  Calvinistic,  illustrated,  i, 
148,  149 — unconditional,  illustrated 
by  similes,  i,  257,  258 — casts  a  blot 
on  the  Divine  perfections,  i,  150-152 
— of  the  Jews,  what,  ii,  90 — of  Ish- 
mael,  Esau,  &c,  what  it  imports,  ii, 
92 — of  the  Jews,  conditional,  ii,  93 — 
absolute,  explained,  ii,  135 — Calvin- 
ian,  a  dreadful  decree,  ii,  232-234-^- 
Calvinian,  against  Scripture  and  rea- 
son, ii,  235 — partial,  what,  ii,  300- 
320— impartial,  what,  ii,  320-322— 
gratuitous,  truly  Scriptural,  ii,  336 — 
popish,  its  agreement  with  Calvinian, 
ii,  341 — unconditional,  a  fundamental 
doctrine  of  Calvinism,  ii,  420-444 — 
and  necessary  sin,  the  left  leg  of  Cal- 
vinism, ii,  422,  423 — Calvinian,  irre- 
concilable with  the  justice  and  mercy 
of  God,  ii,  432^443 — Calvinian,  can- 
not be  supported  by  Scripture,  ii,  447 
-451 — Calvinian,  sprung  from  Mani- 
cheism,  ii,  480 — Calvinian,  exceeds 
the  Romish  reprobation  in  cruelty,  ii, 
481,  482 

Republicanism,  observations  on,  iv,  462 
-472 

Resignation,  in  waiting  for  Divine  mani- 
festations, iv,  293 — recommended  in 
the  loss  of  children,  iv,  348 

Rest,  the  distinction  between  the  first 
and  second,  note,  ii,  653 

Revelation,  Divine,  the  danger  of  de- 
parting from,  iii,  380 

Revenge  thirsts  after  mischief,  iii, 
289 

Reviewers,  Monthly,  concerning  Top- 
lady's  scheme  of  necessity,  and  Hart- 
ley's materialism,  ii,  384,  385 — 
Monthly,  referred  to,  iii,  388 — 
Monthly,  their  testimony  of  Christ, 
note,  iii,  510 

Reward  of  the  righteous,  what,  i,  489- 
491 — the  offer  of,  encourages  obedi- 
ence, i,  489-496 

Righteousness,  imputation  of,  note,  i, 
103 — how  imputed,  i,  199 — imputed, 
will  not  avail  if  we  neglect  personal 
holiness,  i,  240 — imputed,  the  Cal- 
vinistic notion  of,  i,  303-307, — im- 
puted, liow  understood  by  Arminians, 
i,  307,  317 — the  difference  between 
personal  and  imputed,  i,  318 — why 
the  Jews  attained  not  to,  ii,  93,  94 
— imputed,  the  phrase  guarded,  ii, 
307 — Calvinian,  imputation  of,  a 
chimera,  ii,  235 — of  God,  what,  iii, 


447 — or  justice  of  God,  how  demon 
strated  by  the  death  of  Christ,  iii, 
448 

Robbing  God,  what,  note,  iv,  547 

Robert,  Mr.,  on  the  conditionality  of 
the  covenant  of  grace,  ii,  209 

Romaine,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  Walk  of  Faith 
quoted,  ii,  551,  553 

Romans,  Epistle  to,  chap,  ix,  explained, 
ii,  88-109 — epistle  to,  asserts  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ,  iii,  563-567 

Romilly,  Mons.,  his  fine  description  of 
St.  Paul,  iii,  25 

Roques,  Mons.,  a  saying  of,  note,  iii, 
65 — concerning  lukewarm  ministers, 
iii,  81 — concerning  false  apostles,  iii, 
83— quoted,  iii,  87-91 

Rousseau,  iv,  40 — his  absurd  opinions 
on  toleration,  iii,  238,  239 — did  not 
reject  the  Gospel  as  an  obstinate  eAe- 
my,  iii,  £l6 — his  pride  hindered  his 
receiving  Christianity,  iii,  204,  205 — 
his  encomium  on  Jesus,  iv,  228 — a 
quotation  from,  on  inspiration,  iv, 
235 — his  strange  and  inconsistent 
ideas  on  prayer,  iv,  236,  238 

Rufinus,  referred  to,  iv,  226 

Rule  of  faith,  what  it  teaches,  iii,  394 

Rump  parliament,  how  Cromwell  dis- 
posed of,  iv,  471 

Ryland,  Rev.  Mr.,  referred  to,  note,  ii, 
242— alluded  to,  iii,  388 

Sacrifices,  how  to  account  for  the  origin 
and  universality  of,  iii,  508 

Saints  of  the  world,  who,  iv,  109 

Salvation,  the  mystery  of,  explained, 
iii,  373-376 — directions  for  obtaining, 
iv,  188— all  of  God  in  Christ,  i,  17 
— finished,  bad  tendency  of  the  ex- 
pression, i,  117,  118,  248 — finished, 
not  used  in  Scripture,  i,  258,  259 — 
through  Christ,  how,  i,  447,  463 — 
not  by  the  proper  merit  of  works,  i, 
477-480 — faith  and  works,  its  second- 
ary causes,  i,  498-500 — the  two 
causes  of,  what,  ii,  35 — eternal,  how 
of  grace,  note,  ii,  268 — eternal,  on 
what  it  depends,  ii,  334 — different 
kinds  of,  ii,  434 

Samuel,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of 
Christ,  iii,  519-521 

Sanctification,  Mr.  Wesley's  view  of, 
i,  13-15— full,  by  faith,  iii,  397 

Scales,  Scripture,  the  plan  and  design  of, 
ii,  14,  15 — the  two  weights  of,  ii,  23 
— directions  for  using  them,  ii,  25- 
27 

School  master,  the  office  recommended, 
iv,  358 

Scriptures,  their  Divine  authority  de- 
monstrated, iii,  309-317 — reasons  for 
appealing  to,  iii,  397 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


579 


Sectarian  spirit,  the  danger  of,  ii,  352, 

353 
Sectaries,   the  spirit  of,  under   Oliver 

Cromwell,  iv,  468 
Self,    how  to    be   destroyed,    iv,   36a, 

363 
Self    denial,     the     necessity     of,     ii, 

644 
Self  will,  the  destruction  of,  ii,  667 — 

compared  to  the  dropsy,  iv,  341 
Sellon,  Rev.  Mr.,  an  able  writer,  i,  192 

— his  writings  referred  to,  i,  197 
Seminal  existence,  what,  ii,  136 
Seneca,   what  he  says  of  inspiration, 

iv,  234 
Sensations,   spiritual,    frequently  men- 

tioned  by  the  Church  of  England,  iv, 

278,  279 

Sense,    its  triumphs   over  reason,    iii, 

279,  280— moral,  what,  iv,  280 
Senses,  spiritual,  what,  iv,  276,  277 
Seriousness,  its  nature  and  motives  to, 

iv,  250 
Sermons,   remarks  on  the   custom  of 
writing  them,  iii,  103-108 — eleven, 
iv,  67-  190 
Shaddai,  the  import  of  the  name,  iii, 

431 
Shepherd,    Rev.    Mr.,    mentioned,    iii, 

388 
Sherlock,  Dr.,  quoted,  iii,  391 
Shiloh,  proved  to  be  the  Messiah,  iii, 

516 
Shirley,  Rev.  Mr.,  on  his  publishing 
his  Circular  Letter,  i,  60,  64 — publicly 
recants  his  sermons,  i,  89 
Sin,  its  prevalence  amidst  the  various 
means  of  prevention,  iii,  302,  303 — 
original,  Mr.  Wesley's  strong  manner 
of  stating,  i,  12 — where  it  reigns  it 
tyrannizes,  i,  180 — different  degrees 
of,  i,  182 — wickedness  and  danger  of, 
iv,  182 — not  included  in  the  things 
that  work  for  good,  i,  187-191 — the 
Calvinistic  imputation  of,  to  Christ, 
what,  i,  349 — how  imputed  to  Adam's 
posterity,  ii,  231-234— Mr.  Toplady's 
curious  definition  of,  ii,  373,  374 — 
God  the  author  of,  on  the  Calvinian 
scheme,  ii,  375,  376 — how  it  entered 
into  the  world,  iii,  113, — why  Christ 
did  not  discourse  publicly  on  its  entry, 
iii,  113 — original,  believed  by  the 
French  Protestants,  iii,  114 — origi- 
nal, taught  in  the  Augsburgh  Confes- 
sion, iii,  114 — original,  taught  by  the 
Church  of  England,  iii,  114 — why- 
God  did  not  absolutely  hinder  it,  ii, 
474 
Sin,  indwelling,  does  not  humble  us,  ii, 
503 — its  continuance  in  believers  not 
proved  from  Gal.  v,  17,  or  Rom.  vii, 
14,  ii,  529-534 — the   new  covenant 


promises  deliverance  from,  ii,  565 
566 — death  cannot  destroy  it,  ii,  571 
— its  continuance  not  necessary  to 
the  exercise  of  humility,  patience,  or 
any  grace,  ii,  586-593 — absurdity  to 
suppose  it  can  only  be  destroyed  by 
little  and  little,  ii,  610,  611 — to  repre- 
sent the  prophets  and  apostles  as 
pleading  for  it,  fixes  a  blot  on  their 
characters,  ii,  618,  619 — its  whole 
system  stands  on  two  false  maxims, 
ii,  623 — is  the  sting  of  death  and 
misery  of  hell,  ii,  623,  624 

Sincerity,  what,  i,  41-43 

Singularity,  the  danger  of,  needless,  ii, 
353 

Sinners,  baptized,  and  heathens,  re- 
semble each  other,  iii,  93-96 — awak- 
ened in  different  ways,  ii,  126,  127 

Sins,  the  great  variety  of,  iii,  301-303 
— termed  trifling,  and  of  omission, 
what,  iii,  123-127 

Slavery,  wherein  it  consists,  iv,  475,  476 

Sloss,  Mr.,  a  quotation  from,  ii,  468 

Sloth  unnerves  the  soul,  iii,  288 

Socinian,  what,  ii,  278 — interpretation 
of  Phil,  ii,  3,  proved  absurd,  iii,  578 

Socinianism,  the  doctrine  of,  concern- 
ing the  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  iii,  395, 
396— according  to,  Christ  and  his 
apostles  were  destitute  of  common 
sense,  iii,  605 — opposed  by  quota- 
tions from  St.  John's  Gospel  and  the 
Revelation,  iii,  605-618 — proved  to 
be  unscriptural,  iii,  563-619 — subver- 
sive of  Christianity,  iii,  583 

Socinians  in  Poland,  the  extraordinary 
conduct  of,  iii,  466 — their  unfairness 
in  comparing  the  worship  paid  to 
Christ  with  popish  idolatry,  iii,  387 — 
and  Deists  ridicule  the  plan  of  re- 
demption, iv,  223 

Sodom  not  reprobated  Calvinistically, 
ii,  449 

Soldiers,  a  needful  burden  on  the  pub 
lie,  iv,  557 

Solifidian,  the  character  of,  ii,  9 

Solifidianism,  what,   note,  i,  370 — de- 
stroys the  necessary  connection  be 
tween  faith  and  works,  i,  553,  554 
Solifidians,  the  partiality  of,  ii,  23,  24 
Son  of  God,  what  it  imports,  iii,  407- 
411 — how  equal  with  the  Father,  iii, 
487,  488 
Song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  what, 

iv,  74 
Sons  of  God,  who,  iii,  410,  411 
Sorrow,    penitential    and   worldly,    iii, 

345-348 
Soul,  its  nature  and  worth,  iv,  265 — 
how  received,  iii,  322-324 — how  an 
image  of  God,  ii,  242 — a  human,  pos 
sessed  by  Christ,  iii,  477 


580 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


Sozomen  referred  l.j,  iv,  226 
Spinoza,  the  error  of,  iv,  234 
Stars,  reflections  on  the,  iii,  443 
State  of  a  natural  man  described,  iv,  118 

— of  an  awakened  man,  iv,  126 
Staying  the  mind  on  God,  iv,  258 
Stephen,    St.,   his   worshipping  Christ 
authorizes  us  to  worship  him,  iii,  467 
Stephens,  Mr.  William,  mentioned,  iii, 

487 
Subsistencies,  what,  iii,  400 
Sun,  reflections  on  the,  iii,  443 
Swearing,  profane,  an  unprofitable  sin, 

iii,  298 
Swiss,  the  generosity  of  a,  iv,  223 
Sword,  under  what  circumstances  may 
be  drawn,  iv,  554 — the  use  of,  con- 
sistent with  piety,  iv,  555-557 
Synod  of  Berne,  their  testimony  to  the 
importance   of  piety  in    a   minister, 
iii,  16 — on  the  knowledge  of  sin,  iii, 

Synod  of  Dort  increased  Antinomian- 
ism,  i,  439 — mistaken  concerning  re- 
generation, note,  ii,  58 — shameful 
partiality,  ii,  276 

Tacitus,  what  he  says  of  the  persecution 
of  the  primitive  Christians,  iv,  225 

Talents,  what,  and  how  dispensed,  i, 
144 — the  parable  of,  illustrated,  ii, 
114-117. 

Taste,  spiritual,  what,  iv,  278 

Taxation,  the  doctrine  of,  stated,  iv,  441 
— reasonable  and  Scriptural,  iv,  442, 
489 — submission  to,  not  slavery  nor 
robbery,  in  case  of  virtual  representa- 
tion, iv,  448-502 — the  distinction  be- 
tween internal  and  external,  frivolous, 
iv,  508,  509 — the  oppression  of,  on 
the  false  principles  of  Dr.  Price  and 
Mr.  Evans,  iv,  530-535 

Taylor,  Bishop,  what  he  says  of  the 
trinity,  iii,  381 

Taylor,  Dr.,  referred  to,  note,  iii,  281 

Temptations,  the  utility  of,  ii,  664,  645 

Terms  on  which  Christ  bestows  salva- 
tion, iv,  173 
%Tertullian  held  the  doctrine  of  free  will, 
ii,  200 — a  beautiful  quotation  from, 
iii,  202 — quotations  from,  in  proof  of 
the  trinity,  iii,  393 

Thessalonians,  Epistles  to,  assert  the 
dvinity  of  Christ,  iii,  582-584 

Th.  ef  on  the  cross  showed  his  faith  by 
\\  orks,  note,  i,  483 

Tho  :n  in  the  flesh,  St.  Paul's,  what,  ii, 
54  L  545 

Time  ,hy,  Epistles  to,  maintain  the  di- 
vin  ty  of  Christ,  iii,  585-587,  588,  589 
— Titus  and  Philemon,  quotations 
from  the  Epistles  to,  in  proof  of 
Christ's  divinity,  iii,  585-589 


Title  to,  and  meetness  for  heaven,  not 
to  be  separated,  i,  495-498 

Titus,  Epistle  to,  asserts  the  Godhead 
of  Christ,  iii,  588 — see  "  Vespasian" 

Toplady,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  Historic  Proof 
censured,  ii,  130 — affirms,  without 
reason,  that  Arminianism  leads  to 
Atheism,  ii,  226 

Trade  between  Great  Britain  and  Ame- 
rica, iv,  525 

Transubstantiation  bears  no  analogy  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  iii,  405 

Tribute  paid  by  our  Saviour,  iv,  489, 490 

Trinitarian,  remarks  on  the  term,  iii, 
400 

Trinitarians,  their  worship  of  Christ 
unfairly  compared  to  the  worship  of 
an  idol,  iii,  387 — what  they  maintain, 
iii,  399,  400 

Trinity,  how  to  be  understood,  iii,  381 
— use  of  the  doctrine  of  the,  iii,  381 
— the  danger  of  being  ignorant  of, 
iii,  382 — the  work  of,  in  our  salva- 
tion, iii,  384 — an  acquaintance  with, 
very  desirable,  iii,  384 — the  absurdi- 
ties involved  in  the  denial  of,  iii,  395 
the  doctrine  of,  not  inconsistent  with 
the  unity  of  God,  iii,  405,  406 — ought 
not  to  be  rendered  absurd  by  being 
compared  to  transubstantiation,  iii, 
405 — the  benefits  emanating  from, 
iv,  332 — why  the  term  was  first  used, 
iii,  400 — of  persons  in  the  Godhead, 
the  true  knowledge  and  use  of  the, 
iii,  381 — the  evil  effects  of  denying  a, 
iii,  382 — in  what  sense  to  be  under- 
stood, iii,  399 — absurd  method  adopt- 
ed by  Dr.  Priestley  to  confute  the 
doctrine  of,  iii,  405 — remarks  on,  iii, 
398,  399 

Tritheists,  what,  iii,  400 

Truth  essentially  remote  from  error,  i, 
485,  486— what,  i,  529-531— its  close 
connection  with  the  power  of  God, 
i,  531-535 — different  kinds  of,  i,  535- 
537 — it  saves  us  when  cordially  em- 
braced, i,  538 — the  food  of  the  soul, 
i,  541 — belief  of,  the  root  of  good 
works,  i,  545-548 — saving,  an  in- 
valuable gift  of  God,  i,  549 — Divine, 
the  unity  of,  i,  557-561 
Truths  peculiar  to  the  four  grand  dis- 
pensations, i,  539 — natural,  what,  i, 
558 — moral,  what,  i,  559 — evangeli- 
cal, what,  i,  559 
Tucker,  Dr.,  of  the  resistibility  of  grace, 
note,  ii,  206 — concerning  St.  Augus- 
tine's sentiments,  ii,  209 

Unbelief,  the  unreasonableness  of,  iii, 
326,  327 — the  cause  of  evil  actions 
i,  545-548 — the  heinousness  of,  iv 
177 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 


581 


Unbelievers,  four  classes  of,  iv,  173 
Unchangeableness  of  God,  how  to  be 

understood,  i,  416,  417 
Understanding,  its  blindness,  iii,  280 
Undervaluing  ourselves,  wherein  it  con- 
sists, i,  112,  113 
Union  of  the  Godhead  of  Christ  with 
the  manhood,  the  denial  of,  leads  to 
the  denial  of  his  mediation,  iii,  385 
Unitarian,  remarks  on  the  term,  iii,  400 
Unitarians,  two  sorts  of,  iii,  400,  401 — 
their  concessions  concerningthe  Holy 
Ghost,  iii,  484 
Unity  of  God,  not  incompatible  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  trinity,  and  the  divini- 
ty of  Christ,  iii,  405,  406,  543,  544, 
557-560 — maintained    by    the     Mo- 
hammedans, iv,  226 

Vanity  described,  iii,  288 

Vegetable  kingdom,  reflections  on  the, 
iii,  444 

Vernet,  a  quotation  from,  iii,  192 

Vespasian  mentioned,  iv,  226 

Vessels,  honourable  and  dishonourable, 
ii,  91,  113 — of  wrath  and  mercy, 
what,  ii,  101-103 

Virgilius,  Bishop,  anecdote  of,  i,  36 

Virgins,  ten,  parable  of,  referred  to,  ii, 
117 

Virtues,  natural,  often  pass  for  Divine, 
iii,  128 

Vocation  to  the  holy  ministry,  what, 
iii,  22,  23 

Voltaire,  iv,  41 — refuted,  iv,  225 — re- 
ferred to,  iv,  234 — his  prayer  cited, 
iv,  235 — quoted  on  the  madness  of 
war,  iii,  299 — the  absurdity  of  his  no- 
tions on  toleration,  iii,  204,  205 — a 
quotation  from,  i,  444 — his  observa- 
tions on  religious  contentions,  ii,  359 

Vossius,  how  an  advocate  for  predestina- 
tion to  glory,  ii,  209 

Wakes,  their  origin  and  evil,  iii,  296 
Walsh,  father,  a  popish  monk,  referred 

to,  i,  131,  132 
War,  the  inhumanity  of,  iii,  299 — ori- 
ginates in  ignorance,  iii,  207 — with 
America,  the  cause  and  object  of,  iv, 
505-529 
Way  to  salvation,  described,  iv,  22 
Watts,  Dr.,  reference  to,  iii,  322 — a  quo- 
tation from,  ii,  291 — his  "  Orthodoxy 
and  Charity"  recommended,  ii,  295, 
352 
Wesley,  Rev.  John,  a  defender  of  prac- 
tical religion,  i,  24 — the  propriety  of 
vindicating    his    character,    note,    i, 
287,  288 — his  thoughts  on  necessity, 
note,  ii,  188 — his  candour,  ii,  344 — his 
"  Plain  Account  of  Christian  Perfec- 
fection,"  quoted,  ii,  613 — an  excellent 


quotation  from,  ii,  646-648 — publish- 
ing his  "  Calm  Address,"  defended, 
iv,  459,  460 — his  diligence  recom- 
mended, iv,  349 — a  general  view  of 
his  doctrines,  i,  11-27 — Rev.  Charles, 
candid  concession  of,  i,  185 

Whitefield,  Rev.  George,  referred  to,  i, 
222,  223— referred  to,  note,  i,  511— 
his  "  Inextricable  Dilemma"  obviated, 
ii,  231-233 — his  account  of  the  carnal 
man,  (Rom.  vii,)  ii,  550 — no  enemy  to 
Christian  perfection  in  the  early  part 
of  his  ministry,  ii,  551 — quoted,  ii,  560 

Whitby,  Dr.,  his  Treatise  on  the  Five 
Points,  highly  commended,  ii,  211 
-214 

Wickliffe,  what  he  said  of  necessity, 
note,  ii,  232 

Williams,  Dr.,  his  "  Gospel  Truth," 
quoted,  i,  224,  225 

Will,  its  obstinacy,  iii,  281,  283— the 
freedom  of,  proved,  i,  90-92 — its  free- 
dom, the  effect  of  grace,  i,  321 — 
God's  secret  and  revealed,  by  some 
absurdly  distinguished,  i,  190,  293 — 
its  choice  of  evil  does  not  prove  its  in- 
ability to  choose  good,  i,  322 — its  li- 
berty to  choose  good  restored  through 
Christ,  i,  323 — of  God,  how  far  it  in- 
fluences our  salvation,  i,  411,  412 

— > — ,  free,  how  the  exercise  of,  detei- 
mines  our  future  state,  i,*00,  501 — 
observations  on,  ii,  27-30 — the  first 
cause  of  what  is  evil,  ii,  32 — how  it 
co-operates  with  free  grace,  ii,  58-62, 
171-176 — may  improve  or  neglect 
our  redemption,  ii,  67-70 — perverse, 
the  spring  of  all  sin,  ii,  76 — the  an- 
cient fathers  advocates  for,  ii,  199 
-208 — maintained  by^Cranmer,  ii, 
215 — and  free  grace,  the  union  of, 
maintained  by  the  articles,  liturgy, 
«&c,  of  the  Church  of  England,  ii, 
216-218 — how  subject  to  free  grace, 
ii,  226-228— what  Mr.  Toplady  rashly 
said  of,  ii,  231 — its  union  with  free 
grace  illustrated  by  marriage,  ii,  241 
-247 — of  God,  secret  and  revealed, 
what,  note,  ii,  237 

Woman,  in  the  revelation,  imports  the 
Church,  iv,  243 

Word  of  God,  how  it  endures  for  ever, 
i,  417,  418— what  it  imports,  iii,  418 
-420 — a  name  given  to  Christ,  iii, 
485 — Divine,  not  annihilated  by  its 
union  with  the  human  nature,  iv  231 

"  Working  for  life,"  the  import  of  i,  30 
-34,  166-193 

Works,  meet  for  repentance,  wha  ,  i,  53 
—55 — gjood,  the  necessary  fruit  of  a 
lively  faith,  i,  185 — good,  not  dung, 
dross,  and  filthy  rags,  i,  263-266 — 
hypocritical,  compared  to  filthy  rags, 


582 


INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


&c,  i,  265,  266— good,  what,  i,  268, 
269 — good,  why  a  Christian  should 
do  them,  i,  481-483 — good,  how 
eternal  life  is  suspended  on,  i,  490 
-494 — good,  originate  in  faith,  i,  545 
-548 — excluded  in  our  justification, 
what,  i,  295,  296 — of  piety,  justice, 
charity,  &c,  what,  i,  472 — of  faith, 
to  be  performed  in  hope  of  the  pro- 
mised reward,  i,  506 — in  what  light 
viewed  by  Baxter  and  many  other 
divines,  i,  515,  516 — inward,  what,  i, 
548 — the  honour  of,  ii,  39-41 — what 
St.  Paul  generally  means  thereby, 
note,  ii,  572 

Worldly  mindedness,  the  folly  of,  iv, 
80-82 

Worship,  Divine,  commanded  to  be  paid 
to  Christ,  iii,  461-474,  493— the  dis- 
tinction between  supreme  and  subal- 


tern, not  founded  in  Scripture,  iii 

472,  473 
Worthiness,  Gospel,  what,  ii,  435,  436 
Wrath,  how  evidenced,  iii,  289 — free, 

none  in  a  just  and  good  God,  ii,  105 

Young,  Dr.,  quoted,  iii,  318,  321 

Zaleucus,  his  remarkable  prayer,  iv,  236 
Zeal  distinguished  from  fanaticism,  iv, 

233 
Zechariah,  the  prophet,  prophesies  of 

Christ,  iii,  529 
Zelotes,  the  character  and  partiality  of, 

ii,  9,  24 
Zephaniah,    the    prophet,    foretels  the 

coming  of  Christ,  iii,  528,  529 
Zeno,  an  anecdote  of,  ii,  472 
Zuna,  what  it  declares  respecting  Jesus 

Christ,  iv,  227 


A  TABLE  OF  TEXTS 

MORE  OR  LESS   ILLUSTRATED. 


GENESIS. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Vol. 

Page. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Vol. 

Page. 

Chap. 

Verse. 

Vol. 

Page. 

xvii 

1 

i 

378 

xlix 

8, 

10 

iii 

516 

i 

1 

iii 

407 

xviii 

1,8 

iii 

511 

519 

26 

iii 

407 

2 

ii 

651 

9, 

10 

iii 

542 

28 

iv 

502 

20 

ii 

324 

10 

iii 

532 

ii 

7. 

iii 

265 

25 

ii 

199 

EXODUS. 

318 

XX 

6 

ii 

387 

iii 

2 

iii 

511 

ii 

246 

xx  ii 

1,&C 

,  i 

361 

xiv 

10 

iii 

509 

23 

iii 

322 

1-12 

iii 

496 

xvi 

18 

iii 

161 

iii 

5 

iii 

407 

16 

i 

48 

xvii 

7 

iii 

510 

8 

iii 

508 

iii 

515 

xxiii 

19 

ii 

300 

21 

iii 

508 

516 

xxxiii 

20 

iii 

513 

13 

ii 

378 

16-18 

ii 

324 

xxxiv 

6 

iii 

364 

15 

iii 

514 

xxvii 

38 

iv 

210 

NUMBERS. 

541 

xxviii 

12-15 

iv 

295 

xiii 

33 

i 

109 

16 

iv 

103 

12,19 

iii 

463 

xvi 

14 

iv 

71 

19 

iii 

270 

13,17 

iii 

511 

30 

iv 

67 

iv 

1 

iii 

507 

xxix 

31 

ii 

98 

xxxiii 

51 

ii 

609 

7 

i 

129 

XXX 

2 

ii 

398 

DEUTERONOMY. 

v 

3 

iii 

323 

xxxi 

11 

iii 

429 

V 

24 

iv 

296 

vi 

3 

i 

411 

11-13 

iii 

512 

vi 

1, 

&c 

»  ii 

595 

5 

iii 

251 

xxxii 

24 

iv 

295 

vii 

22 

ii 

609 

8 

iv 

295 

iii 

509 

ix 

21 

ii 

609 

9 

i 

378 

24-31 

iii 

430 

xviii 

15 

iii 

517 

ii 

524 

26 

iv 

262 

XXX 

14 

ii 

44 

17 

ii 

535 

xxxviii       1 

i 

177 

19 

i 

149 

IX 

9 

i 

139 

xlv 

4 

iv 

206 

411 

XV 

1 

i 

508 

xlvii 

20 

ii 

399 

XXX 

17, 

18 

ii 

142 

16 

ii 

325 

xlviii 

19 

ii 

97 

xxxii 

29 

iv 

155 

INDEX   TO  TEXTS. 


583 


JOSHUA. 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

t  Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

xxxii 

6 

iv 

298 

xii 

4 

iii 

436 

V 

13 

iv 

296 

xxx  iv 

8 

iii 

145 

xlii 

8 

iii 

433 

' 

iii 

512 

xxxvii 

37 

ii 

525 

xliv 

28 

ii 

111 

vii 

12 

ii 

143 

xl 

6 

iii 

490 

xiv 

22 

iv 

307 

xxiv 

15 

ii 

68 

xii 

9 

ii 

82 

5 

iii 

433 

JUDGES. 

xiv 

1 

iii 

539 

xlix 

4 

i 

253 

V 

"20 

ii 

390 

10,17 

iii 

539 

Iii 

1 

iv 

196 

vi 

12-22 

iii 

513 

11 

iii 

493 

2 

iii 

489 

xiii 

18 

iv 

297 

xlvii 

1,  8 

iii 

539 

liii 

3,  &c 

i  ii 

67 

2-23 

iii 

513 

xlix 

7 

iii 

450 

5 

i 

306 

xix 

20,  &c 

>  iv 

553 

li 

4 

ii 

100 

8 

iii 

540 

1  SAMUEL. 

lxxii 

8,19 

iii 

517 

lviii 

4 

iv 

474 

ii 

30 

i 

136 

11 

iii 

408 

lix 

2 

iii 

265 

ii 

114 

1  xxviii 

67 

ii 

111 

lxiii 

1,6 

iii 

522 

viii 

5 

iii 

520 

lxxxix 

30 

ii 

141 

Ixvi 

25 

iii 

524 

xii 

12 

iii 

518 

xcvii 

1,  8 

iii 

422 

5-14 

iii 

522 

XV 

35 

ii 

140 

6,  7 

iii 

493 

523 

2  SAMUEL. 

7 

iii 

408 

15,24 

iii 

523 

xii 

7 

i 

196 

ciii 

4 

i 

167 

20,24 

iii 

524 

xiv 

17 

iv 

549 

cv 

8 

ii 

266 

je: 

xvi 

10 

i 

179 

cvi 

30,31 

ii 

40 

ii 

13 

iii 

351 

xxii 

26,27 

ii 

39 

cix 

8-16 

ii 

82 

xvii 

9 

iii 

257 

xxiii 

5 

ii 

139 

ex 

3 

ii 

195 

292 

337 

5,   6 

ii 

264 

5,7 

iii 

537 

1  KINGS. 

7 

iii 

521 

19 

iv 

198 

via 

46,47 

ii 

560 

cxv 

1 

i 

51 

XX 

7 

ii 

106 

xiv 

21 

ii 

331 

exxv 

3 

ii 

478 

xxiii 

24 

iii 

438 

XV 

5 

i 

178 

exxxix 

16 

ii 

398 

xxxi 

3 

iii 

160 

xxii 

8 

iv 

204 

cxliii 

2 

i 

172 

33 

ii 

551 

19 

iv 

299 

PROVERBS. 

xxxiii 

10 

iii 

534 

2  KINGS. 

ii 

22 

iv 

83 

EZEKIEL. 

V 

13 

i 

114 

xi 

1 

ii 

253 

ii 

7 

iv 

147 

vi 

17 

iv  81,299 

xix 

17 

i 

220 

iii 

20 

i 

495 

1  CH  IONICLES. 

XX 

9 

ii 

561 

xiii 

10 

iii 

330 

xxviii 

9 

i 

178 

xxiii 

23 

i 

571 

xiv 

2 

iii 

93 

2  CHRONICLES. 

xxx 

4 

iii 

407 

xviii 

2-4 

i 

386 

xxxii 

31 

1 

362 

ECCLESIAST 

31 

iv 

220 

JOB. 

ix 

10 

ii 

576 

2 

ii 

235 

i 

1 

ii 

524 

CANTICLES. 

17 

iii 

321 

525 

i 

6 

i 

183 

21 

ii 

298 

ii 

5 

ii 

545 

ISAIAH. 

S3 

ii 

102 

iv 

18 

ii 

563 

i 

11,12 

iii 

104 

24 

i 

187 

vii 

1 

ii 

399 

i 

16,71 

ii 

555 

212 

xi 

7 

i 

539 

19 

iv 

556 

243 

iii 

402 

22,25 

i 

265 

xxiv 

13 

ii 

66 

xiv 

5 

ii 

399 

ii 

2 

iii 

540 

xxxiii 

7-9 

iv 

181 

XV 

15 

ii 

563 

v 

4 

i 

143 

11 

i 

561 

xix 

25 

iii 

521 

vi 

5 

ii 

562 

iii 

100 

xxvi 

6 

ii 

181 

ix 

6 

iii 

380 

13 

i 

495 

xlii 

6 

ii 

563 

587 

435 
530 

xxxiv 

11,17 
23 

iii 
iii 

535 
535 

PSALMS. 

xi 

1 

iii 

531 

xx  xvi 

27 

ii 

149 

ii 

7,11 

10 

iii 

533 

xxxvii 

1,14 

iii 

536 

12 

iii 

407 

xii 

1 

iii 

531 

xxxviii 

18 

iii 

330 

12 

iii 

537 

3 

iii 

531 

DANIEL. 

iv 

3 

ii 

118 

xxvi 

4 

ii 

40 

ii 

31 

iv 

239 

xix 

13 

ii 

603 

xxvii 

3 

ii 

61 

44 

iii 

540 

xxii 

16,27 

iii 

521 

xxx 

33 

iii 

326 

iii 

14 

iv 

259 

xxiv 

7,   8 

iii 

435 

xxxviii 

1 

ii 

429 

vii 

7 

iv 

240 

533 

xl 

3,1 

iii 

531 

13 

iii 

534 

XXV 

iv 

462 

11 

iii 

493 

26,27 

iii 

524 

xxxii 

2 

ii 

603 

■ 

18,25. 

iii 

491 

viii 

9-14 

iv 

240 

584 


INDEX   TO  TEXTS. 


Chap.       Verse        Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

x 

11          ii 

17 

V 

44 

iv 

558 

iv 

19 

i 

166 

14          iv 

241 

48 

i 

78 

21 

ii 

665 

HOSEA. 

vi 

27 

ii 

399 

• 

25 

i 

144 

IV 

6          iii 

336 

33 

iii 

61 

28 

i 

139 

JOEL. 

vii 

21 

i 

273 

vi 

3 

iii 

547 

ii 

13          iv 

80 

22,23 

i 

330 

vii 

21,22 

iii 

253 

219 

ix 

37,38 

iii 

22 

viii 

34 

n 

352 

28          ii 

49 

X 

29 

ii 

401 

38 

ii 

492 

21, 32     iii 

525 

xi 

12 

iv 

261 

ix 

41 

i 

48 

iii 

11-16    iii 

525 

27 

iii 

411 

xii 

44 

ii 

500 

19, 21     iii 

525 

xii 

20 

i 

547 

xiii 

24 

iv 

245 

AMOS. 

36,37 

i 

211 

xiv 

6 

i 

360 

iii 

6          ii 

103 

xiii 

12 

i 

382 

9 

ii 

621 

iv 

77 

xiv 

30 

iv 

203 

34 

iii 

477 

vi 

12         iv 

215 

XV 

25 

iii 

464 

41 

i 

196 

ix 

11,  &c,  iii 

526 

xvi 

26 

iv 

265 

61 

iii 

414 

JONAH. 

xvii 

5 

iii 

492 

xvi 

16 

i 

18 

iii 

1          ii 

140 

xviii 

24 

i 

59 

LUKE. 

MICAH. 

xix 

12 

iii 

64 

i 

47 

iv 

301 

i 

2          iii 

526 

16,  &c 

,  j 

218 

67-75 

iii 

180 

ii 

12,  &c,  iii 

527 

17 

ii 

171 

ii 

14 

iv 

214 

iii 

11,12     iii 

526 

642 

26 

iv 

302 

iv 

1,7      iii 

527 

21 

ii 

505 

iii 

3 

i 

160 

V 

2           iii 

527 

22 

iii 

336 

14 

iv 

557 

HABAKKUK. 

XX 

7 

i 

125 

16 

iii 

183 

iii 

3,  &c,  iii 

528 

15 

i 

563 

iv 

18,19 

iii 

115 

ZEPHANIAH. 

16 

ii 

118 

V 

10 

iv 

201 

iii 

8          iii 

528 

23 

ii 

202 

vi 

40 

ii 

660 

14          iii 

529 

xxi 

5 

i 

339 

44 

i 

216 

ZECHARIAH. 

32 

i 

582 

45 

ii 

566 

ii 

10,  11    iii 

433 

38 

iv 

193 

46 

ii 

56 

529 

43 

ii 

328 

vii 

28 

i 

589 

iv 

6,7       iv 

201 

xxii 

12 

i 

583 

47 

iii 

213 

ix 

13,  17   iii 

538 

584 

50 

ii 

165 

X 

12          iii 

433 

40 

ii 

576 

viii 

14 

ii 

505 

xi 

13          iii 

426 

xxiii 

27 

iii 

294 

18 

iv 

254 

xii 

11          iii 

544 

33 

ii 

392 

ix 

55 

iii 

120 

xiii 

7          ii 

661 

34 

ii 

391 

62 

iii 

24 

xiv 

17          iii 

523 

xxiv 

24 

ii 

150 

X 

5,6 

iii 

27 

MALACHI. 

29 

iv 

246 

7 

i 

239 

ii 

2,3      i 

265 

XXV 

14 

ii 

113 

15 

ii 

448 

iii 

1          iii 

427 

14 

ii 

301 

16 

iii 

116 

512 

15 

ii 

301 

21 

ii 

62 

529 

29 

i 

382 

23,24 

iii 

171 

6          ii 

140 

34 

i 

124 

27 

iv 

269 

iv 

1          iii 

530 

ii 

436 

38,42 

iii 

60 

MATTHEW. 

468 

xii 

5 

i 

466 

i 

23          iii 

434 

40 

ii 

356 

6 

ii 

401 

533 

45 

i 

75 

20 

iv 

263 

ii 

2          iii 

520 

46 

i 

495 

40 

iii 

150 

iii 

2          ii 

642 

xxvi 

28 

ii 

337 

45 

i 

497 

iv 

10          iii 

493 

31 

iii 

532 

47  ' 

iv 

257 

V 

6           iv 

291 

52 

iv 

555 

47,48 

ii 

599 

15          i 

268 

xxvii 

42 

iii 

520 

48 

ii 

386 

16          i 

56 

xxviii 

18,19 

ii 

68 

56 

ii 

195 

197 

19 

iii 

395 

xiii 

24 

i 

112 

482 

400 

26 

iv 

253 

18          ii 

569 

MARK 

27 

iv 

105 

19          ii 

569 

ii 

3-12 

iii 

452 

28,29 

iii 

94 

20          i 

106 

iii 

29 

ii 

32 

34 

i 

322 

23,24    iii 

158 

35 

i 

491 

406 

28-32    iii 

62 

iv 

8 

i  • 

531 

xiv 

18,  &c; 

ii 

68 

INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


585 


Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

xiv 

26 

i 

167 

iii 

17' 

i 

54 

xiii 

34 

ii 

598 

ii 

523 

18 

iv 

114 

35 

iii 

88 

xvi 

10,11 

i 

24 

19 

i 

143 

160 

11 

i 

236 

20 

iii 

191 

xiv 

1 

i 

526 

22 

iv 

265 

21 

iii 

222 

1-16 

iii 

223 

xvii 

10 

i 

465 

30 

iii 

39 

2 

iii 

236 

479 

16 

iii 

482 

16,17 

iii 

151 

'21 

iv 

106 

494 

178 

xviii 

8 

iii 

196 

31 

iii 

410 

16,20 

iii 

196 

11 

iii 

308 

iv 

1,2 

iii 

167 

ii 

393 

16 

i 

160 

4 

ii 

391 

6 

iii 

381 

28 

iii 

24 

23 

ii 

347 

8 

iii 

420 

xix 

19 

i 

160 

24 

iii 

116 

9 

iii 

510 

27 

ii 

618 

29 

iii 

313 

23 

iii 

615 

37-40 

iii 

153 

31,34 

iii 

29 

XV 

2 

i 

59 

XX 

35 

i 

452 

V 

19 

ii 

194 

5 

i 

463 

463 

24 

iv 

105 

6 

i 

494 

36 

iii 

409 

40 

i 

501 

8 

ii 

620 

xxi 

18 

ii 

390 

iv 

172 

14 

ii 

620 

xxii 

19,20 

ii 

11 

44 

i 

35 

22 

i 

137 

27 

iv 

269 

ii 

85 

xvi 

7 

ii 

651 

37 

ii 

395 

iii 

237 

12 

iii 

49 

44 

iv 

260 

17 

iii 

439 

iii 

614 

xxiii 

42,43 

iv 

202 

18,26 

iii 

412 

15 

iii 

410 

46 

iii 

477 

19 

iii 

535 

28 

iii 

409 

xxiv 

21 

i 

457 

23 

iii 

553 

xvii 

3 

iii 

14 

32 

iv  , 

304 

vi 

20 

ii 

639 

3 

iii 

548 

46 

iii 

132 

27 

i 

32 

151 

JOHN 

37 

ii 

82 

4 

i 

249 

1 

4,9 

iii 

231 

44 

iii 

194 

6,  &c 

.  ii 

82 

5 

iii 

349 

44,45 

ii 

85 

9,  &c 

ii 

138 

i 

31 

47 

i 

39 

9-24 

iii 

150 

9 

iii 

304 

254 

ii 

72 

i 

405 

66-68 

iv 

162 

11 

ii 

144 

12 

iii 

148 

70 

i 

245 

12 

ii 

143 

i 

537 

ii 

327 

17 

i 

532 

16 

i 

142 

38-42,  62  iii 

410 

20,21 

ii 

288 

17 

ii 

47 

50 

iii 

613 

23 

ii 

631 

18 

iii 

508 

vii 

19 

iii 

119 

5 

iii 

408 

26,33 

iii 

39 

39 

iii 

178 

XX 

15 

iv 

303 

46,47 

ii 

603 

37,38 

iv 

209 

20 

iii 

434 

49 

iii 

142 

viii 

11 

ii 

458 

xxi 

15 

iii 

81 

1-14 

iii 

415 
427 

36 
42 

ii 
iii 

392 
409 

17 

iii 

40 
100 

iii 

608 

ix 

35 

iv 

303 

ACTS 

17,49 

iii 

610 

iii 

463 

i 

5 

iv 

195 

49 

iii 

518 

X 

4,5 

i 

M18 

ii 

17,  &c 

ii 

630 

ii 

17 

iv 

256 

13 

iii 

100 

23 

ii 

456 

21 

iii 

428 

16 

i 

539 

37 

i 

278 

25 

iii 

118 

ii 

391 

37,38 

iii 

138 

ill 

3 

iv 

140 

27,28 

ii 

84 

38 

ii 

60 

4,8 

iii 

18 

11,27 

iii 

492 

39 

iii 

181 

4 

iv 

*99 

493 

40 

i 

278 

5 

iii 

115 

28,30 

iii 

549 

iii 

9,&c 

ii 

69 

151 

30,  31,  38  iii 

413 

13-16 

iii 

38 

5,8 

iii 

192 

37 

iii 

439 

14,15 

iv 

194 

5 

iv 

99 

xi 

25 

i 

159 

19-21 

iii 

165 

278 

42 

i 

350 

14,15 

iii 

545 

7 

iv 

108 

25 

iii 

411 

19-23 

iii 

517 

8 

iv 

100 

xii 

40 

ii 

99 

519 

283 

48 

ii 

68 

iv 

12 

ii 

36 

16 

i 

465 

xiii     •       1 

ii 

143 

iii 

387 

586 


INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

P.a^ 

Chap.     Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

iv 

26-28 

ii 

456 

ii             13  * 

i 

275 

viii 

33 

i 

180 

31-33 

ii 

631 

ii 

267 

33,34 

ii 

144 

32 

iii 

161 
216 

14,15 
16 

ii 
i 

469 
338 

ix 

5 

iii 

556 

565 

i 

594 

iii              9,  &< 

:,  iii 

253 

6 

ii 

329 

V 

31 

ii 

68 

12-19 

iii 

293 

11 

ii 

207 

vii 

37 

iii 

137 

19,20 

i 

252 

13 

ii 

115 

55 

iv 

285 

21 

ii 

307 

15 

iv 

342 

viii 

39 

i 

528 

24 

iii 

112 

16 

ii 

94,95 

ix 

3,4 

iv 

306 

25,26 

iii 

556 

ii 

296 

4,5 

iii 

452 

27,28 

i 

477 

18 

ii 

99 

5 

i 

566 

28 

i 

275 

19 

ii 

100 

z 

2 

i 

172 

31 

i 

102 

20 

ii 

179 

34 

i 

397 

470 

30,31 

ii 

93 

34,35 

ii 

86 

iv              1,  &c 

,  ii 

305 

X 

2 

i 

447 

35 

i 

414 

3 

i 

312 

4 

i 

448 

36 

iii 

420 

313 

11 

ii 

39 

545 

i 

456 

17 

ii 

77 

38 

ii: 

44 

4 

i 

459 

12,13 

iii 

526 

xi 

15,16 

i 

593 

5 

ii 

306 

xi 

18-20 

i 

383 

18 

iv 

197 

6 

i 

305 

xiii 

1,    2 

iv 

444 

xii 

22,23 

iii 

57 

18-21 

iii 

145 

xiv 

11 

iv 

260 

xiii 

i 

351 

21 

i 

200 

iii 

424 

40,41 

iv 

208 

v                1-5 

iii 

148 

1COI 

45,46 

ii 

69 

5 

iii 

165 

i 

17-21 

iii 

112 

48 

ii 

78 

8 

iii 

118 

24 

iii 

569 

xiv 

15 

i 

141 

163 

30 

i 

171 

XV 

9 

ii 

555 

556 

23 

iv 

207 

39 

ii 

545 

12 

iii 

251 

ii 

2 

iii 

215 

xvi 

30 

iii 

122 

13 

ii 

267 

10 

iii 

196 

iv 

264 

17 

iii 

556 

14 

iii 

122 

31 

i 

170 

18 

i 

502 

ii 

192 

xvii 

11,12 

ii 

58 

18,19 

i 

374 

iv 

118 

24,  &c, 

i 

141 

19 

i 

308 

iii 

11 

iii 

569 

28 

iii 

443 

20 

iv 

548 

23 

iii 

468 

30 

i 

524 

vi               1 

i 

470 

iv 

6 

i 

503 

ii 

313 

22,23 

ii 

331 

7 

ii 

301 

31 

ii 

29 

23 

ii 

232 

20 

i 

533 

XXI 

9 

iii 

63 

vii              4-6 

ii 

540 

V 

17 

iv 

133 

xxii 

15 

ii 

68 

7-9 

iii 

126 

vii 

26 

iii 

62 

21   - 

iii 

51 

9 

ii 

540 

22 

iii 

569 

xxiii 

1 

iii 

11 

18 

ii 

542 

23 

iii 

569 

6 

iii 

52 

20 

ii 

543 

viii 

4,   6 

iii 

557 

xxiv 

25 

iii 

136 

22 

i 

542 

6 

iii 

569 

i 

540 

24,25 

ii 

543 

ix 

5 

iii 

62 

ii 

36 

550 

24 

i 

172 

xxvi 

16-18 

iii 

20 

viii  •          2 

i 

181 

ii 

331 

132 

3,4 

iii 

226 

27 

iii 

87 

18 

iii 
i 

93 
575 

ii 

559 
597 

i 

269 
492 

iv 

306 

4 

i 

499 

X 

9 

iii 

510 

xxvii 

22 

iii 

38 

ii 

55 

xi 

30 

ii 

400 

31 

ii 

186 

7 

iii 

131 

xii 

2,   3 

iii 

559 

ROMANS. 

13 

ii 

43 

3 

iii 

570 

i 

16 

i 

140 

16 

ii 

304 

12-25 

ii 

288 

20 

i 

141 

23 

ii 

539 

13 

ii 

289 

28 

i 

163 

26 

iii 

332 

29-31 

iii 

188 

30 

iii 

337 

ii 

172 

xiii 

2 

i 

101 

ii 

3,  &c, 

i 

360 

29 

i 

250 

3 

iii 

156 

6,7 

ii 

32 

ii 

203 

4 

iii 

155 

5,6 

ii 

467 

30 

ii 

145 

ii 

256 

599 

32 

iii* 

496 

4,    7 

ii 

568 

INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


587 


Chap 

Verse 

Vol. 

Pa?e 

Chap 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap.       Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

xiii 

6 

iii 

155 

iv 

20 

ii 

149 

iii 

21 

ii 

528 

XV 

10 

ii 

242 

V 

1 

ii 

56 

iv 

7 

ii 

254 

41 

iii 

236 

6 

iv 

109 

8 

i 

550 

ii 

583 

14-23 

ii 

531 

12 

iv 

269 

24 

iii 

521 

15 

ii 

287 

13 

ii 

216 

XVI 

22 

i 

44 

16 

ii 

530 

COLOSSIANS 

22 

iv 

216 

19 

i 

215 

i 

14 

iii 

580 

2  C 

24 

ii 

531 

15 

iii 

410 

i 

20 

ii 

142 

23 

ii 

42 

420 

ii 

6- 

10 

iii 

56 

vi 

2 

ii 

502 

16 

iii 

443 

16 

i 

409 

4 

i 

504 

19 

iii 

580 

iii 

5 

iii 

332 

ii 

597 

28 

ii 

575 

9, 

&c 

,i 

574 

7 

i 

144 

576 

ii 

49 

ii 

331 

ii 

6,7 

iii 

580 

iv 

13 

ii 

448 

7,   8 

i 

510 

9 

iii 

450 

iii 

105 

14 

ii 

305 

14 

iii 

359 

17 

ii 

437 

15,16 

ii 

147 

19 

ii 

290 

V 

1 

iv 

266 

EPHESIANS. 

iii 

14 

iii 

159 

9, 

10 

ii 

50 

i 

3 

i 

250 

23 

i 

510 

13 

ii 

548 

3-18 

ii 

122 

1 

THESSALONIANS. 

14 

iii 

602 

4 

ii 

424 

i 

1 

iii 

408 

21 

i 

308 

5,  &c 

ii 

314 

3 

i 

47 

vi 

1 

i 

256 

11 

ii 

461 

ii 

7-11 

iii 

64 

2 

i 

403 

12,13 

iii 

574 

iii 

7-9 

iii 

41 

iv 

192 

19,20 

i 

526 

V 

•     8 

i 

313 

14 

iv 

105 

20 

iii 

575 

16-18 

iv 

268 

vii 

1 

ii 

504 

ii 

8 

iii 

332 

25 

iii 

34 

5 

ii 

545 

374 

2 

THESSALONIANS. 

10,11 

iii 

345 

i 

525 

i 

5,10 

iii 

541 

viii 

12 

ii 

500 

iv 

114 

ii 

3 

iv 

246 

ix 

9, 

10 

ii 

56 

10 

ii 

61 

10 

i 

138 

xi 

8' 

ii 

534 

11,  &c 

,  ii 

120 

12 

i 

138 

13 

ii 

545 

ii 

12 

iii 

265 

13 

ii 

424 

14 

i 

437 

12 

ii 

313 

iii 

7-11 

iii 

60 

xii 

7 

ii 

544 

14-16 

ii 

64 

10 

iii 

29 

10 

iv 

268 

15 

ii 

286 

1  TIMOTHY. 

7, 

9 

iii 

468 

18 

iii 

381 

i 

2 

iii 

585 

9 

iii 

453 

iii 

8 

iii 

575 

5 

ii 

355 

572 

14 

iii 

575 

8,9 

ii 

41 

xiii 

5 

ii 

144 

iv 

4-6 

iii 

382 

13 

iii 

235 

357 

11-16 

ii 

289 

16 

iii 

362 

11 

ii 

521 

V 

14 

ii 

622 

585 

GALATIANS 

vi 

2 

ii 

44 

19 

ii 

144 

i 

8 

i 

467 

23 

iii 

408 

ii 

1,  &c 

.  ii 

66 

7, 

8 

ii 

599 

PHILIPPIANS 

4 

ii 

162 

ii 

16 

i 

458 

i 

6 

ii 

'  622 

iii 

6 

iii 

32 

ii 

57 

13 

ii 

118 

16 

iii 

354 

20 

i 

254 

23 

iv 

266 

586 

21 

i 

479 

ii 

12 

ii 

148 

iv 

6 

iii 

586 

ii 

55 

1-8 

iii 

490 

10 

ii 

64 

iii 

1 

ii 

559 

10 

iii 

387 

16 

i 

479 

1, 

4 

ii 

149 

12 

i 

112 

v 

17 

i 

240 

8-16 

ii 

65 

568 

21 

ii 

112 

66 

12,13 

ii 

196 

vi 

4 

i 

330 

10 

ii 

47 

ii 

635 

6 

iii 

145 

11 

i 

541 

21 

ii 

196 

13 

iii 

586 

13, 

16 

iii 

515 

13 

ii 

334 

16 

iii 

510 

•• 

19 

ii 

45 

iii 

8,9 

iv 

282 

2  TIMOTHY. 

23 

i 

573 

10 

ii 

528 

i 

9 

i 

255 

25 

i 

574 

13 

iv 

263 

9,10 

ii 

315 

IV 

5 

i 

137 

13,14 

ii 

667 

10 

ii 

340 

19 

ii 

530 

18 

ii 

156 

iii 

581 

588 


INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


Chap.       Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

ii               3 

iii 

iio 

V 

12 

ii 

522 

10 

iii 

587 

14 

iv 

276 

19 

ii 

114 

vi 

1 

i 

86 

25 

ii 

77 

4 

i 

182 

iii              1 

iii 

182 

10 

ii 

148 

5 

iii 

348 

17,18 

ii 

148 

12 

iii 

70 

vii 

1,&C 

>  iii 

592 

16 

ii 

576 

3,  &c 

' !!' 

541 

iv              7,8 

ii 

294 

12 

ii 

494 

304 

22 

ii 

36 

TITUS. 

viii 

6 

ii 

48 

i                4 

iii 

408 

ix 

14 

ii 

488 

ii             11 

i 

140 

489 

ii 

464 

X 

1 

i 

101 

14 

ii 

571 

39 

ii 

141 

645 

5,6 

iii 

594 

iii              1 

iv 

518 

5-10 

iii 

490 

3 

iii 

253 

14 

ii 

145 

4-7 

iii 

384 

19,20 

i 

453 

5 

i 

25 

19-21 

iii 

382 

51 

24 

ii 

546 

296 

26,27 

ii 

148 

/ 

i 

297 

156 

PHILEMON. 

29 

iii 

301 

i                9 

iii 

588 

i 

59 

HEBREWS. 

29-39 

ii 

32 

i                 1 

iii 

589 

38 

ii 

151 

1,2 

ii 

313 

\i 

1 

iii 

192 

2 

iii 

420 
485 

6 

i 

309 
41 

3 

iii 

400 

140 

560 

6-26 

i 

239 

6 

iii 
iii 

408 
422 
493 

26 

iii 
i 

145 

51 

509 

13 

iii 

591 

in 

509 

U                3 

iii 

236 

27 

iii 

510 

ii 

149 

33 

i 

436 

2,3 

i 

231 

34 

i 

436 

3 

i 

580 

39 

ii 

527 

9 

iv 

267 

xii 

1 

ii 

591 

i 

395 

iv 

263 

ii 

63 

iii 

453 

14 

iv 

267 

595 

15 

iv 

267 

14 

ii 

283 

16 

ii 

303 

15 

ii 

62 

17 

iii 

591 

18-21 

ii 

50 

18 

iii 

591 

23 

ii 

564 

tii              3 

iii 

593 

28,29 

ii 

51 

iii 

518 

xiii 

5,6 

ii 

152 

10 

ii 

328 

8 

i 

51 

14 

iii 

355 

iii 

595 

v               1 

ii 

645 

JAMES 

2 

i 

139 

i 

1-4 

iii 

137 

11 

i 

34 

5 

iii 

228 

12 

iii 

233 

5,6 

ii 

654 

ii 

657 

12 

ii 

645 

15 

ii 

533 

15 

i 

433 

582 

17 

ii 

140 

r               7 

iv 

260 

25 

i 

388 

8 

ii 

529 

ii . 

8 

ii 

599 

9 

376 

10 

i 

387 

Chap. 


Verse 

Vol. 

Papre 

12 

i 

372 

18 

iii 

137 

6 

iii 

254 

8,9 

ii 

520 

6 

ii 

80 

13 

iv 

255 

15 

iii 

137 

20 

i 

466 

1  PETER. 

2 

i 

73 

iii 

409 
596 

5 

iii 

548 

2 

iii 

597 

7,8 

ii 

104 

9 

ii 

149 

17 

iv 

490 

1 

i 

119 

4 

iv 

276 

13 

i 

418 
419 

iv 

94 

15 

ii 

665 

8 

iii 

163 

1-3 

iii 

33 

2  PETER. 

2 

iii 

597 

4 

ii 

576 

5,6 

ii 

517 

16 

iii 

597 

17 

iii 

408 

14-17 

ii 

156 

18,19 

ii 

156 

19,20 

i 

180 

10 

iii 

260 

11 

ii 

50 

16 

i 

15 

16,  &c 

>  ii 

157 

1  JOHN. 

1,2 

iii 

418 
599 

3,4 

iii 

17 

5-7 

ii 

554 

8 

ii 

507 

9 

ii 

557 

6 

ii 

61 

7,8 

iii 

161 

10 

ii 

494 

23 

iii 

411 

2,3,9 

iii 

148 

iv 

267 

3 

ii 

206 

4 

ii 

267 

4,  &c, 

ii 

519 

6 

iii 

219 

7 

i 

266 

7,8 

ii 

558 

9 

ii 

5f 

16 

iii 

20 

ii 

558 

22 

ii 

620 

23 


INDEX  TO  TEXTS. 


589 


Chap. 

iii 

iv 

Verse         Vol 

23          i 

7          i 

7-11     iii 

9           iii 

17          ii 

18  iv 

19  i 

V 

iii 

20          iii 

1           ii 

5  iii 

6  iii 

7  iii 

9,10    i 
16          iii 
20          ii 

i 

iii 
2  JOHN. 
3-9      iii 

i 

JUDE. 
1          iii 

ii 

3           iii 

2-6      ii 

4,  16 

19    ii 

276 

81,85 

161 

494 

116 

554 

270 

102 

159 

219 

58 

603 

196 

395 

399 

552 

57 

40 

435 

408 
411 

408 
143 
321 
104 

104 
156 


Oh 


a  p. 


Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

5 

ii 

325 

24 

iii 

549 

REVELATION 

4 

.    iii 

'  603 

5,6 

iii 

140 

6 

iii 

357 

10 

iv 

307 

11 

iii 

.437 

5 

ii 

142 

13 

ii 

151 

23 

iii 

437 

1,2 

i 

158 

2 

ii 

500 

4 

i 

239 
317 

5 

i 

129 

16 

iv 

257 

v 
vii 


17 


18 
20 


9 
9 

10 
9 


142 

14 
264 

21 
317 
359 

66 
654 
417 

74 
484 
484 
606 


Chap. 

Verse 

Vol. 

Page 

vii 

14 

ii 

316 
555 

X 

6 

iv 

243 

xi 

2 

iv 

243 

xii 

1 

ii 

335 

1- 

11 

iv 

243 

xiii 

8 

142 

16 

iv 

246 

xiv 

1 
13 

iii 

iii 
ii 

524 
75 
18 

523 

xvi 

6 

239 

xviii 

21 

iv 

78 

xix 

6 

iv 

74 

12 

iii 

522 
525 

13- 

15 

i 

314 

16 

iv 

247 

XX 

11, 

&c 

iii 
ii 

457 
247 

xxi 

22 

iii 
iv 

536 

247 

27 

ii 

125 

xxii 

1 

iii 

607 

12 

i 

72 

14 

i 

276 

17 

i 

569 

END  OF  VOL.  IV. 


Princeton 


Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01211    4593 


